Modern Physics

Michael Fowler, University of Virginia

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Special
Relativity

WaveEquations

Galilean Relativity
The Speed of Light
MichelsonMorley
Expt
Special Relativity
Time and length in
relativity
Relativity of
simultaneity
Lorentz
transformations
Consistency of time
dilation
Twin paradox and
Doppler
Velocity Addition
Relativistic
dynamics
Mass and energy:
the Box
Energymomentum
formula
Particle Creation
Electric and
Magnetic fields
General Relativity
Kinetic Theory of
Gases

Photons

Blackbody
Radiation
Blackbody
Radiation: Notes
Planck's Quantum
The Photoelectric
Effect
Rays and Particles

Atoms

Brief Historical
Review
Atomic Spectra
Vortices and
Pudding
Rutherford and the
Nucleus
The Bohr Atom

Particles and
Waves

De Broglie's Waves
The Uncertainty
Principle
Probability
Amplitudes
More on the UP

Schrodinger
Equation

MichaelFowler,UniversityofVirginia
Photons and Electrons
Wehaveseenthatelectronsandphotonsbehaveinaverysimilarfashion
bothexhibitdiffractioneffects,asinthedoubleslitexperiment,bothhave
particlelikeorquantumbehavior.Wecaninfactgiveacompleteanalysisof
photonbehaviorwecanfigureouthowtheelectromagneticwave
propagates,usingMaxwellsequations,thenfindtheprobabilitythata
photonisinagivensmallvolumeofspacedxdydz,isproportionalto
|E|2dxdydz,theenergydensity.Ontheotherhand,ouranalysisofthe
electronsbehaviorisincompleteweknowthatitmustalsobedescribedby
awavefunction
analogoustoE,suchthat
givestheprobabilityoffindingtheelectroninasmallvolumedxdydzaround
thepoint(x,y,z)atthetimet.However,wedonotyethavetheanalogof
Maxwellsequationstotellushowvariesintimeandspace.Thepurpose
ofthissectionistogiveaplausiblederivationofsuchanequationby
examininghowtheMaxwellwaveequationworksforasingleparticle
(photon)wave,andconstructingparallelequationsforparticleswhich,unlike
photons,havenonzerorestmass.
Maxwells Wave Equation
LetusexaminewhatMaxwellsequationstellusaboutthemotionofthe
simplesttypeofelectromagneticwaveamonochromaticwaveinempty
space,withnocurrentsorchargespresent.First,webrieflyreviewthe
derivationofthewaveequationfromMaxwellsequationsinemptyspace:

Wave Equations
Electron in a Box
Finite Square Well
Simple harmonic
oscillator
Barrier penetration
Twodimensional
Wells
3D waves, ang.
momentum

Atoms and
Nuclei

Fermions and
bosons
The Periodic Table
Nuclear decay,
fission

Toderivethewaveequation,wetakethecurlofthethirdequation:

togetherwiththevectoroperatoridentity

togive

.
Foraplanewavemovinginthexdirectionthisreducesto

Themonochromaticsolutiontothiswaveequationhastheform
.
(Anotherpossiblesolutionisproportionaltocos(kxt).Weshallfindthat
theexponentialform,althoughacomplexnumber,provesmoreconvenient.
Thephysicalelectricfieldcanbetakentobetherealpartoftheexponential
fortheclassicalcase.)
Applyingthewaveequationdifferentialoperatortoourplanewavesolution

.
Iftheplanewaveisasolutiontothewaveequation,thismustbetrueforallx
andt,sowemusthave
.
Thisisjustthefamiliarstatementthatthewavemusttravelatc.

What does the Wave Equation tell us about the Photon?

WeknowfromthephotoelectriceffectandComptonscatteringthatthe
photonenergyandmomentumarerelatedtothefrequencyandwavelengthof
thelightby

Notice,then,thatthewaveequationtellsusthat

andhenceE=cp.

Toputitanotherway,ifwethinkof
asdescribingaparticle(photon)
itwouldbemorenaturaltowritetheplanewaveas

thatis,intermsoftheenergyandmomentumoftheparticle.
Intheseterms,applyingthe(Maxwell)waveequationoperatortotheplane
waveyields

or
E2=c2p2.
Thewaveequationoperatorappliedtotheplanewavedescribingtheparticle
propagationyieldstheenergymomentumrelationshipfortheparticle.
Constructing a Wave Equation for a Particle with Mass
Thediscussionabovesuggestshowwemightextendthewaveequation
operatorfromthephotoncase(zerorestmass)toaparticlehavingrestmass
m0.Weneedawaveequationoperatorthat,whenitoperatesonaplane
wave,yields

Writingtheplanewavefunction

whereAisaconstant,wefindwecanget
byaddinga
constant(mass)termtothedifferentiationtermsinthewaveoperator:

