Schrödinger time dependent wave equation

A wavefunction representing a freely moving particle can be represented as,

Ψ= exp[ ( − )] (1)

For a freely moving particle, as the only energy is kinetic energy,

=
2

As = ℏ and = ℏ , we have,

(ℏ )
ℏ =
2

ℏ
=
2

Now, equation (1) can be written as,

ℏ (2)
Ψ= exp −
2

In order to find out the wave equation for which equation (2) is the solution, we differentiate it once
partially with respect to t and twice with respect to x and compare the results.

Ψ ℏ ℏ (3)
=− exp −
2 2

Ψ ℏ (4)
=− exp −
2

From equations (3) and (4),

2 Ψ Ψ (5)
=
ℏ

Ψ ℏ Ψ (6)
ℏ =−
2
This is the equation we were seeking so far and it is called the Schrödinger time dependent equation
for a free particle in one dimension. It should be noted that this equation was not derived here.
Schrödinger wrote this equation intuitively and it is found to be consistent with experiments. In one
dimension, if a particle moves under a time dependent potential, we can write,

Ψ ℏ Ψ (7)
ℏ =− + ( , )Ψ
2

Extending the above to three dimensions,

Ψ ℏ (8)
ℏ =− ∇ Ψ + ( , , , )Ψ
2

Including a potential in both equations (7) and (8) was not warranted. However, it adds to the
intuition of Schrödinger.

Schrödinger time independent equation

From Schrödinger time dependent equation in one dimension we have

Ψ ℏ Ψ (1)
ℏ =− + ( , , , )Ψ
2

In most situations we have the potential only as a function of co-ordinates. In such cases of time
independent potentials, we need to have the Schrödinger time independent equation. In order to
arrive at that, we consider the simplest of the case, namely the free particle. It is represented as,

Ψ= exp[ ( − )] (2)

We can expand this as,

Ψ= exp[ ] exp[− ] (3)

Ψ= ( ) ( ) (4)

where ( ) = [ ] and ( ) = exp[− ]. We assume that the solution is variable separable

as shown above. Substituting equation (4) in equation (1), we have,

ℏ (5)
ℏφ(x)[− ]exp[− ]=− exp[− ] + ( )φ(x)exp[−iωt]
2

Notice that we have used time independent potential in the above step, consistent with our
problem. On simplification (upon noting = ℏ ), we have,

ℏ (6)
φ(x) = − + ( )φ(x)
2

Upon rearranging, we have the following Schrödinger time independent equation.

 2 (7)
+ [ − ( )]φ(x) = 0
ℏ

In three dimensions we have,

2 (8)
∇ + [ − ( )]φ = 0
ℏ