Muon decay soln-23.

pdf
2 2
A muon (mass 106M eV /c ) decays into an electron (mass 0.5M eV /c ), a muon neutrino
(massless) and an electron anti-neutrino (also massless). In the rest mass of the muon, the
two massless particles each have energy 50M eV /c2 .

(a) What is the speed of the emitted electron?

(b) What is the angle between the directions in which the muon neutrino and the electron
anti-neutrino are travelling?

Week 8, PS7
UV vision soln-24.pdf

Batman, getting jealous of Superman’s X-ray vision, decides that he wants UV vision for
himself, and builds a photoelectric-e↵ect-based gadget for measuring the wavelength UV
sources. During a calibration run, he discovers that the retarding potential required to stop
electrons ejected by 3.07 ⇥ 1015 Hz light is half that required to stop electrons ejected by
4.61 ⇥ 1015 Hz light.

(a) What is the work function of the metal Batman uses?

(b) You can find a list of work functions for di↵erent metals for example here:
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/tables/photoelec.html
You should be able to identify the metal Batman uses for his new gadget. Why do you think
he chose that metal?

(c) Batman discovers that someone has planted a mystery UV source under his Bat-
mobile. He points his new gadget at it and obtains a stopping voltage of 8V for the photo-
emitted electrons. What is the wavelength of the mystery source?

Compton scattering soln-25.pdf

12
 2(a) A photon with wavelength 500nm scatters o↵ a stationary electron. If its new
direction of motion is perpendicular to the original direction, by how much does the wave-
length of the photon change? Based on this number, can you explain why the Compton
e↵ect is not observed with visible light?

2(b) A photon with wavelength scatters o↵ a free electron.

(i) At what angle of scattering is the wavelength of the photon changed the most?

(ii) In a Compton scattering experiment, some photons were seen to have their wave-
length changed by as much as 1%. What is the maximum wavelength of the incoming
photons?

Photoelectric e↵ect symulation soln-26.pdf

In this problem, you will use the photoelectric e↵ect simulation again. You can find the
simulation at http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/photoelectric
Select the Mystery Metal (?????) as your Target. Measure and plot the stopping potential
at di↵erent light frequencies. From your plot, determine:

(a) The work function of the Mystery Metal.

(b) An approximate value for Planck’s constant, given that the electron change is e =
1.6 ⇥ 10 19 C.

Make sure to label your axes, as well as explain what you did and why!

Black body radiation soln-27.pdf

The qualitative features of black body radiation are described by two laws:
• Stefan’s law says that the power radiated per unit area of the body is given by
I = T4
where = 5.67 ⇥ 10 8 W/m2 K2 is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant

• Wien’s law gives the wavelength at the peak to be

2.90 ⇥ 106 nm K
peak =
T
13
Make the approximation that most of the radiation has wavelength close to peak . If you
double the temperature, how does the number of photons radiated per second change?

Week 9, PS8
Trig identities made simple soln-28.pdf

Complex numbers are useful for many things. In this question, you will derive some trigono-
metric identities using the power of complex numbers.

(a) Consider the following fact:

ei(x+y) = (eix )(eiy )

with x and y real. Write ei(x+y) , eix and eix in the form a + ib, then multiply out the RHS.
By considering the real and imaginary parts of the resulting equation, derive formulas for
cos(x + y) and sin(x + y).

(b) Now, consider this equation:

⇣ ⌘4
e4ix = eix

Use it to prove that sin(4x) = 4 cos3 (x) sin(x) 4 cos(x) sin3 (x).

Di↵raction pattern soln-29.pdf

The attached figure (on the next page) shows a di↵raction pattern (intensity in some ar-
bitrary units as a function of distance on the screen) for a two-slit experiment. Using the
figure, estimate as accurately as you can the probability that the first two photons both hit
the screen within the central interference fringe.

14
15
Polarizer at 60-degrees soln-30.pdf

Consider a polarizer with its axis pointing at an angle of 60 to the y direction (vertical direc-

tion), as shown.

(a) What polarization must incoming light have to be completely transmitted through
the polarizer? (Write your answer in the form Ex x̂ + Ey ŷ. You should be able to determine
Ex and Ey up to an overall normalization). What polarization must incoming light have to
be completely absorbed by the polarizer?

(b) Let êt be a unit vector pointing in the same direction as the transmitted light’s
polarization, and let êa be a unit vector pointing in the same direction as the absorbed
light’s polarization. What are êt and êa ?

