CYL100 201314 Minor 2 Time: 60 min. + 5 min.

Note:
1. No clarications or corrections will be provided during the exam.
2. If you think there is an error/inconsistency/omission in the paper, please state your assumptions
about it.
Useful Information: h = 6.626 10
34
J s; c = 3.0 10
8
ms
1
; m
e
= 9.109 10
31
kg

2
=
1
r
2

r
r
2

r
+
1
r
2
sin

sin

+
1
r
2
sin
2

2
1. A particle moving on the x-axis has a probability of
1
5
for being in the interval (d a, d + a
and
4
5
for being in the interval (d a, d + a), where d a.
(a) Call the normalized wavefunction for the left interval

(x) and that of the right interval

+
(x). What is the normalized wavefunction (x) for the particle? [1]
(b) With d a, what is the probaility density P(x) for the particle? What does the integral over
all x of P(x) give? [1]
2. A quantum dot relevant to semiconductor devices, may be modeled as an electron in a spherical
well:
V(r) =
_
0 for 0 r a
otherwise
(a) Write the Schr odinger equation for an electron in such a well. [1]
(b) If the wavefunctions are written in the form R
nl
(r)Y
lm
(, ), what is the differential equation
satised by R
nl
(r)? Use k =
_
2mE
h
2
. [2]
(c) Two solutions of the differential equation satised by R
nl
(r) are
R
1
=
cos kr
kr
R
2
=
sin kr
(kr)
2

cos kr
kr
Which of these is an acceptable quantum mechanical wavefunction? Why? [1]
(d) Is the acceptable wavefunction in part (c) the ground state or an excited state? Does it possess
angular momentum? Give justications. [2]
(e) The energies of a particle in a sphere are
E
nl
= z
2
nl
h
2
2ma
2
,
where z
nl
are the zeroes of R
nl
(r). Obtain the radius, a, of the spherical well if the frequency
of light emitted when an electron goes from the rst excited to the ground state is 10 10
9
Hz.
The z
nl
of the ground and rst excited states are and 4.493 respectively. The effective mass
of the electron is m = 0.067m
e
. [2]
(f) At what distance is an electron most likely to be found, if its normalized wavefunction is
=
_

2a
3
sin(
r
a
)
(
r
a
)
? [2]
1. A particle moving on the x-axis has a probability of
1
5
for being in the interval (d a, d + a
and
4
5
for being in the interval (d a, d + a), where d a.
(a) Call the normalized wavefunction for the left interval

(x) and that of the right interval

+
(x). What is the normalized wavefunction (x) for the particle? [1]
(b) With d a, what is the probaility density P(x) for the particle? What does the integral over
all x of P(x) give? [1]
Answer: (a)
(x) =
1

(x) +
2

+
(x) [1]
(a) No marks if square root is missing. (b) No marks if

and
+
are switched.
(b)
P(x) =
1
5

(x) +
4
5

2
+
(x), [0.5]
where it is assumed that
_

(x)

+
(x)dx = 0.
_

P(x)dx =
1
5
_

(x)
2
dx +
4
5
_

+
(x)
2
dx =
1
5
+
4
5
= 1
Particle will be found somewhere on the x-axis because P(x) = 1. Alternatively, the
particle has f rac15 probability of being found between (d a, d + a and
4
5
for being
in the interval (d a, d + a) [0.5]
2. A quantum dot relevant to semiconductor devices, may be modeled as an electron in a spherical
well:
V(r) =
_
0 for 0 r a
otherwise
(a) Write the Schr odinger equation for an electron in such a well. [1]
(b) If the wavefunctions are written in the form R
nl
(r)Y
lm
(, ), what is the differential equation
satised by R
nl
(r)? Use k =
_
2mE
h
2
. [2]
(c) Two solutions of the differential equation satised by R
nl
(r) are
R
1
=
cos kr
kr
R
2
=
sin kr
(kr)
2

cos kr
kr
Which of these is an acceptable quantum mechanical wavefunction? Why? [1]
(d) Is the acceptable wavefunction in part (c) the ground state or an excited state? Does it possess
angular momentum? Give justications. [2]
(e) The energies of a particle in a sphere are
E
nl
= z
2
nl
h
2
2ma
2
,
where z
nl
are the zeroes of R
nl
(r). Obtain the radius, a, of the spherical well if the frequency
of light emitted when an electron goes from the rst excited to the ground state is 10 10
9
Hz.
The z
nl
of the ground and rst excited states are and 4.493 respectively. The effective mass
of the electron is m = 0.067m
e
. [2]
(f) At what distance is an electron most likely to be found, if its normalized wavefunction is
=
_

