Paper 4, Section II, D

Applications of Quantum Mechanics
Part II, 2009

What are meant by Bloch states and the Brillouin zone for a quantum mechanical particle moving in a one-dimensional periodic potential?

Derive an approximate value for the lowest-lying energy gap for the Schrödinger equation

d2ψdx2V0(cosx+cos2x)ψ=Eψ-\frac{d^{2} \psi}{d x^{2}}-V_{0}(\cos x+\cos 2 x) \psi=E \psi

when V0V_{0} is small and positive.

Estimate the width of this gap in the case that V0V_{0} is large and positive.