Structure of Matter, Electricity & Magnetism and
Wave Mechanics
Phy 129 for CSE
Failure of classical mechanics and historical origins of the quantum
mechanics, wave particle duality, uncertainty principle, postulates
of quantum mechanics, wave function, operators, Schrödinger
equation, expectation value, Ehrenfest theorem, eigen function and
eigen values, particle in a box, square well potential, linear
harmonic oscillator
Course Teacher: Dr. Mohammad Abu Sayem Karal
Designation: Professor
Department: Department of Physics, BUET
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Objective 1: To develop logical and critical thinking with scientific
knowledge of wave mechanics required for the students of
computer science and engineering.
Objective 2: To understand the different laws of Physics associated
with wave mechanics, and apply them to solve the real life
problems
Reference Book
Quantum Mechanics: Nouredine Zettili
Concepts of Modern Physics: Arthur Beiser
Quantum Mechanics: Franz Schwabl
Quantum Physics: R. Eisberg, R. Resnick
Introduction to Quantum Mechanics: 2nd Ed., David. J. Griffiths
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Failure of classical mechanics and historical
origins of the quantum mechanics Lecture 1
In nineteenth century or before, classical mechanics was used to predict
the dynamics of material bodies, and Maxwell’s electromagnetism
provided the proper framework to study radiation; matter and radiation
were described in terms of particles and waves, respectively.
Classical mechanics, classical theory of electromagnetism, and
thermodynamics—made people believe that the ultimate description of
nature had been achieved. It seemed that all known physical phenomena
could be explained within the framework of the general theories of
matter and radiation.
At the turn of the twentieth century, however, classical physics, which
had been quite unassailable, was seriously challenged on two major
fronts:
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Failure of Classical physics – Two case
Relativistic domain: Einstein’s 1905 theory of relativity showed that the
validity of Newtonian mechanics ceases at very high speeds (i.e., at
speeds comparable to that of light).
Microscopic domain: As soon as new experimental techniques were
developed to the point of probing atomic and subatomic structures, it
turned out that classical physics fails miserably in providing the proper
explanation for several newly discovered phenomena. It thus became
evident that the validity of classical physics ceases at the microscopic
level and that new concepts had to be invoked to describe, for instance,
the structure of atoms and molecules and how light interacts with them.
The failure of classical physics to explain several microscopic
phenomena—such as blackbody radiation, the photoelectric effect,
atomic stability, and atomic spectroscopy—had cleared
the way for seeking new ideas outside its purview.
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Breakthrough by Planck idea
The first real breakthrough came in 1900 when Max Planck introduced
the concept of the quantum of energy. In his efforts to explain the
phenomenon of blackbody radiation, he succeeded in reproducing the
experimental results only after postulating that the energy exchange
between radiation and its surroundings takes place in discrete, or
quantized, amounts. He argued that the energy exchange between an
electromagnetic wave of frequency and matter occurs only in integer
multiples of h, which he called the energy of a quantum, where h is a
fundamental constant called Planck’s constant. The quantization of
electromagnetic radiation turned out to be an idea with far-reaching
consequences.
Planck’s idea, which gave an accurate explanation of blackbody radiation,
prompted new thinking and triggered an avalanche of new discoveries
that yielded solutions to the most outstanding problems of the time.
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Breakthrough by Einstein and Bohr ideas
In 1905 Einstein provided a powerful consolidation to Planck’s quantum
concept. In trying to understand the photoelectric effect, Einstein recognized
that Planck’s idea of the quantization of the electromagnetic waves must be
valid for light as well. So, following Planck’s approach, he posited that light
itself is made of discrete bits of energy (or tiny particles), called photons,
each of energy h, being the frequency of the light. The introduction of the
photon concept enabled Einstein to give an elegantly accurate explanation to
the photoelectric problem.
Another seminal breakthrough was due to Niels Bohr. Right after
Rutherford’s experimental discovery of the atomic nucleus in 1911, Bohr
introduced in 1913 his model of the hydrogen atom. In this work, he argued
that atoms can be found only in discrete states of energy and that the
interaction of atoms with radiation, i.e., the emission or absorption of
radiation by atoms, takes place only in discrete amounts of h because it
results from transitions of the atom between its various discrete energy
states. It provided a satisfactory explanation to several outstanding problems
such as atomic stability and atomic spectroscopy. 6
Breakthrough by Compton and de Broglie
Then in 1923 Compton made an important discovery that gave the most
conclusive confirmation for the corpuscular aspect of light. By scattering X-
rays with electrons, he confirmed that the X-ray photons behave like particles
with momenta h /c; is the frequency of the X-rays.
