Quantum Physics III (8.

06) Spring 2008

FINAL EXAMINATION
Monday May 19, 1:30 pm-4:30pm
You have 3 hours.
There are 9 problems, totalling 180 points. Do all
problems.
Answer all problems in the white books provided.
Write YOUR NAME on EACH white book you use.
Budget your time wisely, using the point values as
a guide. Note also that shorter problems may not
always be easier problems.
No books, notes or calculators allowed.

Some potentially useful information

Schr
odinger equation
i~

d
|(t)i = H(t)|(t)i
dt

For an energy eigenstate of energy E

i

(t) = e ~ Et (0)
and the Schrodinger equation reduces to an eigenvalue equation
H = E
Harmonic Oscillator
= 1 p2 + 1 m 2 x2
H
2m
2
where
[
x, p] = i~ .
This Hamiltonian can be rewritten as


+1
= ~ N
H
2

=a
where N
a
, and the operators a
and a
are given by
a
=

1
(m
x + i
p) ,
2m~

a
=

1
(m
x i
p) ,
2m~

and satisfy
[
a, a
] = 1 .
Conversely
r
x =

~
(
a+a
),
2m

1
p =
i

~m
(
aa
)
2

is given by
The action of a
and a
on eigenstates of N

|ni = n|n 1i .
a
|ni = n + 1|n + 1i , a
The ground state wave function is
 m 1/4
 m 
hx|0i =
exp
x2 .
~
2~
2

 Natural units
In the natural units, the dimension of any physical quantity can be written as
E a ~b cd
where E denotes energy whose unit is normally taken to be eV . Some examples
[m] = E/c2
[L] = ~c E 1
[t] = ~E 1
Particle in an Electric and/or Magnetic Field:
The Hamiltonian for a particle with charge q in a magnetic field and electric
field
~
~ =
~ A,
~
~ =
~ 1 A
B
E
c t
is:
1 
q ~ 2
H=
p~ A + q
(1)
2m
c
Gauge invariance:
If (~x, t) solves the Schrodinger equation defined by the Hamiltonian (1), then


iq
0
(~x, t) = exp f (~x, t) (~x, t)
~c
~ by A
~0 = A
~ f
~
solves the Schrodinger equation obtained upon replacing A
and replacing by 0 = + (1/c)f /t.
Electron in a magnetic field: spin Hamiltonian
The Hamiltonian for the spin is given by
H=
where

and

e~ ~
~
S B = B ~ B
m

e~
~ = ~ ~ ,
S
B =
2
2m






0 1
0 i
1 0
1 =
; 2 =
; 3 =
1 0
i 0
0 1

 Time independent perturbation theory:

Suppose that
H = H0 + H 0
where we already know the eigenvalues En0 and eigenstates |n0 i of H 0 :
H0 |n(0) i = En(0) |n(0) i .
Then, the eigenvalues and eigenstates of the full Hamiltonian H are:
0
En = En(0) + Hnn
+

|n i =
(0)

|n(0) i

0
|2
|Hnm

m6=n

En Em

(0)

0
Hmn

(0)
m6=n En

(0)
Em

(0)

+ ...

(0)
|m
i + ...

(2)

(3)

(0)

0
where Hnm
hn |H 0 |m i.
(0)

If H0 has degeneracy at En , first diagonalize H 0 in the corresponding degener(0)

ate subspace, then use equations (2) and (3). In particular |n i (good states)
should be one of the eigenvectors of H 0 in the degenerate subspace.
Connection Formulae for WKB Wave Functions:
At a turning point at x = a at which the classically forbidden region is at x > a:
 Z a



Z
1
2

1 x
1
0
0
0
0
p
cos
p(x )dx
exp
(x )dx
p
~ x
4
~ a
p(x)
(x)
 Z a



Z

1
1
1 x
1
0
0
0
0
p
p(x )dx +
(x )dx
cos
p
exp +
~ x
4
~ a
p(x)
(x)
At a turning point at x = b at which the classically forbidden region is at x < b:



 Z x
Z
1
2

1 b
1
0
0
0
0
p
(x )dx
p
p(x )dx
exp
cos
~ x
~ b
4
(x)
p(x)