(c) Solve for x̂ and ŷ in terms of êt and êa .

(d) Now consider elliptically polarized light with polarization E(1 i)x̂ + Eiŷ. Write
its polarization in terms of êt and êa (using your answer form part (c)). What fraction of
this light goes through the polarizer?

Same question, new notation soln-31.pdf

In this question, we will redo the previous problem, using the photon picture. If you did the
previous question, this one is really just an exercise in notation.

(a) With the same polarizer set-up as in Question 2, write down a quantum state for
a photon that will be transmitted by the polarizer with 100% certainity, and the state for a
photon that will be absorbed with 100% certainity. Give your answers as quantum superpo-
sitions of |0i and |90i and don’t forget to normalize properly.

16
 (b) Let’s denote the transmitted photon and absorbed photons from part (a) by |ti and
|ai, respectively. Solve for |0i and |90i in terms of |ti and |ai.

(c) Now consider a photon from a light beam with polarization E(1 i)x̂+Eiŷ, same as in
Question 1(d). What is the quantum state of this photon, and what is the probability of this
photon going through the polarizer? (Don’t use your answer from Question 2(d). Instead,
redo your computation from that question using the photon quantum state notation.)

Circular polarization soln-32.pdf

An elliptically polarized photon might have a quantum superposition with complex coef-
ficients.
p p
(a) Consider photons described by (|0i + i|90i)/ 2 and (|0i i|90i)/ 2. Explain why
these are called right and left circularly polarized photons [Hint: review the tutorial.]
p
(b) What is the probability that a photon in a quantum state (|0i + i|90i)/ 2 will
go through a vertically oriented polarizer?

(c) What is the probability that this photon will go through a polarizer at an arbi-
trary angle ✓?

Challenge question (not for credit)

In the case of the circularly polarized photons from the practice problem above, describe
how you would measure the polarization of a beam of such photons if you had a polarizer
and a quarter-wave plate.

Week 11, PS9

A constant wavefunction soln-33.pdf

Consider a particle with the following wavefunction:

(
A for |x| < d
(x) =
0 for |x| > d
(a) Find a value for A which makes the wavefunction normalized.

17
 (b) Find the momentum wavefunction, ˜ (p).
To simplify your answer, you might find it useful to show that
ei✓ e i✓
= sin ✓ .
2i
(c) Sketch | ˜ (p)|2 .
(d) What is the relationship between d, the half-width of the position probability dis-
tribution and the half-width of the momentum probability distribution (which you can take
to be the half-width of the central fringe in | ˜ (p)|2 )? is this relationship consistent with the
Heisenberg Uncertainity Principle?
(e) If the momentum of the particle is measured, what is the probability of it being
observed moving to the right? (Note: if you normalized the position wavefunction correctly,
the momentum wavefunction should be normalized automatically).

A narrow slit di↵raction soln-34.pdf

Consider an electron incident on a screen with a narrow slot of width 2d. Assume that
the electron is moving with velocity v in the direction perpendicular to the screen and
that its wavefunction is uniformly spread over the slit and its vicinity, as shown. After going
through the slit, the electron hits a detector screen a distance D away. Assume that d << D.

Zoomed-in view

(a) We can think of this set up as a way to measure the momentum of the electron after
it passed through the slit. If the electron hits the detector screen at a point x away from the
point directly ligned up with the center of the slit (see Figure), what was the x-component
of its momentum just after it passed through the slit?
(b) It is reasonable to assume that the x-dependence of the wavefunction of the electron
just after it passes the slit is given by the wavefunction in Question 1. Using your asnswer to

18
Question 1(c), sketch and describe what will be visible on the detector screen if many such
electrons were to pass through the system and hit the screen.
(c) Describe how you could determine the half-width of the slit d from the experimental
data consisting of the positions of the fringes, the velocity of the electrons v, the mass of the
electron me and the distance D.
(d) If the slit is too narrow, its width cannot be determined. Let’s take the total size
of the projector screen to be D. What is the smallest half-width d of the slit that can be
measured using this method?
(e) Compare your answer to part (d) with the de Broglie wavelength of the incident
electrons.

Intensity profile and probabilities soln-35.pdf

Light passes through one slot on a way to a screen. The intensity profile on the screen
is measured to be
I0
cosh(x)
where I0 is the intensity at the center of the pattern.

(a) What is the probability that a given photon will hit the screen between x = 0 and
x = 1?

(b) What is the probability that the first four photons will hit the screen at x > 0?

