Paper 3, Section II, B

Quantum Mechanics
Part IB, 2016

The spherically symmetric bound state wavefunctions ψ(r)\psi(r) for the Coulomb potential V=e2/(4πϵ0r)V=-e^{2} /\left(4 \pi \epsilon_{0} r\right) are normalisable solutions of the equation

d2ψdr2+2rdψdr+2λrψ=2mE2ψ\frac{d^{2} \psi}{d r^{2}}+\frac{2}{r} \frac{d \psi}{d r}+\frac{2 \lambda}{r} \psi=-\frac{2 m E}{\hbar^{2}} \psi

Here λ=(me2)/(4πϵ02)\lambda=\left(m e^{2}\right) /\left(4 \pi \epsilon_{0} \hbar^{2}\right) and E<0E<0 is the energy of the state.

(a) By writing the wavefunction as ψ(r)=f(r)exp(Kr)\psi(r)=f(r) \exp (-K r), for a suitable constant KK that you should determine, show that there are normalisable wavefunctions ψ(r)\psi(r) only for energies of the form

E=me432π2ϵ022N2E=\frac{-m e^{4}}{32 \pi^{2} \epsilon_{0}^{2} \hbar^{2} N^{2}}

with NN being a positive integer.

(b) The energies in (a) reproduce the predictions of the Bohr model of the hydrogen atom. How do the wavefunctions above compare to the assumptions in the Bohr model?