Solution Manual for Quantum Mechanics by McIntyre

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Solution Manual for Quantum Mechanics by McIntyre

Ch. 6 Solutions

6.1 Use eV and nm as the primary units, so use where possible. For a
nonrelativistic particle

a) 3 eV electron

b) 7 MeV proton

c) 200 m/s C60 Buckyball

d) room temperature oxygen molecule O2

e) raindrop. Assume 2 mm diameter, terminal velocity 6 m/s

http://www.shorstmeyer.com/wxfaqs/float/rdtable.html

f) person. Assume 100 kg, 1 m/s

The wavelength is typically important in interference and diffraction experiments. In

interference experiments, the two path lengths must be stable to less than the wavelength
to see fringes. In diffraction experiments, the diffraction angle is given by /a, where a is
the size of the diffracting object. In the first four cases, quantum effects can be seen, in
the last two, they would be exceedingly difficult.

9/11/23 6-1

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Ch. 6 Solutions

6.2 (a) The normalization integral is

giving the normalized wave function

(b) The expectation value of position is

because the integrand is odd and the integration interval is even.

(c) To find the uncertainty, we first need the expectation value of the square of the
position:

The uncertainty of the position is

(d) The probability of finding the particle in the region between 0 and a is

This integral can be looked up in a table and is often called the error function, defined by:

Thus we get

From the CRC handbook, we have

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Ch. 6 Solutions

yielding

(e) The plots of the wave function and probability density:

(f) The expectation value of momentum is

because the integrand is odd and the integration interval is even.

(g) To find the uncertainty, we first need the expectation value of the square of the
momentum:

The uncertainty of the momentum is

(h) The uncertainty principle is

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Ch. 6 Solutions

In this case we get

so this is a minimum uncetainty state.

(ii) For the state , similar calculations yield

Normalized state:

Expectation value of x:

Position uncertainty:
Probability:

Expectation value of p:

Momentum uncertainty:
Uncertainty product:

(iii) For the state , we get

Normalized state:

Expectation value of x:
Position uncertainty:
Probability:

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Ch. 6 Solutions

Expectation value of p:

Momentum uncertainty:

Uncertainty product:

6.3 The momentum eigenstate before the shutter is

a) After the shutter, the wave function is limited in spatial extent. The particles have
velocity , so the length of the wavepacket after the shutter is .
Hence the new wave function is

where the new scale factor ensures normalization over this finite interval.
b) The momentum space wave function is given by the Fourier transform:

Performing the transform gives

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Ch. 6 Solutions

The momentum probability distribution is

The sinc function is peaked at , as expected.

6.4 The energy eigenstates in a square well are

Using Eq. (6.31), the momentum space wave function is

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Ch. 6 Solutions

Plot for n = 1:

Plot for n = 2:

Plot for n = 10:

In each case, the momentum probability distribution is symmetric because there is no

preferred direction for particle motion. The probability is concentrated near the values
expected for a wave with wavelength and momentum .

6.5 For a free particle, the commutator of momentum and the Hamiltonian is

In the position representation, this is represented by

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Ch. 6 Solutions

In the abstract representation, the commutator is

So the momentum and Hamiltonian of a free particle commute.

6.6 The commutator is defined by its action on a state vector y as:

.

In wave function language (the position representation), we express position as a

multiplicative factor, , momentum as a derivative operator , and the
state vector is represented by . Then the commutator becomes

The second term requires the chain rule, yielding

This is very clearly non-zero, and tells us that the position and momentum operators do
not commute.
In the momentum representation, we express position as a derivative operator
, momentum as a multiplicative factor , and the state vector is
represented by . Then the commutator becomes

The first term requires the chain rule, yielding

Again, this is very clearly non-zero, and tells us that the position and momentum
operators do not commute.

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Ch. 6 Solutions

In Dirac notation, both calculations can be expressed as

so the commutator as an operator is represented as

6.7 The Dirac normalization condition is

.

