QUANTUM MECHANICS

Tran Thi Ngoc Dung – Huynh Quang Linh – Physics A2 HCMUT 2016
VOCABULARY
• Wave - Particle Duality
• Uncertainty
• Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle
• Wave Matter
• De Broglie’s wavelength
CONTENTS
• Wave – Particle Duality of Matter
• De Broglie’s Hypothesis – Matter wave
• Diffraction of electron wave by single slit
• Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle
“‘Quantum mechanics’ is the description of the
behavior of matter and light in all its details and, in
particular, of the happenings on an atomic scale.
Things on a very small scale behave like nothing that
you have any direct experience about. They do not
behave like waves, they do not behave like particles,
they do not behave like clouds, or billiard balls, or
weights on springs, or like anything that you have ever
seen.”
--Richard P. Feynman
 Matter Waves https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnKftwsBeFQ

electron
gun
● DeBroglie (1924) proposed that, like detector
photons, particles have a wavelength:
θ
λ = h/p Inversely proportional to
momentum.

● In 1927-8, it was shown (Davisson-

Germer) that, like x-rays, ELECTRONS Ni Crystal
can also diffract off crystals ! Interference peak !

Electrons can act like waves!!

I(θ)
• We will see later that the discrete
atomic emission lines also arise from
the wavelike properties of the 0 60
o
θ
electrons in the field of the nucleus:
What does this mean? θ
Atomic In discussion section:
hydrogen
 “Double-slit” Experiment for Electrons
● Electrons are accelerated to
50 keV ! λ = 0.0055 nm
● Central wire is positively
charged ! bends electron
paths so they overlap
● A position-sensitive detector
records where they appear.
● << 1 electron in system at
any time

https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=O81Cilon10M [A. TONOMURA (Hitachi) --
pioneered electron holography]

Exposure time: 1 s 10 s 5 min 20 min

WAVE - PARTICLE DUALITY OF LIGHT

LIGHT has nature of Wave–Particle Duality

• Wave: Electromagnetic Wave : Interference, Diffraction.
- Particle: PHOTON: Photoelectric effect, Compton Effect

photon energy : E = hν = " 2πν = "ω

h " 2π
photon momentum: p = = = "k
wave number : ! λ ! λ
ω 2π 2π
k= = =
p = "k
v vT λ
" 2π !
wave vector :k = n
! λ
n : unit vector
 ! M (x,y,z)
r
Electromagnetic Wave:
! z
O
k z
Consider a light plane wave, v
propagating in the z direction:
Wave function at point O: Ψo = A cos (ωt)
Wave function at point M: Ψ(M, t)=A cos (ω(t-z/v)) =Acos(ωt-kz)
!!
Ψ(M, t ) = A cos(ωt − k.r )
in complex descriptio %% n:
Ψ (M, t) = Ae -i( ωt - k. r ) ⎫
⎪ wave number :
: % % ⎬complex wave function ω 2π 2π
Ψ(M, t) = Aei(ωt - k. r ) ⎪⎭ k= = =
with the convention : Ψ(M, t) = Re ! Ψ(M, t) v vT λ
$#" $#" " 2π !
real real part of complex wave wave vector :k = n
wave function function ! λ
n : unit vector
 de Broglie’s hypothesis 1924
Light is dualistic in nature, behaving in some situations like waves and in
others like particles. If nature is symmetric, this duality should also hold
for matter. Electrons and protons, which we usually think of as particles,
may in some situations behave like waves.

If a particle acts like a wave, it should have a wavelength and a frequency.