 Z x

Z b
1
1
1
1

0
0
0
0
p
exp +
cos
(x )dx
p
p(x )dx +
~ x
~ b
4
(x)
p(x)
Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization condition
Z b
1
dx p(x)dx = (n )~,
2
a

n = 1, 2,

(4)

where a, b are classical turning points. If the potential has a sharp wall on one
side, equation (4) becomes
Z b
1
n = 1, 2,
(5)
dx p(x) = (n )~,
4
a
If the potential has sharp walls on both side, equation (4) becomes
Z b
dx p(x) = n~,
n = 1, 2,

(6)

Barrier tunnelling
2

P e ~

Rb
a

dx (x)

Adiabatic evolution
~ of a Hamiltonian H(R),
~ if the system
Under adiabatic change of parameters R
is initially in the n-th energy eigenstate, it stays in the same energy eigenstate
as the parameters change and acquires a phase factor
~
(t) = ein (t)+in (t) |n (R(t))i
with
1
n =
~
and

Z
n (t) = i

~ 0 ))
dt0 En (R(t

~ 0 ))|t0 n (R(t
~ 0 ))i .
dt0 hn (R(t

The geometric phase for a spin- 12 particle in a magnetic field: for the spin up
state
1
+ = C
2
where C is the solid angle subtended at the origin by the closed curve C traced
by the rotating magnetic field .
Time Dependent Perturbation Theory
Consider a system with the Hamiltonian
H(t) = H0 + H 0 (t) .
Denote the matrix element of H 0 between eigenstates of H0 named |ai and |bi
0
by Hab
. If the system is initially in state |ai at t = t0 , the probability that it is
in the state |bi at time t is:
Pab = |cb (t)|2
5

with
1
cb (t) =
i~

0
dt0 Hba
(t0 )eiba t ,

ba =

t0

Eb Ea
~

If H is periodic in time, i.e.

H 0 = V (~r) cos t
then the transition rate from a b in the t limit is

Rab = 2 |Vab |2 ( ab )
2~
The spontaneous emission rate:
3
4ba
|~pab |2
A=
3
3~c

The stimulated emission rate:

Rab =

4 2
|~pab |2 (ba )
3~2

(7)

Scattering:
Born Approximation to Scattering Amplitude
Z
m
f (, ) = f (~q) =
d3 r exp(i~q ~r)V (~r)
2
2~
where ~q = ~k 0 ~k is the momentum transfer. If V (~r) is central, then
Z
2m
f () = 2
dr rV (r) sin qr
~q 0
with

2
Partial wave expansion: for spherically symmetric potential V (r), the scattering amplitude can be written as
q = 2k sin

f () =

(2l + 1)fl Pl (cos )

l=0

where fl can be expressed in term the phase shift of the effective onedimensional problem as
fl =

eil
e2il 1
=
sin l
2ik
k
6

The total cross section is

tot

4 X
= 2
(2l + 1) sin2 l
k l=0

Spherical coordinates in three dimension

x = r sin cos ;

y = r sin sin ;

z = r cos

3z 2 1
,
2

P3 (z) =

Legendre Polynomials
P0 (z) = 1,

P1 (z) = z,

P2 (z) =

5z 3 z
2
(8)

Useful integrals
Z

dx exp ax

r

a
r

1
dx x2 exp ax2 =
2 a3



Z +

1 2 2
x2
dx exp iqx 2 = 2 b e 2 q b
2b

Z
1
2 3
dx x 2 = x 2
3

1. Short answer questions (35 points)

Note: All questions below can be answered using a couple of sentences (sometimes a figure will help) or simple equations.
(a) (2 points) What is the order of magnitude of the spin-orbit interaction in
a hydrogen atom (use , me , c to express your answer)?
(b) (2 points) What is the order of magnitude for the splitting of energy levels
in the strong Zeeman effect (take the magnitude of the external magnetic
field to be B) ?
(c) (3 points) In the variational computation of the ground state energy of
a helium atom, how do we take into account of the Coulomb interaction
between two electrons?
(d) (3 points) The quantum of conductance observed in the Integer Quantum
Hall Effect is a combination of fundamental constants. What is it? If you
do not remember the answer, you can deduce it by dimensional analysis.
Note that the conductance has dimension of velocity.
(e) (3 points) How is the differential cross section defined experimentally?
(f) (4 points) Write down the boundary condition for a 3-dimensional scattering problem. How is the differential cross section expressed in terms of
one of the quantities in the boundary condition?
(g) (3 points) Consider an infinite solenoid, containing magnetic flux . For
what values of (if any) are the energy eigenvalues of a quantum mechanical particle constrained to stay far from the solenoid exactly the same as
they would be if were zero?

