Paper 1, Section II, A

Quantum Mechanics
Part IB, 2020

Consider a quantum system with Hamiltonian HH and wavefunction Ψ\Psi obeying the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. Show that if Ψ\Psi is a stationary state then QΨ\langle Q\rangle_{\Psi} is independent of time, if the observable QQ is independent of time.

A particle of mass mm is confined to the interval 0xa0 \leqslant x \leqslant a by infinite potential barriers, but moves freely otherwise. Let Ψ(x,t)\Psi(x, t) be the normalised wavefunction for the particle at time tt, with

Ψ(x,0)=c1ψ1(x)+c2ψ2(x)\Psi(x, 0)=c_{1} \psi_{1}(x)+c_{2} \psi_{2}(x)

where

ψ1(x)=(2a)1/2sinπxa,ψ2(x)=(2a)1/2sin2πxa\psi_{1}(x)=\left(\frac{2}{a}\right)^{1 / 2} \sin \frac{\pi x}{a}, \quad \psi_{2}(x)=\left(\frac{2}{a}\right)^{1 / 2} \sin \frac{2 \pi x}{a}

and c1,c2c_{1}, c_{2} are complex constants. If the energy of the particle is measured at time tt, what are the possible results, and what is the probability for each result to be obtained? Give brief justifications of your answers.

Calculate x^Ψ\langle\hat{x}\rangle_{\Psi} at time tt and show that the result oscillates with a frequency ω\omega, to be determined. Show in addition that

x^Ψa216a9π2.\left|\langle\hat{x}\rangle_{\Psi}-\frac{a}{2}\right| \leqslant \frac{16 a}{9 \pi^{2}} .