Reading Assignment: Sections 7.1, 7.2, 7.

3 (except discussion on annihilation and creation

operators) and 8.1 of the textbook (Introductory Quantum Mechanics by Liboff)

Practice problems (from the textbook): 7.1, 7.2, 7.6, 7.12, 7.13, 7.14, 7.23;

8.2, 8.3, 8.6, 8.8

Problems solution to which is to be submitted:

1. Consider motion of a particle in the potential shown below.

∞
V (x) = k x

This would be the potential, for example, for a neutron in the earth’s gravitational
field or an electron in front of a large sheet of charge carrying uniform surface charge
density σ , if the sheet is taken to be impenetrable. Obtain the first four energies of
an electron in front of a charged sheet in terms of σ . What will the values of these
−2
energies in eV if σ = 10 Cm−2 .

2. A particle of mass m is moving in a potential shown in the figure. Find its ground-
state energy in terms of appropriate units. Keep in mind that the particle is confined
so the wavefunction in the box will be a combination of Ai and Bi.

∞
∞

V (x) = k x
 Now consider an electron in a nano-capacitor made of parallel plates (nanoscale)
separated by 2nm. If a voltage of 10V is applied across the plates, find the first two
energy levels (in eV) assuming that the potential can be assumed as shown in the
figure.

3. Write a computer program to generate Hermite polynomial of order n starting from

H0(x) = 1 and H1(x) =  2x, and employing the recursion relation for them. Using this
generate the first four normalized wavefunctions for an oscillator in terms of
coordinates scaled properly and plot them.

4. Using the recursion relations for Hermite polynomials, obtain the matrix elements
xmn and pmn and write the corresponding matrix for the first fours states. Compare
these with those obtained in matrix mechanics earlier.

The following problems are from the textbook

5. 7.15

6. 7.18

7. 8.1

8. 8.7

9. 8.9

Additional Problems:

A1. Using plane waves, construct a wavepacket ψ (x, t) by calculating

∞ N

∫−∞ ∑ ( m)
ψ (x, t) = A(k)e i(k x − ωt)dk ≅ ∆k A k e i(k m x − ωm t)
m=1

k2
Here A(k) is centered around some k 0, ω(k) = . Take ∆ k = 0.01 and
2

1
A(k) =
(k − k 0) + γ 2
2
 with a suitable value of γ to make A(k) sharp. Range of km should be such that it is
spread symmetrically on both sides of k 0. Plot the wavepacket for different values of

dω
time t and see for yourself that its peak shifts according to v= .
dk
k0

A2. Using the procedure to construct the wavepacket for a particle in a harmonic
oscillator as discussed in the class, construct it for a suitable chosen amplitude and
appropriately chosen number of wavefunctions. See for yourself that the wavepacket
2π
oscillates with the time period .
ω