Particle in a 1D box-Eigen values and

Eigen function

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 2
d 2
 2
 E E0
2m dx
d2
2mE
2
 K 
2
K 2
dx
 ( x)  AC os( Kx)  B Sin( Kx)

 (a)   (0)  0
At x0
 ( x)  B Sin( Kx)
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  ( x)  B Sin( Kx)

At X=a
 (a)  B Sin( Ka)  0

If B=0, then we are left with a non trivial solution; so Sin( Ka)  0
Ka  n
n
K
a
n x
 ( x)  B Sin( )
a

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 n x
 ( x)  B Sin( )
a
2
n x
a a
After normalization
0  ( x) dx  0 B Sin ( a )dx  1
2 2

2
B
a

2 n x
 ( x)  Sin( )
a a

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Energy quantization
2mE
K  2
2

 n 
2
2mE
   2
 a 
n
2 2 2
En  2
2ma
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 n 2 2 2
En 
2ma 2 n  1, 2,3,.....

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 2

0 a
0 a 2

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 Paul Dirac
(1902-1984) English

‘‘.. it is more
important to have
beauty in one’s
equations than to
have them fit
experiment.”
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 Lecture 8

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Quantum mechanical tunnelling

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More the barrier height less the transmission probability
More the barrier width less the transmission probability
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Scanning tunnelling microscope

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 Iron atoms on the surface of Cu(111)

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 `Nobody understands
quantum mechanics!’

Feynman 1966

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