Chapter40.

WaveFunctionsandUncertainty
Thewavefunction
characterizesparticlesin
p
termsoftheprobabilityof
findingthematvariouspoints
inspace.Thisscanning
tunnelingmicroscopeimage
of graphite shows the most
ofgraphiteshowsthemost
probableplacetofind
electrons.
ChapterGoal:Tointroduce
thewavefunctiondescription
p
ofmatterandlearnhowitis
interpreted.

Chapter40.WaveFunctionsand
Chapter
.WaveFunctionsand
Uncertainty
Topics:
Waves,Particles,andtheDoubleSlit
Experiment
ConnectingtheWaveandPhotonViews
i
h
d h
i
TheWaveFunction
Normalization
WavePackets
TheHeisenbergUncertaintyPrinciple

Review double slit

Reviewdoubleslit

ConnectingtheWaveandPhotonViews
Theintensityofthelightwaveiscorrelatedwiththe
probability of detecting photons That is photons are more
probabilityofdetectingphotons.Thatis,photonsaremore
likelytobedetectedatthosepointswherethewave
intensityishighandlesslikelytobedetectedatthose
pointswherethewaveintensityislow.
Theprobabilityofdetectingaphotonataparticularpoint
is directly proportional to the square of the light wave
isdirectlyproportionaltothesquareofthelightwave
amplitudefunctionatthatpoint:

ProbabilityDensity
WecandefinetheprobabilitydensityP(x)suchthat

1.
Inonedimension,probabilitydensityhasSIunitsofm
p
y
y
Thustheprobabilitydensitymultipliedbyalengthyieldsa
dimensionlessprobability.
NOTE P(x)itselfisnotaprobability.Youmustmultiplythe
NOTE:
P( ) itself is not a probabilit Yo m st m ltipl the
probabilitydensitybyalengthtofindanactualprobability.
Thephotonprobabilitydensityisdirectlyproportionalto
p
p
y
y
yp p
thesquareofthelightwaveamplitude:

EXAMPLE40.1Calculatingthe
probabilitydensity
QUESTION:

EXAMPLE40.1Calculatingthe
probabilitydensity

Normalization
Aphotonorelectronhastolandsomewhereonthe
detector after passing through an experimental
detectorafterpassingthroughanexperimental
apparatus.
Consequently,theprobabilitythatitwillbedetectedat
Consequently, the probability that it will be detected at
somepositionis100%.
Thestatementthatthephotonorelectronhastoland
p
somewhereonthexaxisisexpressedmathematicallyas

Anywavefunctionmustsatisfythisnormalization
condition.
condition

WavePackets

Wave Packets
WavePackets
Supposeasinglenonrepeatingwavepacketofdurationt
iscreatedbythesuperpositionofmanywavesthatspana
y
p p
y
p
rangeoffrequenciesf.
Fourieranalysisshowsthatforanywavepacket

Wehavenotgivenaprecisedefinitionoft andf fora

generalwavepacket.
The quantity t is
Thequantityt
is about
abouthowlongthewavepacketlasts,
how long the wave packet lasts
whilef isabouttherangeoffrequenciesneedingtobe
superimposedtoproducethiswavepacket.

EXAMPLE40.4Creatingradio
EXAMPLE40.4Creatingradio
frequencypulses
QUESTION:

EXAMPLE40.4Creatingradio
EXAMPLE40.4Creatingradio
frequencypulses

EXAMPLE40.4Creatingradio
EXAMPLE40.4Creatingradio
frequencypulses

The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle

TheHeisenbergUncertaintyPrinciple
Thequantityx isthelengthorspatialextentofawave
p
packet.
px isasmallrangeofmomentacorrespondingtothe
smallrangeoffrequencieswithinthewavepacket.
Anymatterwavemustobeythecondition

Thisstatementabouttherelationshipbetweenthe
positionandmomentumofaparticlewasproposedby
Heisenberg in 1926 Physicists often just call it the
Heisenbergin1926.Physicistsoftenjustcallitthe
uncertaintyprinciple.

The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle

TheHeisenbergUncertaintyPrinciple
Ifwewanttoknowwhereaparticleislocated,we
measureitspositionxwithuncertaintyx.
Ifwewanttoknowhowfasttheparticleisgoing,we
needtomeasureitsvelocityv
d
l
l l
x or,equivalently,its
momentumpx.Thismeasurementalsohassome
uncertainty px.
uncertaintyp
Youcannotmeasurebothxandpx simultaneouslywith
arbitrarilygoodprecision.
yg
p
Anymeasurementsyoumakearelimitedbythecondition
thatxpx h/2.
Ourknowledgeaboutaparticleisinherentlyuncertain.

GeneralPrinciples
General Principles

GeneralPrinciples
General Principles

Important Concepts
ImportantConcepts

Important Concepts
ImportantConcepts

Thefigureshowsthedetectionofphotonsinan
optical e periment Rank in order from lar est to
opticalexperiment.Rankinorder,fromlargestto
smallest,thesquareoftheamplitudefunctionof
theelectromagneticwaveatpositionsA,B,C,
g
p
, , ,
andD.

A.
B
B.
C.
D.

D>C>B>A
A>B>C>D
A>B>C>D
A>B=D>C
C>B=D>A

Thisisthewave
This
is the wave
functionofa
neutron. At what
neutron.Atwhat
valueofx isthe
neutronmostlikely
tobefound?
A.
A
B.
C.
D.

x=0
0
x= xA
x= xB
x= xC

The value of the constant a is

Thevalueoftheconstanta

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

a =0.5mm1/2.
a =1.0mm1/2.
a =2.0mm1/2.
a =1.0mm1.
a =2.0mm1.

Whatminimumbandwidthmusta
mediumhavetotransmita
100nslongpulse?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

100MHz
0.1MHz
1MHz
10MHz
1000MHz