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Quantum Theory
What is Modern Physics?
1‐ Introduction
• Modern physics only came in the 1900’s.
• Physicists discovered that Newtonian
mechanics did not apply when objects were
very small or moved very fast!
• If things are confined to very small dimensions
(nanometer‐scale), then QUANTUM
mechanics is necessary.
• If things move very fast (close to the speed of
light), then RELATIVISTIC mechanics is
necessary.
2‐ The wave‐Particle duality
A perfect blackbody at
a constant temperature
absorbs and reemits all
the electromagnetic
radiation falls on it.
• The energy of a system can have only certain
definite values, and nothing in between, the
energy is said to be quantized.
4‐ The photoelectric effect
Light consists of
photons
Electrons emitted
from a metal surface
when light shines on
it.
For example,
Safety feature of
automatic door openers
Photons of light can eject
electrons from a metal when
the light frequency is above fo
5‐ The Compton effect
• Compton used the photon
model to explain his
research on the scattering
of X rays by the electrons
in graphite.
X-ray photon strikes an
electron in a piece of
graphite.
Like two billiard balls
colliding on a pool
table, the X-ray photon
in one direction, and
the recoil electron in
another direction after
In an experiment performed by
the collision. Compton, an X-ray photon collides
with a stationary electron.
• The scattered photon has a frequency f ' that
is smaller than the frequency f of the incident
photon, indicating that the photon loses
energy during the collision.
• The difference between the two frequencies
depends on the angle θ at which the scattered
photon leaves the collision.
• The phenomenon in which an X‐ray photon is
scattered from an electron, the scattered
photon having a smaller frequency than the
incident photon, is called the Compton effect.
• The electron is assumed to be initially at rest
and essentially free.
• In the collision between a photon and an
electron, the total kinetic energy and the total
linear momentum are the same before and
after the collisions, So according to the
principle of conservation of energy:
• hf = h f' + KE
energy of energy of kinetic energy
incident scattered of recoil
photon photon electron
• Since λ ' = c / f ' , the wavelength of the
scattered X‐rays is larger than that of the
incident X‐rays. For an initially stationary
electron, conservation of linear momentum
requires that:
• The quantity h/mc is referred to as the
Compton wavelength of the electron, and has
the value h/mc = 2.43 x 10‐12 m .
• Since cos θ varies between +1 and ‐1,
the shift (λ ' – λ) in the wavelength can vary
between zero and (2h / mc), depending on
the value of θ, a fact observed by Compton.
6‐ The de Broglie Wavelength
• In 1923 Louis de Broglie made
the suggestion that since light
waves could exhibit particle‐
like behavior, particles of
matter should exhibit wave‐
like behavior.
• De Broglie proposed that all Louis V. de Broglie
(1892-1987)
moving matter has a
wavelength associated with it,
just as wave does.
• De Broglie made the explicit proposal that the
wavelength λ of a particle is given by the same
relation that applies to a photon :
• h is the Planck's constant and p is the
magnitude of the relativistic momentum of
the particle.
• The effects of this wavelength are observable
only for particles whose masses are very
small, on the order of the mass of an electron
or a neutron.
28e- 104 e-
• Δy = uncertainty in a particle's position along
the y direction,
• Δpy = uncertainty in the y component of the
linear momentum of the particle
For energy and time:
• ΔE = uncertainty in the energy of a particle
when the particle is in a certain state,
• Δt = time interval during which the particle is
in the state
• The Heisenberg uncertainty principle places
limits on the accuracy with which the
momentum and position of a particle can be
specified simultaneously, it states that:
• it is impossible to specify precisely both the
momentum and position of a particle in the
same time.
• The same apply for uncertainty that deals
with energy and time
8‐ The Shrödinger equation
• The wave function for de
Broglie waves must satisfy
an equation developed by
Shrödinger.
• One of the methods of
quantum mechanics is to Erwin Schrödinger
(1887-1961
determine a solution to this
equation, which in turn
yields the allowed wave
functions and energy levels
of the system.
• the general form of the wave equation for
waves traveling along the x axis:
• Where v is the wave speed and where the
wave function ψ depends on x and t.
• We consider systems in which the total energy
E remains constant.
• Since E = h f, the frequency of de Broglie wave
also remains constant. In this case, we can
express the wave function ψ (x,t) as the
product of a term that depends only on x and
a term that depends only on t:
ψ (x, t) = ψ (x) cos(ω t)
Where v is the wave speed and where the
wave function ψ depends on x and t.
We consider systems in which the total
energy E remains constant. Since E = h f, the
frequency of de Broglie wave also remains
constant. In this case, we can express the
wave function ψ (x,t) as the product of a term
that depends only on x and a term that
depends only on t:
ψ (x, t) = ψ (x) cos(ω t)
Recall that ω = 2 π f = 2 π v / λ and, for de Broglie
waves, p = h / λ . Therefore,
• Furthermore, we can express the total energy
E as the sum of the kinetic energy and the
potential energy:
E = K + U = ( p2 /2 m ) + U
So that
P2 = 2 m ( E – U ) And
• This is the famous Schrödinger equation as it
applies to a particle confined to moving along
the x axis. Because this equation is
independent of time, it is commonly referred
to as the time‐independent Schrödinger
equation.
9‐ The “other quantum numbers”
• The energy of the particular state depends
primarily on the principal quantum number n.
• ‐ The orbital quantum number l
• If a particle moves in a circle of radius r, the
magnitude of its angular momentum relative
to the center of the circle is L = m v r
• L = √ l ( l + 1 ) ħ l = 0, 1, 2, 3, …….., n ‐ 1
n principal quantum number
‐ The magnetic orbital quantum number ml
• Lz = ml ħ
‐ The Spin magnetic quantum number ms
• ms = ½ for the spin‐up state and ms = ‐1/2 for
the spin‐down state.
• The origin of this fourth quantum number was
shown by Sommerfeld and Dirac to lie in the
relativistic properties of the electron, which
requires four quantum numbers to describe
its location in four‐dimensional space‐time.