306 | 11 QUANTUM THEORY: INTRODUCTION AND PRINCIPLES To form the complex conjugate, y*, of a complex function, replace i ‘wherever it occurs by -i. For instance, ‘the complex conjugate of e™ is ‘If the wavefunction is real, |y/? = y?. ax we Probability =lyieax 11.18 The wavefunction wis a probability amplitude in the sense that ts square modulus (w’yorlyFlisa probability density. The probability of finding a particle in the region «b located at xs proportional to | y Pax 11.16 The Born interpretation of the ‘wavefunction in three (2, al) ay We obtain the special case of eqn 41 when we identify the observables with x and use eqn 4S for their commutator. Complementary observables are observables with non-commuting With the discovery that some pairs of observables are complementary (we ‘more examples in the next chapter), we are at the heart of the difference classical and cuantum mechanics. Classical mechanics supposed, falsely as we: know, that the position and momentum ofa particle could be specified st ously with arbitrary precision, However, quantum mechanics shows that land momentum are complementary, and that we have to make a choice: we Specify position at the expense of momentum, or momentum at the expense position. ‘The realization that some observables are complementary allows us to make siderable progress with the calculation of atomic and molecular properties; does away with some of the most cherished concepts of classical physics. Checklist of key ideas 11 classical mechanics, the laws of motion Stefan-Boltersann law, 1 Einstein formula, Gyn =3RF*, {introduced in the seventeenth century by a=4ofe (eee =) Isaac Newton. 1D exeitance the power emitted by a region C1 Einstein temperature, 8 =hvjk © quantum mechanics, the awsof Struc ded by the are ofthe ee ‘motion introduced in the twentieth: surface Cs ae century by Heisenberg and CO Stefan-Boltznann constant, =a Schrodinger gaze iscie 567 Wm? : ‘The origins of quantum mechanics 44.4 The failures of classical physics 1 black body, an object capable of emitting and absorbing all frequencies of radiation, uniformly 10 Wien displacement law, Tua $6 1 second radiation constant, eqehelk= 144 cm K 1D Rayleigh-Jeans law, @ = pda, p= SukT}2* 2 quantizationof energy, the limitation of energies to dscrete values 1D Planck's constant, k= 6.626 08% 10"Js 1D Planck distribution, d= pa, p= (Buh aMem™— 1) 2 Dong and Petits law: the molar heat capacities ofall monatomic solids are the same, and close to 25]? mol 1D Debye temperature 11.2 Wave-partiole duality 1D photoelectric effect, the election ‘ofelectrons from metals when they are exposed to ultraviolet radiation bm hyo 1D work function, the energy required 19 remove an electron from the metal infinity