Remark 1: The hyperbolic cosine, cosh(x), is defined as (ex + e x )/2.

Remark 2: The above function does not integrate to 1.
Remark 3: If you are having trouble with the integration, the following substitution might
help: ex = tan(y).

Two slit interference and resolution limit soln-36.pdf

You might be familiar with the fact that the resolution of a microscope is ultimately limited
by the wavelength of the light used. In this question, we will examine this.
We know that when light passes through small features (such as narrow slots), instead of
getting the image of the features on the screen, we get interference fringes. Let’s examine
how close together two really narrow slits can be before we can no longer resolve them (see
that there are two slits and not just one).

19
 (a) Explain, using the Figure as your guide, why the double slit interference pattern
gets wider when we make the slits closer together.

(b) Sketch what the pattern looks like on the screen if the first dark fringe is at ✓ = ⇡/2.
Can you infer the existence of two slits (as opposed to one slit twice as wide) from this
pattern?

(c) For light with wavelength , what is the distance D between the slits when ✓ = ⇡/2?

20
Week 12, PS10
Finite square well soln-37.pdf

In this question, you will study the finite square well. Consider the following potential
for a particle confined to a wire of length L:
(
U if x < 0 or x > L
V (x) =
0 if 0 < x < L
The goal of this question is to study the stationary state wavefunctions and the energy
spectrum associated with this potential.
For more on the finite square well, see Townsend 4.1.
(a) Plot the potential as a function of x. Can you see why this is called the ‘finite square
well’ potential? How does it di↵er from the infinite square well?
(b) Show that the following trial wavefunction satisfies the time-independent Schrodinger
equation with the potential above:
8
Aex + Be x
>
>
< if x < 0
(x) = > C cos(kx) + D sin(kx) if 0 < x < L
>
: F ex + Ge x if x > L
The constants A, B, C, D, F and G are arbitrary for now. Assume that k and  are both
positive. What are k and  in terms of the energy of the a bound stationary state E (E < U ),
as well as U , L, h̄ and m?
(c) We would like the wavefuction to be normalizable, ie, we need the integral over | (x)|2
to converge. This implies that (x) ! 0 for x ! ±1. This fact allows you to set two of
the constants A, B, C, D, F and G to zero. Which ones?
(d) Physically, we want the wavefunction and its derivative to be everywhere continuous.
Write down the conditions on the remaining four constants that are implied by this statement.
You should get four equations linear in the constants.
(e) Show that your four equations from part (d) have a solution only if
2 k 2
cos(kL) + sin(kL) = 0 ,
2k
then rewrite this constraint in terms of E, U , L, h̄ and M to get
s s
2mL2 E E U/2 2mL2 E
cos q sin =0.
h̄2 E(U E) h̄2

(f ) Plot s s
2mL2 E E U/2 2mL2 E
cos q sin
h̄2 E(U E) h̄2

21
for L=1nm and U=2eV, as a function of energy E in eV. (You can use a computer or a
graphing calculator. You can sketch the plot by hand based on what you see on the screen.)
Explain how this plot shows that the energies allowed in the square well potential are dis-
crete. How many bound stationary states are there, and what are their energies?

Energy eigenstate example soln-38.pdf

A particle with mass m is trapped in the potential

!2
h̄2 e2x/L 1
V =
mL2 e2x/L + 1
The particle’s wavefunction at time t = 0 is
q
2/L
(x, t = 0) =
ex/L + e x/L

(a) Show that the the particle is an energy eigenstate and compute its energy.
(b) Write down the time evolution of this wavefunction, (x, t), for all times t.

Time evolution of a wavepacket soln-39.pdf

Consider an electron which at time t = 0 is located at x = 0 and whose mean momen-

tum is 0 as well. The normalized wavefunction at t=0 is given by
!
1 x2
(t = 0, x) = 1/4 p exp
⇡ L0 2L20

(a) Plot (or sketch) the wavefunction for L0 =1, 4 and 16. What does L0 correspond to?

(b) We want to solve the time-dependent Schrodinger equation for a free particle, with
the above wavefunction as the initial condition. Let’s guess that the wavepacket will keep
its overall shape but change its width and normalization with time. Take the ansatz wave-
function !
1 x2
(t, x) = q exp
⇡ 1/4 L0 f (t) 2L20 g(t)
and substitute it into the time-dependent Schrodinger equation
@ h̄2 @ 2
ih̄ =
@t 2m @x2
22
to obtain the following equation:
!
g 0 (t) x2 f 0 (t) ih̄ 1 x2 1
=
g(t)2 L20 f (t) m g(t)2 L40 g(t)L20

(c) Argue that f(0)=1 and g(0)=1.

