Particle in a box: We consider a particle is trapped in one

dimensional box or potential well of infinite hard walls.

Infinitely hard walls means particle cannot leave the box

potential at the boundary of the box is infinite. The particle moves
along x-axis between x = 0 to x = L.

Particle does not lose the energy when

it collides with the walls of the box and
thus total energy of the particle is
constant.

We consider that the potential is infinite on both sides of the

wall but inside the box potential is constant say zero.
Since the particle cannot have infinite energy outside the box,
therefore, its wave function vanishes outside i.e.

= 0 for -------(1)

Now we shall find the value of the wave function inside the box between x = 0
and x = L. For this, we start with the Schrodinger steady state wave Eq.,

-----------(2)

Inside, the potential energy is zero i.e. U = 0, Thus, above Eq. become

-----------(3)

Since in the present problem the wave function depends only on x so

we replace partial derivative by the complete derivative.
The solution of Eq. (3) will be of the form

----------(4)

where A and B are constants which we have to determine.

Note that the solution (4) is subject to the boundary conditions that the wave
function is zero at x = 0 or x = L (particle is only inside the box).

Now since for x = 0, 2nd term will not vanish as cos (0) = 1. So this
term will not describe the desired wave function.
It means B = 0 in Eq. (4).
At x = 0, first term of Eq. (4) will vanish (because sin (0) = 0) and hence this term
will describe the desired wave function.
Note that 1st term and hence should also vanish at x = L. This will happen only if

-------(5)
Above Eq. tells us that the particle can only some discrete values of the
energies. These energy values are known as Eigen values.
For some nth energy level we write Eq. (5) in form

-----------(6)

n is a quantum number
From above Eq. We observe that
(1) The particle inside the box can take only discrete values of energy.
It cannot have any arbitrary value of energy. The values of energy depends
upon the mass of the particle and size of box.

(2) Note that we cannot have n = 0, because for n = 0 the value of energy
E = 0. E = 0 will corresponds to zero value of K.E. and hence zero
velocity of particle. For v = 0, the de-Broglie wavelength will become infinite.
which has no physical meaning.
We can now write the wave function of a particle (whose
energy is En) inside the box using Eq. (4) and taking B= 0.
So we have

-------------(7)

Using Eq. (6) in (7), we get

---------(8)

Note that for each value of n the above wave function is single
values and this wave function and its derivative has
continuous values (except at the boundaries).
 Now we find the integral

By using

-------(9)

The wave function is normalized if

---------(10)
 Comparing (9) and (10) we get

-----------(11)

Using above value of constant A in Eq. (8), we get,

-------(12)

Above Eq. gives us the normalized wave functions for the

particle trapped inside a box with infinite hard walls.
Figures shows the plot of the wave function and corresponding
probabilities (square of wave function) for first three energy states.
The wave function can have +ve
and –ve value.
The wave function have zero value
at the boundary. The number of
nodes depends on the wave
function n and they are (n-1).

At a particular place in the box the

probability of the particle being
present may be very different for
different quantum numbers.

For instance, has its maximum

value of in the middle of the box,
2 x=0, L/2, L
while there.
3 x=0, L/3, 2L/3, L
 We observe that in the ground state the maximum probability
of finding the particle is in the middle of the box but in n=2
i.e. first excited state the probability of finding the particle in
the middle of the box is zero.

Such kind of findings are of quantum mechanics. The

classical mechanics will give the equal probability of finding
the particle everywhere.
Question:

N=1, E1= 38 eV

N=2, E2= 152 eV

N=3, E3= 342 eV

Operators and Eigenvalues

Eigenvalue equation

and
 Momentum eigenvalues for trapped particle

We know that:

Eigen values for energy for particle in a box is:

The momentum value is positive and negative.

The particle is moving back and forth, and so its average

momentum for any value of n is zero.
There should be two momentum eigenfunctions for every energy
eigenfunction, corresponding to the two possible directions of motion.

Eigenvalue equation

where each pn is a real number.

This equation holds only when the wave functions are eigenfunctions of the
momentum operator.

and

By using the above relations, we get:

 To find the correct momentum eigenfunctions, we use the following
relation:

The energy eigenfunction can be expressed as a linear combination of the two

wave functions

Momentum eigenfunctions for

trapped particle

similarly
Momentum of a particle trapped in a one-dimensional box
We know that the expectation value of momentum is:

The wave function for the particle in a one dimensional box is

and and
We know that:

The expectation value p of the particle’s momentum is 0.

 LINEARITY AND SUPERPOSITION

It is linear in the wave function

If slit 1 only is open, the result is the
intensity variation
Operators and Eigenvalues

Eigenvalue equation

and
TUNNEL EFFECT
Potential energies are never infinite in the real world.
Suppose a particle strikes a potential barrier of height U, and E < U,
and the barrier has a finite width.

Then the particle has the finite probability of passing through the barrier and
emerging on the other side.

As E < U, the particle can not go over the top of the barrier, but it can nevertheless
tunnel through it.

The higher the barrier and wider it is, the less the chance that the particle
can pass through the barrier and emerging on the other side.

Tunneling also occurs in the operation of certain semiconductor diodes

in which electrons pass through potential barriers even though their kinetic
energies are smaller than the barrier heights.

Tunnel Diode, Alpha particle decay.

 Consider a particle of energy E<U approaches a potential barrier U high and L wide.

We have three different regions with three different

wavefunctions. U=0, on the both side of the barrier.

The Schrödinger’s equation for the particle in regions I and III:

The solution for above equations:

Wave number outside barrier

 We know that

Incoming wave
x=0 x=L
A is the amplitude of the incident from the left on the barrier.
If v1+ is the group velocity of the incoming
Probability density
wave, which equals the velocity of the particles.

Then the flux of particles that arrive at the barrier:

At x= 0, the incident wave strikes the barrier and is partially reflected

Reflected wave

The total wave function 1

 For the other side of the barrier (x > L):
In this region there is nothing to reflect the incident beam and hence G = 0

Therefore,

Transmission probability

The transmission probability T for a particle to pass through the barrier is the ratio
between the flux of particles that emerges from the barrier and the flux that arrives at it.

In other words, T is the fraction of incident particles that succeed in

tunneling through the barrier.
 In region II Schrödinger’s equation for the particles is

As U >E, we can rearrange the above equation

The solution for above equation is

Where the wave number

Since the exponents are real quantities, does not oscillate and therefore
does not represent a moving particle. However, the probability density
is not zero, so there is a finite probability of finding a particle within the barrier.
Such a particle may emerge into region III or it may return to region I.
 Applying the Boundary Conditions

We have to apply the appropriate boundary conditions to

The wave function and its derivative must be continuous everywhere.

The wave functions inside and outside must have the same value and the
same slope.
At the left side of the barrier:

At the right side of the barrier:

 We know the wavefunctions

By applying the boundary conditions we will get

We can solve these equations to get the value of A and F

If U is very high than E

then k2/k1 > k1/k2 and hence

Let us also assume that the barrier is wide enough hence the wave
function in region II weakened severely between x=0 to x=L

This means that k2L>>1 and

By applying these approximation:

The complex conjugate of A/F is

 Transmission probability

We know that

The quantity in brackets varies much less with E and U than does the exponential.
Hence it is always of the order of magnitude of 1 in value.

A reasonable approximation Approximate transmission probability is

Approximate transmission probability