Chapter 7: Q8P (page 308)
Evaluate and (Equations and ). Check your answers against Equations and .
Short Answer
Equations and matches the two integrals, and the results are the same.
/*! This file is auto-generated */ .wp-block-button__link{color:#fff;background-color:#32373c;border-radius:9999px;box-shadow:none;text-decoration:none;padding:calc(.667em + 2px) calc(1.333em + 2px);font-size:1.125em}.wp-block-file__button{background:#32373c;color:#fff;text-decoration:none}
Learning Materials
Features
Discover
Chapter 7: Q8P (page 308)
Evaluate and (Equations and ). Check your answers against Equations and .
Equations and matches the two integrals, and the results are the same.
All the tools & learning materials you need for study success - in one app.
Get started for free
a) Use the variational principle to prove that first-order non-degenerate perturbation theory always overestimates (or at any rate never underestimates) the ground state energy.
(b) In view of (a), you would expect that the second-order correction to the ground state is always negative. Confirm that this is indeed the case, by examining Equation 6.15.
Suppose you’re given a two-level quantum system whose (time-independent) Hamiltonian admits just two Eigen states, (with energy ), and (with energy ). They are orthogonal, normalized, and non-degenerate (assume is the smaller of the two energies). Now we turn on a perturbation H′, with the following matrix elements:
(7.74).
where h is some specified constant.
(a) Find the exact Eigen values of the perturbed Hamiltonian.
(b) Estimate the energies of the perturbed system using second-order perturbation theory.
(c) Estimate the ground state energy of the perturbed system using the variation principle, with a trial function of the form
(7.75).
where ϕ is an adjustable parameter. Note: Writing the linear combination in this way is just a neat way to guarantee that ψ is normalized.
(d) Compare your answers to (a), (b), and (c). Why is the variational principle so accurate, in this case?
(a) Use a trial wave function of the form
to obtain a bound on the ground state energy of the one-dimensional harmonic oscillator. What is the "best" value of? Comparewith the exact energy. Note: This trial function has a "kink" in it (a discontinuous derivative) at; do you need to take account of this, as I did in Example 7.3?
(b) Useon the intervalto obtain a bound on the first excited state. Compare the exact answer.
Find the best bound on for the one-dimensional harmonic oscillator using a trial wave function of the form role="math" localid="1656044636654" where A is determined by normalization and b is an adjustable parameter.
Use a gaussian trial function (Equation 7.2) to obtain the lowest upper bound you can on the ground state energy of (a) the linear potential (b) the quartic potential:
What do you think about this solution?
We value your feedback to improve our textbook solutions.