Phys 411 Problem Set #1

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
Problem 1.15 : Show that d Ψ1*(x , t) Ψ2(x , t) dx = 0
dt –

for any two normalizable solutions to the Schrödinger equation, Ψ1 and Ψ2 .

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Problem 1.16 : A particle is represented (at time t = 0) by the wave function
 A (a2 – x 2 ) , if – a  x  a

Ψ (x , 0) = 

0 , otherwise

(i) Determine the normalization constant A .

(ii) Calculate x (at time t = 0) .
(iii) Calculate p (at time t = 0) . Note that you can not get it from  p = m dx/dt .
(iv) Calculate  x2  .
(v) Calculate  p2  .
(vi) Find the uncertainty in x , (σx ).
(vii) Find the uncertainty in p , (σp ).
(viii) Check that your results are consistent with the uncertainty principle.
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Problem 1.17 : Suppose that you wanted to describe an unstable particle, that spontaneously
disintegrates with a lifetime τ . In that case the total probability of finding the particle somewhere
should not be constant, but should decrease at an exponential rate:

P(t)  |Ψ (x , t) |2 dx = P(0)e − t/τ .
–

A crude way of achieving this result is as follows: So far we tacitly assumed that the potential energy
V is real. It leads to the conservation of probability. What if we assign to V an imaginary part:
V = V0 − i Γ , where V0 is the true potential energy and Γ is a positive real constant?

(i) Show that we get dP = − 2Γ P .

dt
(ii) Solve for P(t) , and find the lifetime of the particle in terms of Γ .