PHY 314: Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, Varsha 2009

Lecture 9
Anil Shaji
School of Physics, IISER - TVM
(Dated: 03-09-2014)
The Schr
odinger wave equation. The time independent Schrodinger equation

We have already encounter the Schrodinger equation in the form

i~

|i
= H|i.
t

Here we consider the label on the state of the quantum system to represent any property of
the system that we might be interested in. This property was the component of the spin of an
atom/electron along the x-axis in the example we considered of spin precession in a magnetic field.
When Erwin Schr
odinger first conceived the equation that bears his name, the specific property
that was of interest was the position of a quantum particle. In fact, the equation was written down
as an equation governing the wave function, (x) = hx|i. To make the connection with what we
have learned previously, let us look at the steps needed to obtain an equation of (x) starting from
the equation above.
We have the completeness relation for the position basis, {|xi},
Z
dx |xihx| = 11
Judiciously inserting the unit operator into the Schrodinger equation we obtain,

11|(t)i = 11 H|(t)i
t
Z

Z

i~
dx |xihx|(t)i =
dx |xihx| H|(t)i
t
Z
Z
hx|(t)i
i~ dx
|xi =
dx hx|H|(x0 , t)i,
t
i~

where we have used |xi/t = 0. Since the above equation has to hold for arbitrary states the
integrals being the same means that the integrands also have to be the same:
i~

hx|(t)i
= hx|H|(t)i
t

(1)

For a particle moving in a potential V (x), the Hamiltonian is sum of its kinetic and potential
energies and is given in classical mechanics by
H=

p2
+ V (x),
2m

where p is the momentum of the particle and m is its mass. In quantum mechanics, the Hamiltonian,
momentum and position are observables, or equivalently operators. We have seen that
p = i~

.
x

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From here on, wherever there might be any ambiguity as to whether a symbol is an operator or a
variable, I will use as hat () to denote operators. The Hamiltonian operator then becomes
2
2
= ~ + V (
x).
H
2m d
x2

So we have
~2
2 |(t)i
+ hx|V (
x)|(t)i
hx|
2m
x2
~2 2 hx|(t)i
=
+ V (x)hx|(t)i
2

 2m 2 x
~ 2
+ V (x) (x, t).
=

2m x2

hx|H|(t)i =

We have used the result that if X|i = |i, then f (X)|i = f ()|i and hx|(t)i = (x, t) in
the above equation. Inserting this matrix element into Eq. (1), we get
i~

(x, t)
~2 2 (x, t)
+ V (x)(x, t).
=
t
2m x2

(2)

This from of the Schr

odinger equation is sometimes called the Schr
odinger wave equation since it is
an equation for the wave function of a particle. We will pretty much always refer to this equation
as just the Schr
odinger equation.

I.

TIME INDEPENDENT SCHRODINGER

EQUATION

An approach to solving partial differential equations like the Schrodinger equation is to assume
that solution is a product of functions of each of the variable involved. Using this approach, we set
(x, t) = (x)(t).
Only a subset of the possible solutions of the Schrodinger will have this form but it turns out this
subset is often of interest. Substituting the product form into the Schrodinger equation,
i~(x)

~2 2 (x)
(t)
=
(t) + V (x)(x)(t)
t
2m x2

Dividing both sides by we get,

i~

1
~2 1 2
=
+V
t
2m x2

In this equation the left hand side is a function only of t and the right hand side is a function only
of x. The two sides can be equal only if both are equal to the same constant, irrespective of the
choice of functions and . Let us call this constant E.
So we get
i
(t)
= E(t)
t
~

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and

~2 2 (x)
+ V (x)(x) = E(x)
2m x2

The second equation is called the time independent Schr

odinger equation.
The first equation has the solution
(t) = eiEt/~ .
The integration constant in the solution can be set to one by assuming that this constant is part
of since only the product matters. The time independent Schrodinger equation cannot be
solved until we specify the potential. But we make the following observations about the equations
and solutions we obtain using the method of separation of variables.
1. The solutions obtained using separation of variables are stationary states. Although
(x, t) = (x)eiEt/~ ,
depends on time, the probability density does not:
|(x, t)|2 = |(x)|2 .
Expectation values of observables in these states do not depend on time either
Z
Z

i(EE)t/~
hXi = dx (x)X(x)e
= dx (x)X(x)
In fact for computing all observable consequences, the time dependent part, (t), does not
have a role to play so for most purposes we might as well drop this factor and refer to (x)
as the wave function of the particle.
2. These solutions are energy eigenstates or, in other words, states with a definite energy. We
can rewrite the time independent Schrodinger equation simply as

H(x)
= E(x)
since we have
2
2
= ~ + V (x)
H
2m x2

We have already encountered states that has the property H|En i = En |En i. In the same
sense, (x), represents a distribution of probability amplitude in space that does not evolve
in time. Most of the discussion in the rest of this course will be focused on finding such wave
functions for different choices of potentials.
We can easily check that
Z
hHi =

dx (x)E(x) = E

dx |(x)|2 = E.

So indeed the solutions we obtained have fixed energy.

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3. Since our solutions represent a complete set of energy eigenstates, we can now express an
arbitrary solution of the Schr
odinger equation as a liner combination of these solutions. i.e.
(x, t) =

cj j (x)eiEj t/~

The different solution of the time independent Schrodinger equation correspond to the different allowed energies Ej . Recognizing that the Schrodinger equation is a linear equation
makes it immediately obvious that (x, t) is a solution of the equation given that (x, t) are
solutions.