Quantum Mechanics and Schrödinger Equations

Felipe Bedoya

Sergio Arboleda University - Department of Mathematics

November 19, 2019

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Overview

1 Origin and some history on Quantum Mechanics

2 Schrödinger Equations

3 Derivation of a potential function

4 References

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Origin and some history on Quantum Mechanics

As we already know, Newtonian mechanics breaks down when

facing situations of very strong gravity or quite small particles
such as electrons.
In 1801 Thomas Young presents the result of the double slit
experiment, leading to notion that light behaves as a particle,
but also as a wave.

Figure: Modern illustration of the Young’s experiment.

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Origin and some history on Quantum Mechanics

Figure: Modern illustration of the Young’s experiment.

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Origin and some history on Quantum Mechanics

Surprisingly enough, when the same experiment was performed

on electrons, the same pattern emerged, showing that the
duality wave-particle also holds for massive particles.
Animation on wave-particle duality

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Schrödinger Equations

Now we know that the duality wave-particle holds for matter as

well.

We need something to describe the trajectory of a given

particle. This is what we will call a wave function.

It can be in function of the x, y , z and time (t). For the sake

of simplicity we will assume that the wave function depends
solely on x and t.

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Schrödinger Equations

In this case, the wave function, ψ(x, t) is the solution for:

−} ∂ψ(x, t) −}2 ∂ 2 ψ(x, t)

= + V (x, t)ψ(x, t) (1)
i ∂x 2 2m ∂x 2

We will deduce what the wave function and potential functions

are.
h
} is 2π where h is the Plack’s constant, m is the mass of the
particle and V (x, t) is the potential energy function that
describes the interaction of the particle with its environment.

The solution of (1) is what is known as the Schrödinger

equation for the unidimensional case. It contains all the
information about the system.

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Uncertainty principle

Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle establishes that there are

pair of variables whose values cannot be known with infinite
precision.

Figure: Are you sure you know where you are?

This is a striking result since Newtonian mechanics apparently

provides a way to always determine variables like position and
velocity with no margin for error.

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Uncertainty principle

Recall the duality we talked about. Now let us thinks about

two values: position and momentum.

The bigger the object is, the smaller its wavelength. Hence,
that approach gives us the momentum of the particle, but says
nothing about the position.

We come across δxδp ≥ }

2

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Statistical interpretation of the wave function

According to Born’s interpretation, if the wave function reaches

certain value ψ(x, t), the probability of finding the particle in x
and x + dx is proportional to |ψ(x, t)|2
This immediately means that |ψ(x, t)|2 is a density function.

Figure: What apparently happens vs what really takes place

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Statistical interpretation of the wave function

Notice that we have lost control over full precision here, so we

must think not about where the tiny particle is, but where it is
likely to be.

let x̂ = hxi be the expected value for the position.

n
X
hxi = xi P(xi ) (2)
i=1

That is for the discrete case, for the continuous one we have
Z
hxi = xP(x)dx (3)

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Newtonian physics as a particular case

Let F (x) be the force as usually described and let us now take
λ → 0 where λ is the wavelength.

Notice that this means taking away the wave depiction and
focusing one the particle one. In this case, we have that:

d 2 hxi
hF i = m (4)
dt 2

Actually, all bodies can be seen as waves. However, this λ

value is almost zero for macroscopic values. In this case,
Newtonian mechanics perfectly holds.

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Schrödinger equation: independent of time

There is an extremely important case of Schrödinger equation

for atoms and molecules study.

We will assume that potential energy does not depend on time,

hence V (x).

−} ∂ψ(x, t) −}2 ∂ 2 ψ(x, t)

= + V (x)ψ(x, t) (5)
i ∂x 2 2m ∂x 2
We have here a second degree partial differential equation. We
perform variables separation to break it down into two ODE’s.

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Schrödinger equation: independent of time

We assume that ψ(x, t) = f (t)φ(x).

Therefore,

−} ∂ψ(x, t) −}2 ∂ 2 ψ(x, t)

= + V (x)f (t)φ(x) (6)
i ∂x 2 2m ∂x 2
We also have that
−}2 ∂ψ(x, t) −}2 ∂ 2 φ(x, t)
= f (t) + V (x)f (t)φ(x) (7)
i ∂x 2 2m ∂x 2
Now, we divide by f(t)φ(x) on both sides.

−}2 1 ∂f (t) −}2 1 ∂ 2 φ(x)

= + V (x) = E (8)
i f (t) ∂t 2m φ(x) ∂x 2
With base on that we have the two desired ODEs.

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Schrödinger equation: independent of time
The first one is
} ∂f (t)
+ E · f (t) = 0 (9)
i ∂t

It is trivial to see that the solution is

f (t) = e rt (10)

This means that (8) is now

} rt
re + E · e rt = 0 (11)
i
This finally means that the solution is
−Ei
r= (12)
}
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Schrödinger equation: independent of time

The second equation is

−} ∂ 2 φ(x)
+ V (x)φ(x) = E φ(x) (13)
2m ∂x 2
The solution of this equation, given by φ(x) depends upon the
choice of V (x). And that is what we will deal with later.
To finish this section, we can conclude that
−Eit
ψ(x, t) = e } φ(x) (14)

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We will now deduce potential function for some cases

As we said, the details of the equation depends on who the

potential is.
The continuous state is the simplest case, where V (x) = 0.
The potential case step relates to a situation where there is an
abrupt change in the potential energy of the system at some
point.
Given the length of the mathematical background, we will show
the details in the good-old-fashion way (i.e, on the board).

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References

Hernandez, J. Mecanica Cuantica. UNAM, facultad de quimica.

Zettilli, N (2009). Quantum Mechanics Concepts and
Applications. Editorial John Wiley and Sons.

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