Paper 3, Section II, B

Quantum Mechanics
Part IB, 2019

Consider a particle of unit mass in a one-dimensional square well potential

V(x)=0 for 0xπ,V(x)=0 \text { for } 0 \leqslant x \leqslant \pi,

with VV infinite outside. Find all the stationary states ψn(x)\psi_{n}(x) and their energies EnE_{n}, and write down the general normalized solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation in terms of these.

The particle is initially constrained by a barrier to be in the ground state in the narrower square well potential

V(x)=0 for 0xπ2V(x)=0 \quad \text { for } \quad 0 \leqslant x \leqslant \frac{\pi}{2}

with VV infinite outside. The barrier is removed at time t=0t=0, and the wavefunction is instantaneously unchanged. Show that the particle is now in a superposition of stationary states of the original potential well, and calculate the probability that an energy measurement will yield the result EnE_{n}.