Phy5645/Problem 1D sample

(Submitted by team 1. Based on problem 3.19 in Schaum's Theory and problems of Quantum Mechanics)

Consider a particle of mass m in a three dimensional potential: $V(x,y,z)=X(x)+Y(y)+Z(z)\!$

Using the Schroedinger's equation, show that we can treat the problem like three independent one-dimensional problems. Relate the energy of the three-dimensional state to the effective energies of one-dimensional problem.

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The Schroedinger's equation takes the form:

$-{\frac {\hbar ^{2}}{2m}}{\frac {d^{2}\psi (x,y,z)}{dx^{2}}}+\left(X(x)+Y(y)+Z(z)\right)\psi (x,y,z)=E\psi (x,y,z)$

Assuming that $\psi \!$ can be write like:

$\psi (x,y,z)=\Phi (x)\Delta (y)\Omega (z)\!$

So,

Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \begin{align} -\frac{\hbar^2}{2m} \left[ \frac{d^2\Phi(x)}{dx^2} \Delta(y) \Omega (z) + \Phi(x)\frac{d^2\Delta(y)}{dy^2} \Omega (z) + \Phi(x) \Delta (y)\frac{d^2\Omega(z)}{dz^2} \right] \\ + \left[X(x)+Y(y)+Z(z)\right]\Phi(x) \Delta(y) \Omega (z) &= E\Phi(x) \Delta(y) \Omega (z) \end{align} }

Dividing by Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \psi(x,y,z) \!}

Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle -\frac{\hbar^2}{2m} \frac{1}{\Phi(x)} \frac{d^2\Phi(x)}{dx^2} + X(x) -\frac{\hbar^2}{2m} \frac{1}{\Delta(y)} \frac{d^2\Delta(y)}{dy^2} + Y(y) -\frac{\hbar^2}{2m} \frac{1}{\Omega(z)} \frac{d^2\Omega(z)}{dz^2} + Z(z) = E }

We can perfectly separate the right hand side into three parts, where it will only depend on Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle x \!} , or on Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle y \!} or only on Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle z \!} . Then each of these parts must be equal to a constant. So:

Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle -\frac{\hbar^2}{2m} \frac{1}{\Phi(x)} \frac{d^2\Phi(x)}{dx^2} + X(x) = E_x }

Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle -\frac{\hbar^2}{2m} \frac{1}{\Delta(y)} \frac{d^2\Delta(y)}{dy^2} + Y(y) = E_y }

Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle -\frac{\hbar^2}{2m} \frac{1}{\Omega(z)} \frac{d^2\Omega(z)}{dz^2} + Z(z) = E_z }

where Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle E_x \!} , Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle E_y \!} and Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle E_z \!} are constants and Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle E = E_x+E_y+E_z \!}

Hence the three-dimensional problem has been divided into three one-dimensional problems where the total energy Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle E \!} is the sum of the energies Failed to parse (SVG (MathML can be enabled via browser plugin): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle E_x \!} , $E_{y}\!$ and $E_{z}\!$ in each dimension.