The inner product of momentum eigenstates is

To do this integral, recall the definition of a Fourier transform pair and from
Eqs. (D.14) and (D.15):

Now consider the inverse Fourier transform of :

Hence, the Fourier transform is

Changing variables from wave vector to momentum gives

and using the relation results is

Hence the inner product becomes

and the momentum eigenstates satisfy Dirac normalization if we set the normalization
constant to

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Ch. 6 Solutions

The "normalized" momentum eigenstates are

If we use the wave vector eigenstates:

the inner product is

The Dirac normalization condition is now

.

and yields the normalized states

The two different forms of the eigenstates have different normalization factors because
the Dirac delta function has units of 1/argument. Momentum and wave vector differ by a
factor of , so that difference is reflected in the normalization factors.

6.8 Here is a plot as the side mode spacing varies

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Ch. 6 Solutions

As the spacing increases, the spatial extent , defined here as the location of the
interference minima, decreases. To relate the momentum spread and the position spread,
note that the spatial interference minima are located where the phases of the side mode
waves are out of phase with the central sinusoid. These phases are determined by the
arguments of the terms in Eq. (6.32). If we assume that the wave packet
maximum, where the three waves are in phase, is at , then the destructive
interference minimum on the right is at , as indicated above. To calculate , set
the phase difference between the upper side mode ( ) and the central mode
( ) equal to and solve

The animation below shows that the velocity of the envelope—the group velocity—is
twice the velocity of the wiggles within the envelope—the phase velocity.

6.9 The Gaussian integral is

Collect terms in the exponent that are quadratic and linear in the momentum:

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Ch. 6 Solutions

and use Eq. (F.23) to get

Now add and subtract terms in the exponent to change form:

Using the definitions

the result is

6.10 The expectation value of position is

Substituting the Gaussian wave packet gives

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Ch. 6 Solutions

as in Eq. (6.56).
The expectation value of momentum is easier to calculate in momentum space:

Substituting the momentum distribution gives

as in Eq. (6.59).

6.11 Here is a plot as the width of the momentum distribution varies

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Ch. 6 Solutions

As the width increases, the spatial extent , defined here as the standard deviation of
the probability distribution, decreases. The relation between the momentum spread and
the position spread is given by Eq. (6.70):

The animation below shows that the velocity of the envelope—the group velocity—is
twice the velocity of the wiggles within the envelope—the phase velocity.

For longer times, you can also see the spread of the wave packet.

6.12 A propagating Gaussian wave packet has the wave function

where

The breadth of the wave function is characterized by the position uncertainty

. From Problem 6.10 or Eq. (6.56), we have . To find the
uncertainty we need the expectation value

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Ch. 6 Solutions

Hence, the position uncertainty is

This is a growing function of time, so the wave packet broadens in position space as it
moves. In momentum space we have . The expectation value of is

The momentum space width is constant.

The uncertainty product is

so it is satisfied. The minimum uncertainty is at , at which time the wave packet has
the minimum uncertainty allowed by quantum mechanics. For all other times the wave
packet has a larger uncertainty.

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Ch. 6 Solutions

6.13 For a harmonic wave of the form , the phase velocity is the ratio of the
angular frequency to the wave vector

Multiplying top and bottom by Planck's constant gets

Using Einstein's energy relation and de Broglie's relation gives

Using the kinetic energy of a free particle gives

Using the classical relation between momentum and velocity of a particle

results in

For a wave that is a superposition of harmonic waves, the group velocity is the derivative
of the dispersion relation:

Multiplying top and bottom by Planck's constant gets

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Ch. 6 Solutions

Using Einstein's energy relation and de Broglie's relation gives

Using the kinetic energy of a free particle gives

Using the classical relation between momentum and velocity of a particle

results in

6.14 This wave function is not an eigenstate of momentum, which is clear if we write it
as a sum of complex exponentials

By inspection, we see that this state is the superposition

so measurement of the momentum yields the results or . The expectation value

of the momentum is

The momentum probability distribution is obtained from the momentum space wave
function. Using Eq. (6.31), we obtain

giving

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Ch. 6 Solutions

To find the uncertainty, we need :

Hence the uncertainty is

6.15 The position uncertainty is roughly the size of the box . The uncertainty
principle implies a minimum momentum

and hence a minimum energy

For an electron in a 0.1 nm box, the energy is

6.16 For a particle bound in a potential well , the energy is

For a particle confined to region , the uncertainty principle implies a minimum

momentum , and we estimate the ground state energy as

in the harmonic oscillator potential. Minimizing this with respect to , gives

where we have used , with being the resonant frequency of the oscillator.
The resultant energy is

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Ch. 6 Solutions

which is (miraculously) the correct energy.

