UC B ERKELEY P HYSICS

137B HW 4 (Due: Monday 10/12)

Raphael Bousso, Erik Aldape

October 8, 2015

1 B&J 9.1
Consider a particle of charge q and mass m, which is in simple harmonic motion along the
x-axis so that its Hamiltonian is given by:
H0 =

~2 d 2
2m d x 2

1
+ kx 2
2

(1.1)

A homogeneous electric field E (t ) (not energy) directed along the x-axis is switched on at time
t=0, so that the system is perturbed by the interaction
H 0 (t ) = q xE (t )
If E(t) has the form

E (t ) = E 0 e

(1.2)

(1.3)

where E 0 and are constants, and inf the oscillator is in the ground state for t 0, find the
probability that it will be found in an excited state as t using first order time dependent
perturbation theory.

2 B&J 9.11
A particle is in the ground state of a one-dimensional infinite square well with walls at x = 0
and x = L. At time t = 0, the width of the well is suddenly increased to 2L. Find the probability
that the particle will be found in the nth stationary state of the expanded well.

3 G RIFFITHS 9.11
Calculate the lifetime (in seconds) for states 211 and 200 of
Hint: Youll need to
hydrogen.

evaluate matrix elements of the form 100 x 211 , 100 y 211 etc.

4 G RIFFITHS 9.18
A particle of mass m is initially in the ground state of the (one-dimensional) infinite square
well. At time t = 0 a "brick" is dropped into the well, so that the potential becomes

0 x a/2
V0
0
a/2 < x a
V (x) =

ot her wi se
Where E 1 V0 . After a time T, the brick is removed, and the energy of the particle is measured. FInd the probability (in first-order perturbation theory) that the result is now E 2 .

5 G RIFFITHS 10.9
Suppose the one-dimensional harmonic oscillator (mass m, frequency ) is subjected to a
driving force of the form F (t ) = m2 f (t ), where f (t ) is some specified function (I have factored out m2 for notational convenience; f (t ) has the dimensions of length). The Hamiltonian is:
~2 2 1
+ m2 x 2 m2 f (t )x.
(5.1)
H (t ) =
2m x 2 2
Assume that the force was first turned on at time t = 0 : f (t ) = 0 f or t 0. This system can be
solved exactly, both in classical mechanics and in quantum mechanics.
(a) Determine the classical position of the oscillator, assuming it started from rest at the
origin (x c (0) = ddt x c (0) = 0). Answer:
Z t
x c (t ) =
f (t 0 )si n[(t t 0 )]d t 0 .
(5.2)
0

(b) Show that the solution to the (time-dependent) Schrodinger equation for this oscillator, assuming it started out in the nth state of the undriven oscillator (n (x)) can be
written as
i

xc

(x, t ) = n (x x c )e ~ ((n+ 2 )~t +m( d t xc )(x 2 )+

m2
2

Rt
0

f (t 0 )x c (t 0 )d t 0 )

(5.3)

(c) Show that the eigenfunctions and eigenvalues of H (t ) are:

n (x, t ) = n (x f ) ;

1
1
E n (t ) = (n + )~ m2 f 2 .
2
2

(5.4)

(d) Show that in the adiabatic approximation the classical position calculated in part a
reduces to x c (t ) f (t ). State the precies criterion for adiabaticity, in this context, as a
constraint on the time deriavtive of f. Hint: Write si n(w(t t 0 )) = 1 ddt 0 cos((t t 0 )) and
use integration by parts.

6 G RIFFITHS 10.4 N OTE : T HIS M ATERIAL WILL BE COVERED IN

T UESDAY S LECTURE
The delta function well V (x) = (x) supports a single bound state:
(x) =

p
m

e m|x|/~

E =

m2
2~2

(6.1)

Calculate the geometric phase change when gradually increases from 1 to 2 . If the increase occurs at a constant rate ( ddt = c), what is the dynamic phase change for this process?