(d) In the equation you obtained in part (b), take x ! 1 and obtain g(t) from the
resulting equation.

(e) What is f(t)?

Time evolution of a wavepacket II soln-40.pdf

In the previous question, you derived that

v 0 1
1 u
u L0 x2
(t, x) = t⇣ ⇣ ⌘ ⌘ exp @ ⇣ ⇣ ⌘ ⌘A
⇡ 1/4 L20 + ih̄
t 2 L20 + ih̄
t
m m

is a solution to the time-dependent Schrodinger equation. In this question we will try to

understand the shape of this wavefunction.

(a) In the wavepacket simulation we used for Tutorial 10:

http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/quantum-tunneling
set up a wavepacket with zero energy in a constant potential and an initial width of 0.3nm.
Sketch the shape of the real part of the wavefunction and the magnitude, as shown by the
simulation, at t=0, 3 and 6 fs.

(b) To see why the wavefunction develops oscillatory behaviour as it evolves in time,
we can ignore the normalization factor in (x, t), as it will not a↵ect the shape since it does
not depend on x. Let’s focus on the argument of the exponent in the wavefunction above:

x2
⇣ ⌘
ih̄
2 L20 + m
t

Multiply the top and the bottom of this expression by L20 ih̄t/m and write the result in
the form a + ib with a and b real.

(c) Use your answer to part (a) together with exp(a + ib) = exp(a)(cos(b) + i sin(b))

23
to compute the real part of 0 1
2
x
exp @ ⇣
ih̄
⌘A
2 L20 + m
t

(d) Which part of your expression in part (c) is responsible for the wavepacket get-
ting wider, and which is responsible for the oscillations?

Week 13, PS11

Molecular spectrum soln-41.pdf

In a series of experiments, a gas of exotic molecules containing exactly one electron each
is investigated. It is found that:

• When the gas is cold (so all the molecules are in their ground states) and illuminated
with light, it absorbs strongly at wavelengths 103.40nm, 137.87nm and 248.16nm.

• when the gas is cold and illuminated with light of short wavelength, the electrons are
ejected from the molecules as long as the wavelengths is less than 88.63nm.

• When the gas is heated, it emits light with 6 di↵erent wavelengths.

(a) If we chose to set the potential energy outside of the molecule to be zero, how far
below zero energy is the ground state of the molecule?

(b) How many discrete energy level does the molecule have?

(c) What wavelengths of light does the heated gas emit?

(d) A free electron with kinetic energy of 2eV is captured by the atom (which is origi-
nally ionized) and goes directly into the ground state. What is the wavelength of the emited
photon?

Hint: Electrons can jump from one energy level to another by emitting/absorbing a photon
whose energy is equal to the di↵erence in energies between the two states.

24
Tunnelling soln-42.pdf

An electron is travelling down a long wire, when it encounters a small gap. The proba-
bility of the eletron tunneling through this gap is 1/10,000. What will be the probability of
tunneling through if:

(a) The width of the gap were to be decreased by a factor of2?

(b) A di↵erent metal is used in the wire, one whose work function is twice that of the
original wire?
(c) The experiment was set up in a di↵erent universe, where h̄ is ten times bigger than it
is in our universe?

Particle moving in a square well soln-43.pdf

In the tutorial, you showed that the energy eigenstates for the infinite square well are given
by 8 q ⇣ ⌘ ⇣ ⌘
< 2
sin n⇡x
exp i⇡n 2 h
t for 0 < x < L
L L 4mL2
n (t, x) =
: 0 otherwise
Let L = 3nm. Suppose that we have an electron with the wavefunction (x, t) = p12 ( 1 (x, t) + 2 (x, t)).
In the Quantum Bound States simulation available here:
http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/bound-states
choose the square potential well and configure it to have the highest available height and
width 3nm. This will approximate an infinite square well with that potential. Now configure
your wavefunction to and choose to display the Probability Density.

(a) Is a stationary state?

(b) Observe that the evolution of | (t, x)|2 is periodic. Measure the period using the
simulation.

(c) Derive an expression for the period T in terms of L, m and h̄. Substitute numerical
values and compare with your result in part (b).

