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    Born Interpretation of Wavefunction

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    Rakesh Sohal
    The wavefunction Ψ contains all information about a particle and its probability density is given by |Ψ(x, t)|2. According to the Born interpretation: 1) |Ψ(x, t)|2 gives the probability per unit length of finding the particle between x and x + dx. 2) The probability of finding the particle anywhere is calculated by integrating |Ψ(x, t)|2 over all space and must equal 1. 3) The wavefunction Ψ itself is not measurable but its probability density |Ψ(x, t)|2 is and gives the likelihood of finding the particle in a given region.

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    Born Interpretation of Wavefunction

    Uploaded by

    Rakesh Sohal
    123 views2 pages
    The wavefunction Ψ contains all information about a particle and its probability density is given by |Ψ(x, t)|2. According to the Born interpretation: 1) |Ψ(x, t)|2 gives the probability per unit length of finding the particle between x and x + dx. 2) The probability of finding the particle anywhere is calculated by integrating |Ψ(x, t)|2 over all space and must equal 1. 3) The wavefunction Ψ itself is not measurable but its probability density |Ψ(x, t)|2 is and gives the likelihood of finding the particle in a given region.

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    Born Interpretation of wavefunction

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    Born Interpretation of wavefunction

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    The wavefunction Ψ contains all information about a particle and its probability density is given by |Ψ(x, t)|2. According to the Born interpretation: 1) |Ψ(x, t)|2 gives the probability per unit length of finding the particle between x and x + dx. 2) The probability of finding the particle anywhere is calculated by integrating |Ψ(x, t)|2 over all space and must equal 1. 3) The wavefunction Ψ itself is not measurable but its probability density |Ψ(x, t)|2 is and gives the likelihood of finding the particle in a given region.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    123 views2 pages

    Born Interpretation of Wavefunction

    Uploaded by

    Rakesh Sohal
    The wavefunction Ψ contains all information about a particle and its probability density is given by |Ψ(x, t)|2. According to the Born interpretation: 1) |Ψ(x, t)|2 gives the probability per unit length of finding the particle between x and x + dx. 2) The probability of finding the particle anywhere is calculated by integrating |Ψ(x, t)|2 over all space and must equal 1. 3) The wavefunction Ψ itself is not measurable but its probability density |Ψ(x, t)|2 is and gives the likelihood of finding the particle in a given region.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    Quantum Mechanics in 1D

    1. A matter wave called the wavefunction Ψ can be associated with any particle.
    2. The wavefunction Ψ contains all the information that can be known about the particle,
    These 2 statements bring up two important questions:
    1. How do we obtain this wavefunction Ψ for a given system?
    2. How do we extract information from this wavefunction?
    Let’s look at the answer to the 2nd question first.

    Born Interpretation of 𝚿
    The probability that a particle will be found in the infinitesimal interval 𝑑𝑥 about the point 𝑥, denoted by
    𝑃(𝑥)𝑑𝑥 is given by:

    𝑃(𝑥)𝑑𝑥 = |Ψ(x, t)|2 𝑑𝑥

    𝑃(𝑥) = |Ψ(x, t)|2 (probability density function)

    𝑃(𝑥) = 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ (𝑖𝑛 1𝐷)


    A. It follow from this definition that you cannot specify with certainty the location of a particle!
    You can only specify the probability!

    B. Ψ(x, t) itself is NOT a measurable quantity but |Ψ(x, t)|2 is measurable and equal to the
    probability per unit length (probability density) of finding the particle in the interval 𝑑𝑥 about
    the point 𝑥.

    C. 𝑃(𝑥) = |Ψ(x, t)|2 = ΨΨ ∗ where Ψ ∗ is the complex conjugate of Ψ.

    D. Ψ(x, t) must be single-valued and continuous function of x and t.

    E. Because the particle must be somewhere along the x-axis, the sum of the probabilities over all
    values of x must add up to 1:

    +∞ +∞
    ∫−∞ 𝑃(𝑥)𝑑𝑥 = ∫−∞ |Ψ(x, t)|2 𝑑𝑥 = 1 Normalization Condition
    F. The probability of finding the particle in any finite interval 𝑎 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 𝑏 is given by:

    𝑏
    𝑃𝑎𝑏 = ∫ |Ψ(x, t)|2 𝑑𝑥
    𝑎

    G. |Ψ(x, t)|2 → 0 fast enough as x→ ±∞ so that the normalization condition holds valid.

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