As if things were not bad enough for classical physics, de Broglie introduced
in 1923 another powerful new concept that classical physics could not
reconcile: he postulated that not only does radiation exhibit particle-like
behavior but, conversely, material particles themselves display wave-like
behavior. This concept was confirmed experimentally in 1927 by Davisson
and Germer; they showed that interference patterns, a property of waves,
can be obtained with material particles such as electrons.
This series of breakthroughs—due to Planck, Einstein, Bohr, and Compton—
gave both the theoretical foundations as well as the conclusive experimental
confirmation for the particle aspect of waves; that is, the concept that waves
exhibit particle behavior at the microscopic scale. At this scale, classical
physics fails not only quantitatively but even qualitatively and conceptually.7
Birth of Quantum Theory
Although Bohr’s model for the atom produced results that agree well with
experimental spectroscopy, it was criticized for lacking the ingredients of a
theory. Like the “quantization” scheme introduced by Planck in 1900, the
postulates and assumptions adopted by Bohr in 1913 were quite arbitrary
and do not follow from the first principles of a theory. It was the
dissatisfaction with the arbitrary nature of Planck’s idea and Bohr’s
postulates as well as the need to fit them within the context of a consistent
theory that had prompted Heisenberg and Schrödinger to search for the
theoretical foundation underlying these new ideas.
By 1925 their efforts paid off: they skillfully welded the various experimental
findings as well as Bohr’s postulates into a refined theory: quantum
mechanics. In addition to providing an accurate reproduction of the existing
experimental data, this theory turned out to possess an astonishingly reliable
prediction power which enabled it to explore and unravel many uncharted
areas of the microphysical world. This new theory had put an end to twenty
five years (1900–1925) of patchwork which was dominated by the ideas of
Planck and Bohr and which later became known as the quantum theory.
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Quantum Mechanics – Heisenberg Theory
Historically, there were two independent formulations of quantum
mechanics. The first formulation, called matrix mechanics, was developed
by Heisenberg (1925) to describe atomic structure starting from the
observed spectral lines. Inspired by Planck’s quantization of waves and by
Bohr’s model of the hydrogen atom, Heisenberg founded his theory on
the notion that the only allowed values of energy exchange between
microphysical systems are those that are discrete: quanta. Expressing
dynamical quantities such as energy, position, momentum and angular
momentum in terms of matrices, he obtained an eigenvalue problem that
describes the dynamics of microscopic systems; the diagonalization of the
Hamiltonian matrix yields the energy spectrum and the state vectors of
the system. Matrix mechanics was very successful in accounting for the
discrete quanta of light emitted and absorbed by atoms.
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Quantum Mechanics – Schrödinger Equation
The second formulation, called wave mechanics, was due to Schrödinger
(1926); it is a generalization of the de Broglie postulate. This method,
more intuitive than matrix mechanics, describes the dynamics of
microscopic matter by means of a wave equation, called the Schrödinger
equation; instead of the matrix eigenvalue problem of Heisenberg,
Schrödinger obtained a differential equation. The solutions of this
equation yield the energy spectrum and the wave function of the system
under consideration. In 1927 Max Born proposed his probabilistic
interpretation of wave mechanics: he took the square moduli of the wave
functions that are solutions to the Schrödinger equation and he
interpreted them as probability densities.
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Quantum Mechanics – Dirac Equation
Two different formulations—Schrödinger’s wave formulation and Heisenberg’s
matrix approach—were shown to be equivalent. Dirac then suggested a more
general formulation of quantum mechanics which deals with abstract objects
such as kets (state vectors), bras, and operators. The representation of Dirac’s
formalism in a continuous basis—the position or momentum representations—
gives back Schrödinger’s wave mechanics. As for Heisenberg’s matrix
formulation, it can be obtained by representing Dirac’s formalism in a discrete
basis.
Combining special relativity with quantum mechanics, Dirac derived in 1928 an
equation which describes the motion of electrons. This equation, known as
Dirac’s equation, predicted the existence of an antiparticle, the positron, which
has similar properties, but opposite charge, with the electron; the positron was
discovered in 1932, four years after its prediction by quantum mechanics.
In summary, quantum mechanics is the theory that describes the dynamics of
matter at the microscopic scale. In short, quantum mechanics is the founding
basis of all modern physics: solid state, molecular, atomic, nuclear, and particle
physics, optics, thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and so on. Not only that,
it is also considered to be the foundation of chemistry and biology.
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