Phys 7560 Homework 1 (Due Feb.

3)
January 19, 2017 4:48 PM

1. Suppose a particle described by the Klein-Gordon equation encounters a potential step of

the form

a. Solve for the reflected and transmitted plane waves and obtain the wave vectors.
b. Plot the square of the transmitted wave vector for fixed particle energy as a function
of potential step height and describe the behavior. Label all parts of the plot carefully
and indicate any regions of interest.
c. What happens as we make the potential step larger and does this make sense? For
which values of the potential step height do things make sense and where don't they
make sense. Discuss the physics implications.

2. Suppose a particle described by the Klein-Gordon equation is moving in a 3D soft shell

potential of the form

where V is a positive constant. Find the dispersion relation, i.e. the relation between energy
and momentum, for discrete particle states. Which condition has to be satisfied so that
there is only one bound state in the case .

3. A particle described by the Klein-Gordon equation, with mass and charge , moves in
the Coulomb field of a nucleus.

a. Find the energy spectrum of the bound states for this system if the charge of the
nucleus is . You should be able to capitalize on your experience with the
corresponding problem for the Schrödinger equation.

b. For small nuclei ( ) expand the energy eigenvalues to order and graph the
level diagram for the first few states and compare these with the ones obtained for
the Schrödinger equation.