Lee Aspitarte

Quantum Physics Homework #2

1 Problem 2.22
(a) A free particle has an inital wavefunction given by:
2
Ψ(x, 0) = Ae−ax
We first must find A by normalizing our inital function. The inital proba-
bility amplitude integrated over all space must equal 1.

Z +∞
|Ψ(x, 0)|2 = 1 (1)
−∞
Z +∞
2
|Ae−ax |2 = 1 (2)
−∞
Z +∞
2
A2 e−2ax = 1 (3)
−∞
Z +∞
2
A2 e−2ax = 1 (4)
−∞

Preforming this integral in mathematica,

r
2 π
A =1 (5)
2a
2a 1
A = ( )4 (6)
π
(b) For a particle in a potential well, we solved the time independent shrodinger
equation for an infinite series of time independent solutions. The general solu-
tion was then given by the linear combination of all the solutions (with the time
dependence reincluded):
∞
X
Ψ(x, t) = cn ψn (x)e−iEn t/h̄
i=1

However now that a free particle is being examined, the values of k are
no longer restricted to discrete values. The general solution remains a linear
combination of solutions but instead of a sum we’ll use an integral and the
seperate ’solutions’ will be weighted by a continuous function φ(k) instead of
the discrete cn
Z +∞
1
Ψ(x, t) = φ(k)ei(kx−ωt) dk
2π −∞

1
 φ(k) can be found with a fourier transform of our inital wave function. Using
the normailized Ψ(x, 0) found in part (a),

Z +∞
1
φ(k) = √ Ψ(x, 0)e−ikx dx (7)
2π −∞
Z +∞
1 2a 1 2
φ(k) = √ ( ) 4 e−ax e−ikx dx (8)
2π −∞ π
a 1 +∞ −(ax2 +ikx)
Z
φ(k) = ( 3 ) 4 e dx (9)
2π −∞

This integral can be solved by adding and subtracting a constant within the
exponent to make a quadratic equation. A look into the tecnique of completing
2
the square shows that this constant should be −k
4a

a 1 +∞ −(ax2 +ikx−k2 /4a+k2 /4a)

Z
φ(k) = ( 3 ) 4 e dx (10)
2π −∞
a 1 +∞ −k2 /4a −(ax2 +ikx−k2 /4a)
Z
φ(k) = ( 3 ) 4 e e dx (11)
2π −∞

This exponental in front is just a constant and can be pulled from the integral
and the second exponential can be factored.
Z +∞ √
a 1 2 √ )2
−( ax+ 2ik
φ(k) = ( 3 ) 4 e−k /4a e a dx (12)
2π −∞
√
Now we can solve this integral by setting u = ax + 2ik √ . this implies that
a
du
dx = √
a
Therefore,

Z +∞
a 1 −k2 /4a 2 1
φ(k) = ( )4 e e−u ( √ )du (13)
2π 3 −∞ a
1 1 −k2 /4a
φ(k) = ( )4 e (14)
2πa
Putting this into our equation for Ψ(x, t),
Z +∞
1
Ψ(x, t) = √ φ(k)ei(kx−ωt) dk (15)
2π −∞
1 1 +∞ −k2 /4a i(kx−ωt)
Z
Ψ(x, t) = ( 3 ) 4 e e dk (16)
2 πa −∞
Z +∞
1 1 2
Ψ(x, t) = ( 3 3 ) 4 e−k /4a ei(kx−ωt) dk (17)
2 π a −∞

It would appear at this point that the e−iwt could be pulled from the integral.
However ω is a function of k and this must be taken into account. For a free
2
particle, ω = h̄k
2m :

2
 Z +∞
1 1 2
/4a+ikx−ih̄k2 t/2m
Ψ(x, t) = ( 3 3 ) 4 e−k dk (18)
2 π a −∞

This integral is similar to the previous one and can be solved in the same way.
For the sake of space i just used mathematica and got the result:

−ax2
1 1 √ e 1−2iah̄t/m
Ψ(x, t) = ( 3 3 ) 4 (2 πa p )
2 π a 1 − 2iah̄t/m
−ax2
2a 1 e 1−2iah̄t/m
Ψ(x, t) = ( ) 4 p
π 1 − 2iah̄t/m
(c) Now, finding the Probability density |Ψ(x, t)|2 :

|Ψ(x, t)|2 = Ψ(x, t)∗ Ψ(x, t)

−ax2 −ax2

2 2a 1 e 1+2iah̄t/m 2a 1 e 1−2iah̄t/m
|Ψ(x, t)| = [( ) 4 p ][( ) 4 p ]
π 1 + 2iah̄t/m π 1 − 2iah̄t/m
−ax2 −ax2
2a 1 e 1+2iah̄t/m + 1−2iah̄t/m
|Ψ(x, t)|2 = ( ) 2 q
π
1 + 4a2 h̄2 t2 /m2
Multiplying the top and bottom of the fractions within the exponent by
the complex congugates of their respecive denominators we can get rid of the
imaginary parts.

−ax2 (1−2iah̄t/m) −ax2 (1+2iah̄t/m)

2 2a 1 e 1+2iah̄t/m (1−2iah̄t/m) + 1−2iah̄t/m (1+2iah̄t/m)

|Ψ(x, t)| = ( ) 2 p
π (1 + 2ah̄t/m)2
−ax2 (1−1−2iah̄t/m) −ax2 (1−1+2iah̄t/m)
1+(2ah̄t/m)2
+ 1+(2ah̄t/m)2
2a 1 e
|Ψ(x, t)|2 = ( ) 2
π 1 + 2ah̄t/m
−2ax2
2a 1 e 1+(2ah̄t/m)2
2
|Ψ(x, t)| = ( ) 2
π 1 + 2ah̄t/m
As expected
q the imaginary parts will cancel eachother, and defining the
a
quantity w = 1+(2ah̄t/m)2 we get the result

2 1 2 2
|Ψ(x, t)|2 = ( ) 2 we−2w x
π
This is solely a gaussian distrubution with a time-dependent standard devi-
a
ation σ 2 = 4w 2 . Therefore our probablity density will spread out in time. This

can by comparing some graphs of |Ψ(x, t)|2 at different times. I set all of the
constants to 1.

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