The following description applies to questions (1h)-(1j) below. A particle

of mass m of energy E is trapped between a and b in the figure. Suppose
you have done a calculation and found that the lifetime of the particle
is 1013 years. The result of your calculation includes a prefactor and an
exponential term. In the following you may ignore the changes in the
prefactor.
(h) (3 points) Suppose the mass of the particle were 2m instead of m, what
would its lifetime be?
(i) (3 points) Suppose the width of the barrier were 2W , instead of W , what
would its lifetime be?
(j) (3 points) Suppose the height of the barrier V0 E were doubled, what
would its lifetime be?

(k) (6 points) The Hamiltonian for a certain 6-state system depends on a single
parameter which takes on the value between 0 and 1. The Hamiltonian
can be written as
H = H0 + H 0
The Eigenvalues of H0 are shown in the sketch as a function of , with
each eigenvalue labeled by the name of the corresponding eigenstate. The
36 matrix elements of H 0 are all nonzero, small and independent of .
As time progressed from and , changes very slowly from 0 to 1.
Suppose the system is in one of the six eigenstates at t = . For each of
the six initial possibilities, what is the state of the system at t = +?

10

2. Particle on a ring (10 points)

A particle of mass m moves on a ring of circumference L. It is subject to a
potential V (x), for 0 < x < L, with V (0) = V (L). Here, x is the coordinate
specifying position on the ring. Assume that the particle has a large enough
energy E that E > V (x) everywhere on the ring.
(a) (5 points) Within the WKB approximation, how many degenerate states
are there for each energy eigenvalue? What is (are) the wave function(s) for
the state(s) with energy E? (You need not normalize the wave functions.)
(b) (5 points) What is the quantization condition on the energy eigenvalue E,
in the WKB approximation?

11

3. Born approximation (16 points)

We want to investigate the structure of a crystal by scattering particles from it.
The particle sees the potential
X
~ i)
V (~x) =
v(~x X
(9)
i

~ i are the position vectors of the scattering atoms and v(~x) is the
where the X
scattering potential of a single atom. Assume that v(~x) is weak enough that we
can use the Born approximation for the whole crystal, i.e. for V .
(a) (10 points) Let us first consider scattering off a single atom sitting at ~x = 0
and take v(~x) to be
~
x2

v(~x) = v0 e 2b2

(10)

What is the differential cross section in the first Born-approximation?

(b) (6 points) Now consider the full potential (9) using v(~x) from (a). What
is the differential cross section in the first Born approximation?

12

4. Partial wave expansion (20 points)

Suppose the scattering amplitude for a certain reaction is given by


k
1
2ik3
3
+ 3e
sin 2k cos
f () =
k k0 k ik

(11)

where , k0 , and are constants

p characteristic of the potential which produces
the scattering. Of course k = 2mE/~2 is the de Broglie wavenumber.
(a) (2 points) What partial waves are active (i.e. what values of `)?
(b) (10 points) What are the phase shifts in the active partial waves? Do they
have the proper behavior as k 0?
(c) (3 points) What is the total cross section for general values of k?
(d) (5 points) Does the cross section satisfies the optical theorem? (If you do
not remember the prefactor in the optical theorem, you should
be able to deduce it from equations given in the formula sheet.)

13

5. Semi-classical approximation of phase shift (20 points)

Consider scattering in the s-wave in three dimensions. The radial wavefunction
obeys
2m
(12)
u00 (k, r) + 2 V (r)u(k, r) = k 2 u(k, r)
~
.
with k 2 = 2mE
~2
In this problem we will assume that V (r) is smooth and slowly varying and that
r2 V (r) 0 as r and that V (r) is negative at all r.
(a) (5 points) What boundary conditions should u(r) satisfy at r = 0 and
r .
(b) (5 points) Write down the wave function (which satisfies the boundary
conditions in (a)) in the WKB approximation.
(c) (6 points) Find the phase shift 0 (k) in the WKB approximation.
(d) (4 points) Does the phase shift have the expected behavior as k 0?
Why?