(d) Plot the energy eigenfunctions 1 and 2 at t = 0 and and t = T /2. Use your
plots and the concept of constructive and destructive interference to explain why the prob-
ability density | (x, t)|2 moves from left to right and back.

25
Recall that in class, we discussed the following formulas for mean or average x, hxi, and
the mean deviation in x, x: Z
hxi = | (x)|2 x dx
Z
( x)2 = | (x)|2 (x hxi)2 dx

Movement in a square well II soln-44.pdf

Consider a quantum particle of mass m confined by the infinite square well potential to
a region of length L.

(a) Use the uncertainty principle to estimate? the range of velocities we might find if
we measure the velocity of the particle in its lowest energy state.
? Estimate here means ‘compute the dependence on L, m and h̄, ignoring overall factors
of 2, ⇡, etc . . .’

(b) Compare the kinetic energy implied by your estimate in part (a) to the ground state
energy and comment on the role the uncertainty principle plays in the phenomenon of zero
point energy.

(c) To be more precise, given a particle in the lowest state (normalized) wavefunction
8 q ⇣ ⌘
< 2
sin ⇡x
for 0 < x < L
= L L
1
: 0 otherwise

compute x, p, and compare x p to h̄/2. You may use a computer program such as
Maple to do the integrals for you.
Consult the previous question if you are unsure how to proceed.
To compute the momentum wavefunction, it might help to recall that

eiw e iw
sin w =
2i

26
Expectation values: Example I soln-45.pdf

An electron has a wavefunction given by

A
(x) =
a2 + x2

(a) What is A if the wavefunction is normalized? [Hint: You might find x = a tan y to
be a useful substitution.]

(b) If position was measured repeatedly for many electrons with the above wavefunc-
tion, what would be the average outcome?

(c) What is the the mean deviation for the measurements in part (b)?

Recall that in class, we discussed the following formulas for mean or average x, hxi, and
the mean deviation in x, x: Z
hxi = | (x)|2 x dx
Z
2
( x) = | (x)|2 (x hxi)2 dx

Expectation values: Example II soln-46.pdf

In this question, we will consider the wavefunction from the previous question, but this
time we will talk about it in momentum space.

(a) We know that a wavefunction in position space, (x), can be written as a combi-
nation of momentum eigenstates, i.e. plane waves eixp/h̄ , with various momenta p. Formally,
we have
1 Z1 ˜
(x) = p (p) eixp/h̄ dp
h 1
To write the inverse relationship, we need to use the Fourier Transform formula, which tells
us that the above equation is equivalent to
Z 1
˜(p) = p1 (x) e ixp/h̄
dx
h 1

Using the following ‘math fact’:

Z
eikx |k|
dx = ⇡e
1 + x2

27
compute the momentum wavefunction ˜ corresponding to the wavefunction given in Ques-
tion 3.

(b) What is the mean momentum for this particle?

(c) What is the mean deviation in momentum, p?

(d) Does the product x p satisfy the Heisenberg inequality?

(e) Let a = 1nm. If we measure the velocity of this electron, what is the probability
that we will find the speed be greater than 105 m/s?

Oscillations in the Harmonic potential soln-47.pdf

In this question we will use the simulation at

http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/bound-states
again. We will study motion of a wavepacket in the Harmonic Oscillator potential.
To make a wavepacket, you will need to choose the Harmonic Oscillator Potential Well.
Configure it to have an angular frequency of 2(fs) 1 . Keep the mass at 1me . Now, prepare
a superposition state by setting your coefficients according to the following formula:

2 2n
cn = e p
n!

Watch the time evolution of the probability density. In contrast with the wavepacket for a
free particle, the wavepacket we have just defined does not spread out. Instead, it oscillates
back and forth like a mass on a spring (which is what the potential represents).

(a) What is the period of oscillations? is it consistent with the angular frequency you set
for the potential?

(b) What is the spring constant of this oscillator?

(c) Estimate, by measuring on the screen with a ruler, the amplitude of the oscilla-
tions of the center of the wavepacket. When the wavepacket is completely to the left, what
is the potential energy of the electron (in eV)?

(d) Now watch the real part of the wavefunction. Can you see how the wavelength
changes as the wavepacket oscillates? When is the wavelength shortest?

28
 (e) Allow the wavepacket to reach the bottom of the potential at x = 0 and estimate
the wavelength by measuring on the screen with a ruler again. Compute the corresponding
momentum and kinetic energy (in eV).

(f ) Compare your kinetic energy in part (e) with the potential energy in part (c) and
comment.

29