THE SCHRDINGER WAVE EQUATION

h2 2 h + = 2m j t
where =
2

2 2 2 + 2 + 2 x 2 y z

This is the Scrdinger Wave Equation in three dimensions. The following concerns a onedimensional problem where the equation is a function of x and t. Refer to pp. 38,39 in Solid State Electronic Devices.

THE PROBLEM h 2 2 ( x, t ) h ( x, t ) + V ( x )( x, t ) = 2 2m x j t

THE APPROACH
We are going to solve the equation by breaking it into two equations using the technique of separation of variables.

THE SOLUTION Let ( x, t ) be represented by the product (x )(t ) :

Now divide the equation by (x )(t ) . Now the variable x appears only on the left and the variable t only on the right.

(t ) h 2 2 (x ) h (t ) + V ( x ) ( x )(t ) = ( x ) 2 j 2m x t h 2 1 2 ( x ) h 1 (t ) + V (x ) = 2 2m ( x ) x j (t ) t h 2 1 d 2(x ) + V (x ) = E 2m ( x ) dx 2 h 1 d(t ) =E j (t ) dt d 2 ( x ) 2 m 2m 2 V ( x )( x ) = 2 E( x ) 2 dx h h d(t ) j = E(t ) dt h d 2 ( x ) 2 m + 2 [E V ( x )] ( x ) = 0 dx 2 h d(t ) jE + (t ) = 0 dt h

[Eq. 3] [Eq. 4]

Since x and t are independent variables, this equation is valid only when each side equals a constant, says our instructor. We will call the constant E. We lose the partial derivative symbol too.

[Eq. 1] [Eq. 2]

Multiplying [Eq. 1] by and [Eq. 2] by

2m (x ) h2

j (t ) gives: h

Collecting terms on the left side:

Tom Penick

tomzap@eden.com

www.teicontrols.com/notes 05/08/99

THE SOLUTION OF [EQ. 4]

[Eq. 4] is a linear first order differential equation.

d(t ) jE + (t ) = 0 dt h
jE dt h

[Eq. 4]

We multiply the equation by the integrating factor e which is e jEt / h :

d(t ) jEt / h jE e + (t )e jEt / h = 0 h dt d(t ) jEt / h e =0 dt

Discard the center term; this happens somehow by integrating and taking the derivative. Integrate with respect to t.

d(t ) jEt / h e dt = 0 dt dt (t )e jEt / h = 0 (t ) = 0e jEt / h

On the right side we get a constant, or initial condition 0. Solve for (t) to get:

THE ANSWER
The instructor say that we put 0 into the total normalization constant and assume n(x) is known corresponding to a certain En, and the overall wave function is:

n ( x, t ) = n ( x )e jE n t / h

ABOUT THE VARIABLES

E = the separation constant; corresponds to the energy of the particle when particular solutions are obtained, such that a wave function n corresponds to a particle energy En. V(x) = potential, usually resulting from an electrostatic or magnetic field. [V]

h = Planck's constant divided by 2 [J s]

t = time [s] m = quantum number [integer] = the nabla, del, or grad operator; not a variable

Tom Penick

tomzap@eden.com

www.teicontrols.com/notes 05/08/99