14

6. A time-dependent two-state system (16 points)

Consider a two-state system with basis states |1i and |2i, and with a Hamiltonian given in this basis by
H = A3 + B1
(a) (4 points) Suppose B is constant and A(t) is a slowly varying function of
time. Suppose the system is in the state |1i in the distant past. Explain
how to choose a function A(t) such that the system transforms to the state
|2i in the distant future. Give an example of such a function A(t).
(b) (5 points) What combination of parameters (including parameters that
you use in the specification of your A(t)) must be small in order that your
transformation in (a) works?
(c) (7 points) Now suppose both A and B vary with time, with A(t) = Kcosf t
and B(t) = Ksinf t where K and f are constants. Assume that f is very
small, and the adiabatic approximation can therefore be applied. Suppose
the system is in the state |1i at t = 0. What is the phase of the state at
compared to the phase at t = 0? Be sure to include both the
time T = 2
f
dynamical phase and the Berry phase.

15

7. Two-dimensional anharmonic oscillator: perturbation theory (24 points)

Consider a two-dimensional harmonic oscillator with frequency = 1, i.e. with
the Hamiltonian
1
1
(13)
H0 = (p21 + x21 ) + (p22 + x22 )
2
2
where for convenience we have also set the mass m = 1. You can further simplify
your life by setting ~ = 1 for this and next problem. Now add an anharmonic
term to H0
(14)
H 0 = 2x21 x22 .
(a) (4 points) Let be an operator which exchanges x1 and x2 (and similarly
p1 and p2 ). Does commute with the total Hamiltonian H = H0 + H 0 ?
Explain. What can you deduce about the symmetry properties of the
energy eigenfunctions?
(b) (6 points) Calculate in perturbation theory the energy correction to the
ground state due to (14) to first order in .
(c) (7 points) Find the first order correction in to the ground state wave
function. Is the behavior of the perturbed ground state wave function
consistent with your expectation from (a)? Explain.
(d) (7 points) Calculate in perturbation theory the energy correction to the
first excited state(s) due to (14) to first order in .

16

8. Two-dimensional anharmonic oscillator: variational approach (23 points)

Consider again the two-dimensional anharmonic oscillator system H = H0 + H 0
with H0 given by (13) and H 0 by (14).
(a) (5 points) Construct a one-parameter family of trial wave functions, which
can be used to obtain an upper bound on the energy of the ground state of
the coupled oscillator system which is better than (7b). You only need
to write down the wave function for this part. You should explain
the motivation for choosing the trial wave function and why it yields a
better approximation for the ground state energy than (7b).
(b) (12 points) Use the trial wave functions you constructed in (e) to obtain
an upper bound on the ground state energy in the limit (i.e. you
only need to keep the leading order term in the limit).
(c) (6 points) Construct a one-parameter family of trial wave functions, which
can be used to obtain an upper bound on the energy of one of the excited
states which is better than the answer in (7d). You only need to write
down the wave function. You should Explain:
why it is possible to find an upper bound on the energy of an excited
state in this case.
Why it yields a better estimate than (7d).

17

9. Three-dimensional harmonic oscillators: Transition amplitudes (16

points)
Consider a three-dimensional harmonic oscillator system
1
1
H0 = (p21 + p22 + p23 ) + (x21 + x22 + x23 )
2
2

(15)

where we again set m = = 1 for notational convenience. We prepare the

system in the state |1, 0, 0i.
(a) (6 points) At t = 0, a perturbation H 0 = 2x1 x2 is suddenly turned on.
At time t = T it is turned off. What is the probability (to lowest order in
) that the oscillator will be found in state |0, 1, 0i for t > T ?
(b) (3 points) Lowest order perturbation is only justified when the perturbation
is small. What is the condition on the parameters of the problem so that
your answer in (a) is valid?
(c) (7 points) Now we turn off H 0 in part (a) and instead suppose the particle in the oscillator is electrically charged. Once again it is prepared in
|1, 0, 0i state. It will decay to the ground state by emitting electromagnetic
radiation. What is its lifetime?

18