Review of Lecture 1

The Schrdinger equation:

_
`

i h

t
=
h
2
2m

x
2
+V
Borns statistical interpretation of the wave function:
_

Probability rules for continuous variables:

_

P
a,b
=

b
a
(x)dx is the probability that x lies between a and b.
(x) is the probability density
It is normalized:

(x)dx = 1
Average, or expectation value of x: x =

x(x)dx
Expectation value of some function of x: f (x) =

f (x)(x)dx
Standard deviation:
2
= x
2
x
2
Physically realizable states correspond to the square-integrable solutions of the Schrdinger equa-
tion. If we normalize the wave function at time t = 0, it will stay normalized. The Schrdinger
equation automatically preserves the normalization of the wave function.
Exercise 1
Problem 1.5. Consider the wave function
(x, t) = Ae
|x|
e
it
Where A, and are positive real constants.
(a) Normalize .
(b) Determine the expectation values of x and x
2
.
(c) Find the standard deviation of x. Sketch the graph of ||
2
as a function of x and mark the
points (x +) and (x ), to illustrate the sense in which represents the spread in x.
What is the probability that the particle would be found outside this range?
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12
To gain information about a quantum mechanical system, we use operators
To nd the average value, or expectation value, of position, we used the following integral:
Note: the expectation value is the average of repeated measurements on an ensemble of identically
prepared particles, not the average of repeated measurements of the same system.
As time goes on, x will change, and we might want to know how fast it moves.
We can simplify this using integration by parts.
Review of integration by parts:
_

13
So now we can simplify our expression for
dx
dt
:
Expectation value of momentum p:
_
`

p = m
dx
dt
= i h

x
dx
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We say that the operator x represents position and the operator

h
i

represents momentum.
An operator is an instruction to do something to the wave function that follows it.
Expectation value of a generic operator Q(x, p):
_
`

Q(x, p) =

x,
h
i

dx
Other quantities can be expressed in terms of x and p:
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Exercise 2
Problem 1.17. A particle is represented (at time t = 0) by the wave function
(x, t) =

A(a
2
x
2
), if a x +a
0, otherwise
(a) What is the expectation value of p (at time t = 0)?
(b) Find the expectation value of p
2
.
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