6.17 For a particle bound in a potential well , the energy is

For a particle confined to region , the uncertainty principle implies a minimum

momentum , and we estimate the ground state energy as

in the linear potential. Minimizing this with respect to , gives

The resultant energy is

6.18 For a particle bound in a potential well , the energy is

For a particle confined to region , the uncertainty principle implies a minimum

momentum , and we estimate the ground state energy as

in this quartic potential. Minimizing this with respect to , gives

The resultant energy is

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Ch. 6 Solutions

6.19 For a particle bound in a potential well , the energy is

For a particle confined to region , the uncertainty principle implies a minimum

momentum , and we estimate the ground state energy as

in the Coulomb potential. Minimizing this with respect to , gives

The resultant energy is

which is 4 times larger than the actual energy

6.20 For a particle in a square well from 0 -> L, the position expectation value is
. The position uncertainty is

So first find :

The position uncertainty is

For a uniform probability density, we get

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Ch. 6 Solutions

as expected, and

The position uncertainty is

which is larger than the ground state, as you might expect.

6.21 First normalize the wave function:

The normalized wave function is

(a) The expectation value of momentum calculated in the position representation is

This is expected from the form of the wave function.

(b) To calculate the expectation value in the momentum representation, we first need the
momentum space wave function. Using Eq. (6.31), we obtain

Use the integral in Eq. (F.23) to obtain

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Ch. 6 Solutions

The expectation value of momentum in the momentum representation is

The same result, as expected.

6.22 (a) Plot the wave function, using , which gives a wavelength
:

(b) Normalize the wave function:

The normalized wave function is

(c) Using Eq. (6.31), the momentum space wave function is

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Ch. 6 Solutions

The momentum probability density is

Plot the momentum probability, using :

6.23 The position uncertainty is roughly the size of the nucleus . This is 5
orders of magnitude smaller than the hydrogen atom, which implies a much larger
energy, so we use the relativistic form . The uncertainty
principle implies a minimum momentum

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Ch. 6 Solutions

and hence a minimum energy

For an electron in a 2 fm box, the energy is

which is definitely relativistic. The Coulomb potential energy for such a confined
electron is

This potential energy well is not sufficient to confine this energetic electron, so electron
confinement inside the nucleus by the Coulomb force is not sufficient. You would have
to hypothesize some other force.

6.24 The boundary conditions for a wave incident on a well [Eq. (6.90)] are

Solve the last two equations for C and D

Similarly rearrange the first two equations:

and substitute from above:

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Ch. 6 Solutions

Simplify

and solve for the ratios B/A and F/A

which agree with Eq. (6.91).

6.25 The transmission through a square well is unity when the well contains an integer
number of half wavelengths [Eq. (6.97)]:

In terms of energy this is

The width a is proportional to the integer n, so the minimum value of a occurs for the
minimum value of n:

Evaluating this gives

The other possible energies for unity transmission are found with the other integers:

Nothing that the lowest energy is 20 eV:

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Ch. 6 Solutions

allows us to find the simple expression:

.

With values

Every potential well has at least one bound state. To determine the number of bound
states, find the parameter defined in Eq. (5.86):

Using a from above, we get

Recall from Chapter 5 that the well gains another bound state for each additional
value of . Hence this state has only one bound state.

6.26 The bound states of a finite well are determined by the parameter defined in
Eq. (5.86):

A well with 5 states has between and . This range of possibilities for
corresponds to a range of possibilities for the well size 2a. The scattering resonances are
given by Eq. (6.98)

In this case we do not know n, so we must treat the above as two equations with two
unknowns (n and a), where we know only the possible range of . Eliminating a first,
we find

and solving for n gives

So, the resonance must lie in the range

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Ch. 6 Solutions

.
We conclude that the scattering resonance must have . Solving the resonance
equation for the well half-width gives

Thus the width of the well is . The other possible energies for unity
transmission are found with the other integers:

Nothing that the resonance is 11 eV:

Allows us to find the simple expression:

Note that this result gives negative energies for . This is to be expected: the first
scattering resonance has the same index as the highest bound state ( here). Starting
with , the scattering resonances are
.

