PYL100 Problem set: wave mechanics

Dr. Rohit Narula

October 1, 2016

Exercise 1.
(a) Find the expectation value E of the number rolled on throwing a fair six-
sided dice.
(b) Find the standard deviation ∆

Solution 1.
(a) The probability distibution P(X) = 16 as each of the faces is equally likely.
Note, that in this case it is discrete since the number rolled are discrete. The
expectation value of a random variable X is then given by:
X
E(X) = XP(X)
1 (1)
= (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6)
6
= 3.5

(b) The standard deviation ∆X is:

p
∆X = E((X − E(X))2 )
p
= E((X − µ)2 )
qX
= (X − µ)2 P(X)
r
1
= [(1 − 3.5)2 + (2 − 3.5)2 + (3 − 3.5)2 + (4 − 3.5)2 + (5 − 3.5)2 + (6 − 3.5)2 ]
6
= 1.71
(2)

Exercise 2.
What are the dimensions of ψ(x)?

Solution 2.
We start with the expression for the probability dP of finding the particle lying
an interval r and r + dr for a normalized wavefunction x:

dP =| ψ(x) |2 dx (3)

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Since the probability dP must be a dimensionless number, we immediately see
that ψ(x) has dimensions of √1L .

Exercise 3.
Show that the wavefunction ψ satisfying the Schrödinger equation must be com-
plex.

Solution 3.
We begin with the Schrödinger equation:
∂
i~ ψ(r, t) = Ĥψ(r, t), (4)
∂t
Let us assume that the wavefunctions ψ(r, t) are real, i.e., ψ(r, t) ∈ R. We
see that the RHS of Eq. 4 is:
RHS = Ĥψ(r, t)
= λψ(r, t) (5)
∈R
where in the second step we have used the fact that the eigenvalues of the
Hamiltonian must be real since Ĥ is hermitian. Thus, in the third line above,
the product of two real numbers must be real making RHS ∈ R. Considering
the LHS now,
∂
LHS = i~ ψ(r, t)
∂t
=i×R (6)
∈C
thus leading to a contradiction since LHS 6= RHS. Thus, ψ must be complex!

Exercise 4.
The Schrödinger equation:
∂
i~ ψ(r, t) = Ĥψ(r, t), (7)
∂t
is both linear and homogenous, if ψ1 and ψ2 are valid solutions, then,
ψ 0 = c1 ψ1 + c2 ψ2 , (8)
must also be a valid solution, where c1 and c2 are arbitrary complex constants.

After the class of Thursday the 22nd of September 2016, one of you asked
me a thought provoking question about what would happen if the complex
prefactor above were chosen to be c = ψ ? ? Wouldn’t ψ 0 = ψ ? ψ =| ψ |2 then be
real contradicting the fact that the wave functions ψ satisfying the Schrödinger
equation must be complex?

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Solution 4.
The important thing to consider here is that the complex constant is just that
-a constant. Thus the wavefunction times the prefactor becomes,

ψ(r, t)0 = cψ(r, t) = ψ(r0 , t0 )? ψ(r, t) (9)

Let us now consider the LHS:

∂ 0
LHS = i~ ψ (r, t)
∂t
∂
= i~ (ψ(r0 , t0 )? ψ(r, t)) (10)
∂t
∂
= i~ψ(r0 , t0 )? ψ(r, t)
∂t
For the RHS we have:

RHS = Ĥψ 0 (r, t)

= Ĥ(ψ(r0 , t0 )? ψ(r, t)) (11)
= ψ(r0 , t0 )? Ĥψ(r, t)

where using Eq. 7 we get LHS = RHS.

And hence, such a complex prefactor c = ψ(r0 , t0 )? does not pose a problem!
Note that we have shown that the wavefunction ψ 0 (r, t) can be locally real,
i.e., ψ 0 (r0 , t0 ). Since the Schrödinger equation is a differential equation and a
derivative f 0 (x) = limdx−→0 f (x+dx)−fdx
(x)
is defined over an infinitesimal interval
dx, the wavefunction is allowed to cross the real-axis of the Argand plane at
isolated points.

Exercise 5.
Write the Hamiltonian of the one-dimensional harmonic oscillator.

Solution 5.
A classical one-dimensional harmonic oscillator is a system that when it’s dis-
placed from its equilibrium position, it experiences a restoring force:

F = −kx (12)

that is proportional to the displacement x. Now, using that F = −∇U we have:

Z xB
UB − UA = − F dx
xA
Z xB
UB − UA = kxdx (13)
xA
1
U = kx2
2

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where we have taken the potential energy stored in the spring at the equilibrium
position x = 0 to be zero. The potential energy can be rewritten as:
1
U= mω0 x2 (14)
2
p
where ω0 = k/m (Can you argue why?) is the natural frequency. By corre-
spondence the Hamiltonian Ĥ can now be written as:

Ĥ = T̂ + V̂
p̂2 1
= + mω0 x2
2m 2
(−i~∇)2 1 (15)
= + mω0 x2
2m 2
~2 ∂ 2 1
=− 2
+ mω0 x2
2m ∂x 2

Exercise 6.
(a) Write down the Hamiltonian operator Ĥ for the hydrogen atom.
(b) What will the wavefunction describing the hydrogen atom be a function of?

Solution 6.
(a) The hydrogen atom consists of a single proton of charge e located at R and
one electron located at r with a charge −e. The Hamiltonian Ĥ can be written
as:
Ĥ = T̂ + V̂
p̂(R) p̂(r) −e2
= + +
2M 2m 4π0 | r − R |
(−i~∇R ) 2
(−i~∇r )2 −e2 (16)
= + +
2M 2m 4π0 | r − R |
2 2 2 2
~ ∆R ~ ∆r −e2
=− − +
2M 2m 4π0 | r − R |

(b) The wavefunction ψ describing the hydrogen atom will be a function of

seven variables, the three position coordinates of the electron, the three position
coordinates of the proton and time, such that ψ = ψ(Rx , Ry , Rz , rx , ry , rz , t).