.
ThiswaveequationiscalledtheKleinGordonequationandcorrectly
describesthepropagationofrelativisticparticlesofmassm0.However,itsa
bitinconvenientfornonrelativisticparticles,liketheelectroninthehydrogen
atom,justasE2=m02c4+c2p2islessusefulthanE=p2/2mforthiscase.
A Nonrelativistic Wave Equation
Continuingalongthesamelines,letusassumethatanonrelativisticelectron
infreespace(nopotentials,sonoforces)isdescribedbyaplanewave:
.
Weneedtoconstructawaveequationoperatorwhich,appliedtothiswave
function,justgivesustheordinarynonrelativisticenergymomentum
relationship,E=p2/2m.Thep2obviouslycomesasusualfrom
differentiatingtwicewithrespecttox,buttheonlywaywecangetEisby
havingasingledifferentiationwithrespecttotime,sothislooksdifferent
frompreviouswaveequations:

.
ThisisSchrdingersequationforafreeparticle.Itiseasytocheckthatif
hastheplanewaveformgivenabove,theconditionforittobea
solutionofthiswaveequationisjustE=p2/2m.
Noticeoneremarkablefeatureoftheaboveequationtheiontheleftmeans
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that cannotbearealfunction.
How Does a Varying Potential Affect a de Broglie Wave?
TheeffectofapotentialonadeBrogliewavewasconsideredbySommerfeld
inanattempttogeneralizetheratherrestrictiveconditionsinBohrsmodelof
theatom.Sincetheelectronwasorbitinginaninversesquareforce,justlike
theplanetsaroundthesun,SommerfeldcouldntunderstandwhyBohrs
atomhadonlycircularorbits,noKeplerlikeellipses.(Recallthatallthe
observedspectrallinesofhydrogenwereaccountedforbyenergydifferences
betweenthesecircularorbits.)
DeBrogliesanalysisoftheallowedcircularorbitscanbeformulatedby
assumingthatatsomeinstantintimethespatialvariationofthewave
functionongoingaroundtheorbitincludesaphasetermoftheform
,
whereheretheparameterqmeasuresdistancearoundtheorbit.Nowforan
acceptablewavefunction,thetotalphasechangeongoingaroundtheorbit

mustbe2n,wherenisaninteger.FortheusualBohrcircularorbit,pis
constantongoingaround,qchangesby2r,whereristheradiusoftheorbit,
giving

so

theusualangularmomentumquantization.
WhatSommerfelddidwastoconsiderageneralKeplerellipseorbit,and
visualizethewavegoingaroundsuchanorbit.Assumingtheusual
relationship
,thewavelengthwillvaryastheparticlemovesaround
theorbit,beingshortestwheretheparticlemovesfastest,atitsclosest
approachtothenucleus.Nevertheless,thephasechangeonmovingashort
distanceqshouldstillbe
,andrequiringthewavefunctiontolinkup
smoothlyongoingoncearoundtheorbitgives

Thusonlycertainellipticalorbitsareallowed.Themathematicsisnontrivial,
butitturnsoutthateveryallowedellipticalorbithasthesameenergyasone
oftheallowedcircularorbits.ThisiswhyBohrstheorygavealltheenergy
levels.Actually,thiswholeanalysisisoldfashioned(itscalledtheold
quantumtheory)butwevegoneoverittointroducetheideaofawavewith
variablewavelength,changingwiththemomentumastheparticlemoves
throughavaryingpotential.
Schrdingers Equation for a Particle in a Potential
Letusconsiderfirsttheonedimensionalsituationofaparticlegoinginthex
directionsubjecttoarollercoasterpotential.Whatdoweexpectthewave
functiontolooklike?Wewouldexpectthewavelengthtobeshortestwhere
thepotentialislowest,inthevalleys,becausethatswheretheparticleis
goingfastestmaximummomentum.Perhapsslightlylessobviousisthat
theamplitudeofthewavewouldbelargestatthetopsofthehills(provided
theparticlehasenoughenergytogetthere)becausethatswheretheparticle
ismovingslowest,andthereforeismostlikelytobefound.
Withanonzeropotentialpresent,theenergymomentumrelationshipforthe
particlebecomestheenergyequation

Weneedtoconstructawaveequationwhichleadsnaturallytothis
relationship.Incontrasttothefreeparticlecasesdiscussedabove,the
relevantwavefunctionherewillnolongerbeaplanewave,sincethe
wavelengthvarieswiththepotential.However,atagivenx,themomentum
isdeterminedbythelocalwavelength,thatis,
.
Itfollowsthattheappropriatewaveequationis:

.
ThisisthestandardonedimensionalSchrdingerequation.
Inthreedimensions,theargumentispreciselyanalogous.Theonly
differenceisthatthesquareofthemomentumisnowasumofthreesquared
components,forthex,yandzdirections,so
,andtheequationis:

.
ThisisthecompleteSchrdingerequation.
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