Homework #3: Due Friday February 14, 11:59pm

You are welcome to use Mathematica or similar tools in doing these problems. Also,
you are encouraged to talk and work with your peers, but your homework should be
original.

1) Plancherel’s theorem: As we will see in class, problems in quantum mechanics often simplify when we write the
wavefunction in momentum (or k space). So generically, we will be interested in determining the Fourier transform
ϕ(k) of a wavefunction at t = 0, Ψ(x, 0), where these are related via,
ˆ ∞
1
Ψ(x, 0) = √ dkϕ(k)eikx . (1)
2π −∞

To help use understand how to obtain ϕ(k) from Ψ(x, 0) let us by first considering a discrete Fouries series in a finite
interval in space for a generic function.
In particular, consider a function f (x) defined on the interval [−a, a]. This can be expanded it in a Fourier series:
∞
X
f (x) = cn eikn x , (2)
n=−∞

where kn = nπ a .
(a) [5pts.] Show that the Fourier coefficients are given by
ˆ a
1
cn = f (x)e−ikn x dx. (3)
2a −a

(b) [5pts.] Show that if g(x) is another function with Fourier coefficients dn , then
∞ ˆ a
X 1
c∗n dn = f ∗ (x)g(x) dx. (4)
n=−∞
2a −a

(c) [5pts.] Now consider the limit as a → ∞, replacing the discrete sum with an integral over k, where kn → k and
cn is replaced by f˜(k), the Fourier transform of f (x):
ˆ ∞
˜ 1
f (k) = √ f (x)e−ikx dx. (5)
2π −∞

Show that the result from part (a) leads to the identity
ˆ ∞ ˆ ∞
∗
f (x)g(x) dx = f˜∗ (k)g̃(k) dk. (6)
−∞ −∞

This is known as Plancherel’s theorem, which expresses the preservation of the inner product under the Fourier
transform.
2) Probability density: In class we showed that, for a time-independent potential, the general solution to the
Schrödinger equation can be written as
X
Ψ(x, t) = cn ψn (x)e−itEn /ℏ , (7)
n

where ψn (x) are the solutions to the time-independent Schrödinger equation, satisfying,

ℏ2 d 2
 
− + V (x) ψn (x) = ψn (x)En . (8)
2m dx2

cn are in general complex coefficients given by the initial conditions of the wavefunction.

a) [5pts.] Derive an expression for the probability density |Ψ(x, t)|2 at a given point x and time t.
 2

b) [5pts.] Show that this can be rewritten in the form

X 
(Ej − Ei )
 
(Ej − Ei )

2
|Ψ(x, t)| = Aij cos t + Bij sin t . (9)
i,j
ℏ ℏ

Where Aij and Bij are time-independent real coefficients. These can be obtained from the initial conditions at t = 0
of the wavefunction. In deriving Eq. (9), find expressions for Aij and Bij .
[Tip: If you have a complex number, z, it can always be written as z = x + iy, where x and y are real. The real
∗ ∗
and imaginary parts of z can be respectively written as Re[z] = z+z 2 = x and Im[z] = z−z
2i = y.

3) Finite stationary states: Several systems in particle physics can be thought of as composed of two or three
stationary states with definite mass that are allowed to mix due to the initial conditions. Examples include the case
of the neutrinos and the K 0 -particle and its antiparticle. Here we consider simplified versions of these systems.
For such systems, we can define the states as vectors in the space of stationary states. The time-dependent states
can be obtained as
X
⃗
Ψ(t) = cn⃗vn e−itEn /ℏ , (10)
n

where ⃗vn are the eigenvetors associated with the stationary states with energies En and are normalized according to

⃗vn∗ · ⃗vm = δnm , (11)

where the “·” is the standard dot-product, but the row-vector ⃗vn∗ must complex conjugated.
For example, vector of the form,
 
x1
 x2 
vn =  .  , (12)
 
 .. 
xD

where the D is the dimension of the system. Then the dot product above is defined as
D
X
vn∗ · vn = x∗j xj . (13)
j=1

With this, we can define the probability of finding the state in its original configuration as,

⃗ ∗ (0) · Ψ(t)|
P0 (t) = |Ψ ⃗ 2
. (14)

In general, we can define the probability of finding the state in arbitrary state w
⃗ as,

Pw (t) = |w ⃗
⃗ ∗ · Ψ(t)| 2
. (15)

a) [5pts.] Two-state case: Consider a two state system defined by eigenvectors and eigenenergies
 
1
v1 = , E 1 = E0
0
 
0
v2 = , E2 = −E0 . (16)
1

At time t = 0, the state is detected to be

 
⃗ 1 1
Ψ(0) =√ . (17)
2 i
 3

⃗
At time t, find the probability of Ψ(t) ⃗
being in the state Ψ(0). Plot this as a function of time in units of ℏ/E0 . In
⃗
the same plot, show the probability of finding Ψ(t) in the orthogonal state
 
1 1
⃗=√
w . (18)
2 −i

b) [10pts.] Three-state case: Consider the three-state system defined by the three stationary states
 
1 1
v1 = √ i , E1 = E0
2 0
 
1 1
v2 = √ −i , E2 = 2E0 . (19)
2 0
 
0
v3 = 0 , E2 = 3E0 . (20)
1

Assuming an initial state

 
1 1
⃗
Ψ(0) = √ 1 , (21)
3 1

find the probability of the state being in its initial configuration at an arbitrary time t. [Tip: to check your algebra,
make sure that at least the t = 0 limit makes sense.]