Scribd
Upload
381 views2 pages

Quantum Mechanics I: Fall 2019 Tutorial

This document contains 6 questions about quantum mechanics concepts including the quantum harmonic oscillator, particle in a box potential, and infinite square well potential. It asks the student to calculate average energies, expectation values, and probabilities for different quantum states described by wavefunctions in these different potentials. It also asks the student to estimate minimum kinetic energies for particles like neutrons and electrons confined in different potentials and discuss if an electron can be confined in a nucleus.

Uploaded by

Raza Khan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
381 views2 pages

Quantum Mechanics I: Fall 2019 Tutorial

This document contains 6 questions about quantum mechanics concepts including the quantum harmonic oscillator, particle in a box potential, and infinite square well potential. It asks the student to calculate average energies, expectation values, and probabilities for different quantum states described by wavefunctions in these different potentials. It also asks the student to estimate minimum kinetic energies for particles like neutrons and electrons confined in different potentials and discuss if an electron can be confined in a nucleus.

Uploaded by

Raza Khan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Quantum Mechanics-I PH-308

Fall 2019 Tutorial 1 Date: 2 November, 2019

1. Consider a system whose wave function at time t = 0 is given by


5 4 3
Ψ(x, 0) = √ ψ0 (x) + √ ψ1 (x) + √ ψ2 (x)
50 50 50
where ψn (x) is the wave function of the nth excited state of a harmonic oscillator.

(a) Find the average energy of this system.


(b) Find the state Ψ(x,t) at a later time t and the average value of the energy; compare the
reslut with the value obtained in (a).
(c) Find the expectation value of the operator x̂ with respect to the state Ψ(x,t).

2. If the stae of a particle moving in a one-dimensional harmonic oscillator is given by


√
1 3 2 3
Ψ(x, 0) = √ ψ0 (x) + √ ψ1 (x) − √ ψ2 (x) − √ ψ3 (x)
17 17 17 17
where ψn (x) represents the normalized nth energy eigenstate, find the expectation values of
the number operator, n̂, and of the Hamiltonian operator.

3. Consider the box potential (


0 0≤x≤a
V (x) =
∞ elsewhere

(a) Estimate the energies of the ground state as well as those of the first and the second
excited states for (i) an electron enclosed in a box of size a = 10−10 m (express your
answer in electron volts; you may use these values: h̄c = 200 MeV fm, me c = 0.5
MeV); (ii) a 1 g metallic sphere which is moving in a box of size a = 10 cm (express
your answer in joules).
(b) Discuss the importance of the quantum effects for both of these two systems.
(c) Use the uncertainty principle to estimate the velocities of the electron and the metallic
sphere.

4. (a) Assuming the potential seen by a neutron in a nucleus to be schematically represented


by a one-dimensional, infinite rigid walls potential of length 10 fm, estimate the minimum
kinetic energy of the neutron. (b) Estimate the minimum kinetic energy of an electron bound
within the nucleus described in (a). Can an electron be confined in a nucleus? Explain

5. Consider a state

1 1 1
Ψ(x, 0) = √ ψ0 (x) + √ ψ1 (x) + √ ψ2 (x)
2 8 10

1
Quantum Mechanics-I PH-308
Fall 2019 Tutorial 1 Date: 2 November, 2019

(a) If Ψ(x, 0) is the state of the particle in the infinite square well potential then what energies
would you measure and with what probabilities? (b) If Ψ(x, 0) is the state of the particle
in the Harmonic oscillator potential then what energies would you measure and with what
probabilities?

6. Solve the time-independent Schrodinger equation with appropriate boundary condition for
the ”centered” infinite sqaure well: V (x) = 0 (for −a < x < +a), V (x) = ∞ (otherwise).
Check that your allowed energies are consistent with the Eq. 2.27 Griffiths 2nd Ed., and con-
firm that your’s ψ’s can be obtained from the Eq. 2.28 Griffiths 2nd Ed. by the substitution
x→− (x + a)/2 and appropriate normalization). Note that the width of the well is now 2a.

You might also like