6.27 The well parameter z0 is

which gives 2 bound states. The solutions to the transcendental equations are

For this case, we put the zero of potential energy outside the well, so the energies of the
bound states are

The scattering resonances are given by Eq. (6.98):

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Ch. 6 Solutions

For this well, we get

Note that this result gives negative energies for . This is to be expected: the first
scattering resonance has the same index as the highest bound state ( here). Starting
with , the scattering resonances are
.

6.28 The scattering resonances are given by Eq. (6.98), with the sign of the well/barrier
changed:

For this well, we get

Starting with , the scattering resonances are

.

6.29 a) When the energy of the incident particles is less than the height of the potential
energy step, the wave function on the right side is a decaying exponential:

where

The boundary conditions at the step are

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Ch. 6 Solutions

Substitute the first equation into the second equation and solve for the ratio of the
reflected amplitude to the incident amplitude

The absolute square of this gives the reflection coefficient

So 100% of the particles are reflected and there is no probability of transmission. There
is some penetration of the wave function into the step, but the wave function decays to
zero and never reaches infinity (where your detector is).
b) When the energy of the incident particles is greater than the height of the potential
energy step, the wave function on the right side is a complex exponential:

where

The boundary conditions at the step are

Substitute the first equation into the second equation and solve for the ratio of the
reflected amplitude to the incident amplitude

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Ch. 6 Solutions

The absolute square of this gives the reflection coefficient

So less than 100% of the particles are reflected and there is some probability of
transmission. To conserve particles, we require that , so the transmission is

Note that in this problem because the wave speeds on the two sides are
different.
c) Plots:

The reflection is unity until the energy exceeds the step height, after which the reflection
decreases monotonically. There are no resonances in this case because there are not two
surfaces to generate multiple waves that can interfere (see Problem 6.30).

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Ch. 6 Solutions

6.30 Consider the step potential shown below:

We put the potential steps at and to make the algebra similar to the well
problems done earlier. From Problem 6.29, we know that we need the incident energy to
be above the final step height to get any transmission, so we assume that. The wave
functions in the three regions are [see Eq. (6.89)]

The wave vectors in the three regions are

The boundary conditions for a wave incident on the steps [see Eq. (6.90)] are

Solve the last two equations for C and D

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Ch. 6 Solutions

Similarly rearrange the first two equations:

and substitute from above:

Simplify

and solve for the ratios B/A and F/A

The absolute square of B/A gives the reflection coefficient

The reflection is zero and hence the transmission is unity when

and
,
which in terms of energies is

For this choice of parameters, the waves reflected multiple times interfere destructively
as in an optical anti-reflection (AR) coating.
6.31 The transmission probability is [Eq. (6.105)]

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Ch. 6 Solutions

For this barrier we get

6.32 The boundary conditions for a wave incident on a barrier [Eq. (6.104)] are

Solve the last two equations for C and D

Solve for the ratio of the growing exponential wave coefficient (C) to the decaying term
coefficient (D):

and find the ratio of the absolute values:

Inside the barrier the growing part of the wave function is and the decaying part of
the wave function is . The ratio of their amplitudes is

Only at the far right side of the barrier are the two waves of equal magnitude.

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Solution Manual for Quantum Mechanics by McIntyre

Ch. 6 Solutions

6.33 The tunneling probability for a barrier of width d is (Eq. (6.105) with )

Expand the hyperbolic sine to get

For , the exponential term dominates, giving

6.34 The barrier height is equal to the work function (5 eV), and the barrier width is
for the nominal 1 nA current. The bias voltage is minimal so the electron
energy is close to zero. The decay constant in the well is

The tunneling current as a function of barrier width is [Eq. (6.108)]

which gives

The currents at other separations are thus

9/11/23 6-34

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