Homework Assignment III for Quantum Mechanics I (Fall 2019)

(Due Date: Oct. 30, 2019)

Daw-Wei Wang
To submit the homework sucessfully, you have to (1) write the number of each homework question
in order, (2) write the process of derivation or calculation in a A4 type empty paper (without other
unrelated information) by hand (or you can write it first and scan), (3) write your name and
student ID number in the top righthand side of the front page, (4) stamp your homeworks and
submit it during the class on the due date (see above).
Your submission without above preparation may not be counted or may get degraded.
Each item of questions is 5 points.

1. Consider the following trial wavefunction for the first excited state of a particle of mass m in a inifinite square
well potential within −a < x < a, where λ is a variational parameter.
ψ1 (λ; x) = x aλ − |x|λ

(1) Calculate the energy functional, E1 (λ), for such such a state.
(2) Plot the function E(λ) and calculate the minimum position and the critical value, λc .
(3) Calculate the first excited energy obtained by this variational method and compare it with the exact result.

2. Consider a 1D finite square well, where V (x) = −V0 as h |x| 2<ia and V (x) = 0 for |x| > a. Use a Gaussian trial
1 x
wavefunction for the ground state, ψ0 (R, x) = π1/4 W 1/2 exp − 2W 2 .

(1) Deriave
R x the variational energy functional E0 (R). You can express it in terms of Imcomplete Gamma function,
γ(s, x) ≡ 0 ts−1 e−t dt.
(2) Plot E0 (R) as a function of R, finding the possible local minimum by expressing the asymtopic behavior in
small and large R limit. (Hint: limx→0 γ(s, x) = xs /s and limx→∞ γ(s, x) = Γ(s) − xs−1 e−x )
(3) Calculate the variational ground state energy and obtain the critical value of R for small V0 (i.e. you may
assume W  a).

3. In solid state experiment, interface between two different material is very important because a localized state
near the interface may be generated and change the physical properties significantly. Consider now a metal connecting
to an insulator, where the potential for an electron near the interface can be approximated by following 1D potential:
V (x) = −V0 e−x/b , for x > 0, and V (x) = ∞ for x < 0 (V0 , b > 0). Using the following trial wavefunction,
ψλ (x) = Cx e−x/2λ , for x > 0, where C is a constant and λ is the variational parameter.
(1) Calculate C as a function of λ.
(2) Calculate the total energy Eλ of such a trial wavefunction.
(3) Plot Eλ as a function of λ for a small V 0 and a large V0 .. Show that no bound state if V0 is small.
(4) What will be the minimum value of V0 to have at least a bound state?

4. For the same problem as above, use WKB method to write down the bound state wavefunction:
(1) in the regime I where the bound state energy 0 > E = −|E| > V (x), and
at x = 0 and x = ∞.
(2) in the regime II where E < V (x) < 0. Note the boundary condition effectsp
(3) Show that in the regime x  b, the wavefunction ψ(x) ∼ e−κx , where κ = 2m|E|/~2 .
(4) Write down the correct Bohr-Sommerfield quantization condition for the bound state energies. You may not
need to evaluate the integral.
(5) Discuss the critical
h √ value of V0 to have at least one bound state. (Hint: You may need to know that
R x √tdt √ x+1
i
1−t = −2 x + ln .)
√
x−1

5. (Exercise 16.2.6) Using WKB method to show that the nth eigen-energy of an anharmonic potential,, H =
p2
2m + λx4 can be calculated to be
4/3
cλ1/4 ~
 
1
En = n+
m1/2 2
where c is just a constant. Please also write the expression for calculating c.
 2

====Bonus Problem====

1. Consider an N -body weakly interacting identical bosonic particles, where the Hamiltonian is decribed by the
following form:
N  2 
X p̂ i
X
Ĥ = + V (r̂i ) + U0 δ (r̂i − r̂j )
i=1
2m i<j

where V (r) is external potential and U0 is the mutual interaction strength. Since the wavefunction has to be symmetric
with respect to exchange, a good guess of the many-body trial wavefunction is a product state, Ψ (r1 , · · · , rN ) '
QN
dr|φ (r) |2 = 1.
R
i=1 φ (ri ), where the single particle trial wavefunction is normalized:
(1) Using above (so called meanfield) approximation, show that the total energy is following:
 2
~ |∇φ (r) |2

N (N − 1) U0
D E Z Z
2
E = Ψ|Ĥ|Ψ = N dr + V (r) |φ (r) | + dr|φ (r) |4
2m 2

(2) Assuming N  1, show that the energy functional form can be written as following
 2
~ |∇ψ (r) |2
Z  Z
2 U0
E [ψ (r)] = dr + V (r) |ψ (r) | + dr|ψ (r) |4 ,
2m 2
√
where ψ (r) ≡ N φ (r).
1


(3) Assuming these bosonic particles are placed in a parabolic potential, V (r) ≈ 2m ωx2 x2 + ωy2 y 2 + ωz2 z 2 , show
that the total energy can be expressed to be
 2
Ri2 N 2 U0

X ai
E (Rx , Ry , Rz ) = N ~ωi + + ,
i=x,y,z
4Ri2 4a2i 3/2
2 (2π) Rx Ry Rz

where we have use h a 2 Gaussian wavefunction

i of width, Ri to simulate the wavefunction, i.e. ψ (r) =
N 1/2 y2 z2
x
p
π 3/4 (Rx Ry Rz )1/2
exp − 2R2 − 2R2 − 2R2 . Here ai = ~/mωi is oscillator length of the harmonic potential in
x y z
i = x, y, z direction.
(4) Assuming the contribution of kinetic energy can be neglected for Ri  ai , derive the equation and solution of
the variational parameter, Ri to be
 1/10  1/5
Ri 2 N as ω̄
=
ai π ā ωi
2 1/3 1/3
where U0 ≡ 4π~m as with as being the s-wave scattering length. ā ≡ (ax ay az )
p
= ~/mω̄ with ω̄ ≡ (ωx ωy ωz )
being the averaged trapping frequency.