De Broglie postulated that a free particle moving with speed v, having kinetic
energy E, momentum p should have a wavelength λ, frequency ν related to its
momentum p and its energy E by:

E = hν = "ω
h ! !
p = ; p = "k
λ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnKftwsBeFQ
 Wave function of a monochromatic wave
Wave function of a electromagnetic monochromatic wave
!!
− i ( ωt − k . r )
Ψ (M, t ) = Ψo e

Wave function of a free particle of momentum p

and kinetic energy E:

!! i !!
− ( Et − p. r )
−i (ωt − k. r )
Ψ(M, t ) = Ψoe = Ψo e "
 DIFFRACTION OF LIGHT / Electron
BY 1 SLIT

Electron wave
DIFFRACTION OF ELECTRONS BY 2
SLITS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqS8Jjkk1HI
Example.1 An electron-diffraction experiment
In an electron-diffraction experiment using an accelerating voltage of 54 V. The
electrons have negligible kinetic energy before being accelerated. Find the
electron wavelength.
Summary: Photons, Matter Waves

Light
• p = h/λ (matter also)
• p = E/c
• E = hf = hc/λ

Matter
• p = h/λ (light also)
• p = 2mE
• E = h2/2mλ2
The statistic meaning of the Wave Function of a particle:
Intensity of Light is proportional to the square of the amplitude of the
wave at that point: I=kA2 (W/m2)

Intensity of Light is proportional to the photon density at that point.

I=e.c =N. hf.c
1 2 1 B2
e: energy density of electromagnetic wave. (J/m3) e = εo E +
2 2 µo
N : photon density (photon/m3)
I≅A2≅ N

The amplitude squared of the wave is proportional to the photon

density => proportional to probability of finding the photon per unit
volume.
For the matter wave , the amplitude squared of the wave is
the probability of finding the particle per unit volume= probabilty
density ! 2
| Ψ ( r , t ) | = (Ψ.Ψ* ) = Ψo2
The statistic meaning of de Broglie Wave of a particle

Probability of finding the particle 2 ! 2 *

per unit volume= probabilty Ψo =| Ψ ( r , t ) | = (Ψ.Ψ )
density .

Probability of finding the particle ! 2

in a volume dV
dP =| Ψ( r , t ) | dV
! 2
Probability of finding the particle P = ∫ | Ψ ( r , t ) | dV
in a volume V V

probability of finding the +∞ ! 2

particle over all space =1 P = ∫ | Ψ( r , t ) | dV = 1
−∞
(the particle is certainly found)
Normalized Condition of the wave function
Constraints on Wavefunction
In order to represent a physically observable system, the
wavefunction must satisfy certain constraints:

Ψ(x,t)
- Must be a single-valued function
- Must be normalizable. This implies that the
wavefunction approaches zero as x approaches infinity.
- Must be a continuous function of x.
- the first derivative of Ψ(x,t) must be continuous
The Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principles
Heisenberg’s uncertainty states that, it is impossible to
simultaneously determine both the position and the momentum
of a particle with arbitrarily great precision.

The more precisely the position of some particle is determined,

the less precisely its momentum can be known, and vice versa

Δx.Δp x ≈ h
Δy.Δp y ≈ h
Δz.Δp z ≈ h

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQKELOE9eY4
HEISENBERG’S UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE OF POSITION
AND MOMENTUM
The uncertainty in the x position
Δx.Δp x ≈ h a a
Consider the diffraction of electrons by
− ≤ x ≤ => Δx ≈ a
2 2
a single slit. The uncertainty in the x-component
of the momentum :
x
0 ≤ p x ≤ p sin θ => Δp x ≈ p sin θ
electrons λ
sin θ =
a
θ
Δx ≈ a
h λ h
Δp x ≈ p x = p sin θ = . =
λ a a
h
Δx.Δp x ≈ a.
a
Δx.Δp x ≈ h
HEISENBERG’S UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE FOR
ENERGY AND TIME

!
ΔE.Δt ≥
2
The uncertainty principle for energy and time
interval has a direct application to energy
levels. We have assumed that each energy
level in an atom has a very definite energy.
However, this is not true for all energy
levels.

A system that remains in a metastable state

for a very long time (large Δt ) can have a
very well-defined energy (small ΔE ), but if it
remains in a state for only a short time
(small Δt ) the uncertainty in energy must be
correspondingly greater (large ΔE ).