Chapter 7: Q8P (page 308)
Evaluate and (Equations and ). Check your answers against Equations and .
Short Answer
Equations and matches the two integrals, and the results are the same.
Chapter 7: Q8P (page 308)
Evaluate and (Equations and ). Check your answers against Equations and .
Equations and matches the two integrals, and the results are the same.
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Get started for freeAs an explicit example of the method developed inProblem 7.15, consider an electron at rest in a uniform magnetic field for which the Hamiltonian is (Equation 4.158):
(4.158).
(7.57).
The eigenspinors, arelocalid="1655969802629" given in Equation 4.161. Now we turn on a perturbation, in the form of a uniform field in the x direction:
(4.161).
(7.58).
(a) Find the matrix elements of H′, and confirm that they have the structure of Equation 7.55. What is h?
(b) Using your result inProblem 7.15(b), find the new ground state energy, in second-order perturbation theory.
(c) Using your result inProblem 7.15(c), find the variation principle bound on the ground state energy.
(a) Prove the following corollary to the variational principle: If then where is the energy of the first excited state. Comment: If we can find a trial function that is orthogonal to the exact ground state, we can get an upper bound on the first excited state. In general, it's difficult to be sure that is orthogonal to since (presumably) we don't know the latter. However, if the potential is an even function of x, then the ground state is likewise even, and hence any odd trial function will automatically meet the condition for the corollary.
(b) Find the best bound on the first excited state of the one-dimensional harmonic oscillator using the trial function
Although the Schrödinger equation for helium itself cannot be solved exactly, there exist “helium-like” systems that do admit exact solutions. A simple example is “rubber-band helium,” in which the Coulomb forces are replaced by Hooke’s law forces:
(a) Show that the change of variables from
(8.79).
turns the Hamiltonian into two independent three-dimensional harmonic oscillators:
(b) What is the exact ground state energy for this system?
(c) If we didn’t know the exact solution, we might be inclined to apply the method of Section 7.2 to the Hamiltonian in its original form (Equation 7.78). Do so (but don’t bother with shielding). How does your result compare with the exact answer? Answer:.
If the photon had a nonzero mass , the Coulomb potential would be replaced by the Yukawa potential,
(8.73).
Where . With a trial wave function of your own devising, estimate the binding energy of a “hydrogen” atom with this potential. Assume , and give your answer correct to order .
(a) GeneralizeProblem 7.2, using the trial wave function
For arbitrary n. Partial answer: The best value of b is given by
localid="1658300238725"
(b) Find the least upper bound on the first excited state of the harmonic oscillator using a trial function of the form
Partial answer: The best value of b is given by
localid="1658300555415"
(c) Notice that the bounds approach the exact energies as n →∞. Why is that? Hint: Plot the trial wave functions for n = 2 , n = 3 , and n = 4, and compare them with the true wave functions (Equations 2.59 and 2.62). To do it analytically, start with the identity
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