2a
3
sin(
r
a
)
(
r
a
)
? [2]
Answer: (a)

H =
_

h
2
2m

2
for 0 r a

h
2
2m

2
+ otherwise
For 0 r a
_

h
2
2m
_
1
r
2

r
r
2

r
+
1
r
2
sin

sin

+
1
r
2
sin
2

2
_
_
(r, , ) = E(r, , )
For a < r
_

h
2
2m
_
1
r
2

r
r
2

r
+
1
r
2
sin

sin

+
1
r
2
sin
2

2
_
+
_
(r, , ) = E(r, , )
Only the Schr odinger equation for 0 r a needs to be provided.
(b) Note that the angular wavefunction is identical to that in the hydrogen atom for which we
know that

L
2
Y
lm
= h
2
_
1
sin

sin

+
1
sin
2

2
_
Y
lm
= l(l + 1) h
2
Y
lm
. The differential
equation satised by R
nl
(r) may thus be written by analogy.

h
2
2m
_
1
r
2

r
r
2
R
nl
(r)
r
_
+
l(l + 1) h
2
2mr
2
R
nl
(r) = ER
nl
(r) [1]
or

1
r
2

r
r
2
R
nl
(r)
r
+
l(l + 1)
r
2
R
nl
(r)
2mE
h
2
R
nl
(r) = 0
or
1
r
2

r
r
2
R
nl
(r)
r

l(l + 1)
r
2
R
nl
(r) +
2mE
h
2
R
nl
(r) = 0
or

1
r
2

r
r
2
R
nl
(r)
r
+
l(l + 1)
r
2
R
nl
(r) k
2
R
nl
(r) = 0
or
1
r
2

r
r
2
R
nl
(r)
r

l(l + 1)
r
2
R
nl
(r) + k
2
R
nl
(r) = 0
or
d
2
R
nl
(r)
dr
2
+
2
r
dR
nl
(r)
dr
+
_
k
2

l(l + 1)
r
2
_
R
nl
(r) = 0
(c) Quantum mechanically acceptable solution is R
2
- the function and its rst derivative
are nite, single-valued, and continuous. On the other hand, R
1
diverges at r = 0.
Alternatively, they could arrive at the same conclusion from a sketch of R
1
and R
2
. The
function R
1
looks like:
3 6 9 12
1.0
0.5
0
0.5
1.0
The function R
2
has the following appearance:
3 6 9 12
1.0
0.5
0
0.5
1.0
(d) excited state - function has nodes (ground state has no nodes) [1]
Non-zero angular momentum - function is zero at r = 0, which is true for states with
l = 0 [1].
(e)
E = h =
h
2
2ma
2
_
(4.493)
2
(3.1415)
2
_
[0.5]
=
h 10.3180
8
2
0.067 m
e
a
2
[0.5]
a =

10.3180 6.626 10
34
J s
8 (3.1415)
2
0.067 9.109 10
31
kg 1.0 10
10
Hz
= 376 nm [1]
(f) The r at which the radial probability distribution, r
2
R
2
, is maximum, i. e. the r at which
d
dr
r
2
R
2
= 0. [0.5]
For the given , r
2
R
2
= c sin
2
_
r
a
_
, where c is a constant. This function reaches its
maximum when the argument of sin, r/a, is /2. In other words, the electron is most
likely to be found at r = a/2. [1.5]
Alternatively,
d
dr
c sin
2
_
r
a
_
= c

a
2 sin
_
r
a
_
cos
_
r
a
_
= 0
= sin
_
2r
a
_
= 0
=
2r
a
= or r =
a
2