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McGill University PHYS-271 INTRODUCTION TO QUANTUM PHYSICS

FINAL EXAM
Wednesday April 25 2012 9:00-12:00
Examiner: Guillaume Gervais, McGill Physics
Associate examiner: Bill Coish, McGill Physics
There are 3 problems to be solved completely, and the corresponding marks for each
of them is indicated below. Only paper and pencil is allowed; the exam is closed book and
no calculators are allowed. Show all your work and do all problems, and everything should go
into the exam books. The total of the exam is out of 100. Students are allowed to use a
translation dictionary.
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PHYS-271 INTRODUCTION TO QUANTUM PHYSICS
1. On the Schrodinger Equation and its Wavefunction (40 pts.)
The backbone of the quantum theory is given by the Schrodinger equation. Considering
a wavepacket given by the complex function
(x, t) =

(p)e
i

pxE(p)t)

dp, (1)
I would like you to do the following:
a) (10 pts) For the case where a quantum particle is subjected to a general potential V ,
show that from E = p
2
/2m + V (x) you can construct an equation for the wavepacket given
above. This equation is the Schrodinger equation.
b) (5 pts) In the Born interpretation of quantum physics, what is the meaning of

=
||
2
? Can ||
2
be greater than one? Discuss. Provide a simple example related to chemistry or
the structure of atoms and discuss it in relation to the wave function.
c) (5 pts.) Consider a generic time-dependent potential V = V (x, t) = V
0
cos(t) where
is a generic angular frequency. Can you use the method of separation of variables to solve the
Schrodinger equation for the time and spatial part? If yes, do the calculations. If not, provide
arguments.
d) (10 pts.) Consider a general potential V (x) as shown below, and a particle with a total
energy E
1
. Make a sketch of the ground state wave function you expect in all regions of space,
i.e. for x < x
1
, x > x
2
and x
1
< x < x
2
. Make a sketch of ||
2
. What do you conclude?
Compare your results in relation to classical physics. Could the ground state energy be zero as
in the classical case?
e) (10 pts.) Solve the Schrodinger equation in the case where the particle is free, i.e.
V 0. Make sure to solve both for the spatial and the temporal evolution so that you write
(x, t). Discuss your result.
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x
V(x)
E
1
x
1
x
2
Figure 1: General potential for the question 1d).
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PHYS-271 INTRODUCTION TO QUANTUM PHYSICS
2. Of Heisenberg and Bohr (30 pts.)
a) (10 pts.) Write down the quantization condition in the Bohr model of the atom. What
exactly is quantized? Derive a similar condition but expressed in terms of the de Broglie wave-
length.
b) (10 pts.) In the Bohr model, the spectral lines depend to some extent on the nuclear
mass. It can be shown that the energy in the Bohr model should be modied with the reduced
mass = m
e
M/(m
e
+M) where m
e
is the electron mass and M is the mass of the nucleus. The
energy levels then become E
n
=
ke
2
2mea
0
(1/n
2
) where a
0
is the Bohr radius and k is the Coulomb
constant so that V = k/r. What possible values can n take? What is the ground state energy?
What is the meaning of the n limit? Derive the generic formula for the spectral lines (1/)
that a spectroscopist would observe.
c) (10 pts.) An electron of momentum p is at a distance r from a stationary proton. The
system has a non-relativistic kinetic energy K and a potential energy U = ke
2
/r. The total
energy E is the sum of the two. If the electron is bound to the proton to form a hydrogen atom,
its average position is at the proton but the uncertainty in its position is approximately equal
to the radius r of its orbit. The electrons average momentum will be zero, but its uncertainty
will be given by the Heisenberg principle where xp . i) Estimate the uncertainty in
the electrons momentum in term of r. ii) Estimate the electrons kinetic, potential and total
energies in term of r. iii) What is the value of r that minimizes the total energy? Compare
your answer with the predictions of the Bohr theory.
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PHYS-331 PHYS-271 INTRODUCTION TO QUANTUM PHYSICS
3. The Potential Step. (30 pts.)
We consider a potential step where V = 0 for x < 0 and V = U for x > 0, see gure
below. A particle of energy E < U is incident from the left of the potential step.
a) (10 pts) Solve the Schrodinger equation everywhere for both the spatial and temporal
part. You should should express your answer in terms of a complete (x, t) in both regions.
You do not have to solve for the coecients or amplitude of the wavefunction here.
b) (10 pts.) Applying the boundary conditions at x = 0, determine the two equations
that will relate the coecients A and B for the wavefuction in the region x < 0 (with A dened
for the incident wavefunction) to the coecient C in the region x > 0. Solve this system of
equation and compute the ratio B/A and C/A.
c) (10 pts.) Calculate the coecient of reection R. How do you interpret this result? Is
there penetration of the wavefunction in the region x > 0? Is there a propagating wave in this
region? Discuss your result in terms of expectations from classical physics.
Figure 2: A potential step.