Beginning Modern Quantum

Born’s probability interpretation

The indeterminacy (“uncertainty”) principle
The Schroedinger equation
The Copenhagen interpretation
419 Term Paper Abstract due today
Homework 5 due on Thursday

Next time:
We rule out any comfortable explanations
 Particle Waves
• Light
– is a wave. It exhibits interference (Young, 1814).
– now it is seen to have some particle properties:
photoelectric effect & Compton scattering
• Electrons
– Appear at fluorescent screen (CRT) at a point, like particles.
– Have wave properties: Interference (Davisson, ~1922).
• Our old particles have frequency, wavelength…
• Our old waves have discrete lumps of energy, momentum….
– The old dualism (world made of particles interacting by fields) is gone-
everything consists of quantum objects which have both wave-like and
particle-like aspects, which become relevant in different situations.
• The common claim that these objects are both waves and particles is false- they're
just something else, with a resemblance to both classical waves and classical
particles, but also with properties of neither.
• We seem to be saying something very incoherent. A wave cannot have a
wavelength, even approximately, unless it is spread out over distances large
compared with the wavelength. A particle is supposed to have a particular position.
How can we say "the momentum of the particle is given by its wavelength?"
 The wave and its equation
• The electron is described by a wave function, Ψ(r,t), which obeys a
differential equation. The non-relativistic version is called
Schrödinger’s equation. 2 2 
    V(r )  i
2m t
• First term, (squared momentum), depends on how Ψ wiggles in
space. Like 1/wavelength squared, p2/2m
– Second term, (potential energy), due to various neighbors
(whose positions are presumed fixed in our reference frame).
– Third term (total energy) is how fast ψ changes in time:
frequency. E=hf.
• This equation is linear, which means that the principle of
superposition works:
– Adding any two solutions produces another solution.
 Quantum Theory
• The SE is non-relativistic quantum mechanics. Dirac generalized to be
relativistic. We will discuss it in a few weeks.
• It describes electrons, neutrons, protons. For photons we need a little
more.
• When the SE can be solved, it is always right. The most precise physical
theory known.
All of the physical laws necessary for the mathematical theory of a large part
of physics and the whole of chemistry are completely known and it is only
necessary to find practical methods to solve the equations” Dirac 1929.
• Condensed matter physics, chemistry, microbiology,… are all reduced to
mathematics. We understand how to use and rely QM in the modern
world. (transitor, laser, chemistry, ....)
But what does it mean? What is the wavefunction?
 Born’s probability interpretation
• Recall that the intensity (energy density) of a wave goes as the square of
the amplitude (for light the magnitude of the electric field, for water
ripples the height change).
• Quantum mechanics says that if we consider an ensemble (collection) of
identically prepared electrons, each described by similar wave functions,
Ψ(x,t).
• | Ψ (x,t)| 2 ΔV is the probability that an electron would be found in the
little volume ΔV near point x at time t, if an experiment is done that could
locate it that accurately.
• Because |Ψ2| gives a probability density, when we have a large ensemble
it tells us the rate at which electrons arrive at the spot of interest on the
screen. In the places where the two waves interfere destructively, the
probability is less than the sum of the two individual probabilities, and may
even be zero.
• There is a fundamental loss of determinism.
 An important mathematical property of waves
• The wavelength of a wave, describes a sinusoidal function of position, sin(kx),
where k = 2π/λ. The sine function oscillates for all x between ± ∞. Thus, if we limit
the spatial extent of the wave, it is no longer a simple sine wave and is not
described by a single wavelength.

x

Superposition lets us write a spatially limited wave as the sum of a many sine
waves of various wavelengths. (“Fourier decomposition”) Fourier analysis shows
that if the wave is limited to a spatial region Δx, the spread of k values in the sum is
approximately 1/Δx. One can prove that Δx Δk ≥ 1/2. Δ means “the spread of,” or
“the uncertainty of.”
• Classically, position and momentum were specified by separate vectors. In QM they
are both specified by Ψ(r,t), but Ψ(r,t) cannot both wiggle at a steady rate in space
and be confined to one point in space, so it cannot specify precisely both r and p.
• A quantum state cannot have both precise px and precise x.
 Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle
• Our Fourier analysis of the wave, gives: Δx Δp ≥ .
2

• One often reads that the uncertainty principle is merely a statement about our lack of
knowledge of the electron’s position and momentum, but that’s false. Exact position
and momentum are not attributes that any object ever has at the same time.
Assuming otherwise leads to incorrect predictions.
• Why call that an “uncertainty”? A water wave also has a spread in positions and
directions. This is uncertainty, not just classical spread, because various measurements
(e.g. letting the electron hit a screen) don’t give results with the whole spread. We only
see part of the spread, and are uncertain which part it will be. For the water wave we
are certain to see the whole spread.
• Note the difference between this QM unmeasurability and previous unobservables,
such as the ether. If we assume that the ether exists, we open up the possibility of
making various hypotheses about how to find it, none of which work. So, for simplicity,
we say it doesn't exist. If we say that precise x and p simultaneously exist (at least in
the usual meaning of those words) we will directly run into predictions which violate
both QM and experience, since interference is found between parts of the wave at
different x's and p's, leaving it very hard to see how those variables could have had
only single values.
 Trajectories?
• The uncertainty principle means there are no classical trajectories
• Suppose we try to make an accurate measurement
of the path of our electron by passing it through a
bunch of slits or otherwise determining the position
to some accuracy, e.g. by looking via light
What happens if we try to
improve the accurately by
narrowing the slits? The
uncertainty principle foils us.

• Any attempt at increased accuracy

merely yields a more scattered set of
measurements. You can't do something to measure the trajectories without ending up with
a different arrival pattern- meaning that you haven't found the trajectories of the initial
problem.
• For classical waves there are also no trajectories- but that's not a problem because the wave
is certainly spread out. If you try to measure where the wave is, you don't get the strange
result that it's just at one spot, you see that it is spread out.
 The Heisenberg microscope
camera
The quantum nature of the Image of electron
photon prevents our violating the on the film Spread (uncertainty) of
uncertainty principle. directions photon must
have taken
Suppose we try to measure both
Light source
the position and momentum of an
electron by looking at it with a electron
camera:

We are limited by the quantum nature of the photon. The spot on the camera film
is limited by diffraction as the light passes through the lens. If we make the lens
bigger, then we don’t know which direction the photon was going after it bounced
off the electron. Similarly, reducing the wavelength reduces Δx, but the photon
now has more momentum, and thus a larger Δp.
Thus, we can have small Δx or Δp, but not both.
Every type of object, or none, must share the uncertainty rule, otherwise
you could unravel the uncertainty of one type with microscopes using a
less uncertain type.
 Not everything is imprecise
• We can predict the frequencies (energies) of photons emitted from
hydrogen and helium atoms to 10 decimal places.
• But we don’t know when the photon will arrive.

• These are complementary variables. In QM certain pairs of variables are

linked together.
– Position and momentum
– Energy and time
– Spin and polarization components
 Bohr and Einstein debate
• Is there some way around the uncertainty relations? One uncertainty relation
(between the frequency of a wave and the time at which it comes by) translates to
an uncertainty relation between the energy of a particle and the time at which it is
emitted.
• Einstein proposed putting some particle
emitter on a scale, e.g. a spring-held
platform in the Earth's gravitational field.
If a shutter is opened briefly, with the
time of opening set by a timer, you
know just when the particle got out. If
the scale is initially in balance, you see
the weight change by watching the rate g
at which the box picks up upward
momentum after it is lightened by
emitting a particle. So you know the
change of weight of the box, so you
know m (and E = mc2). These are
classical measurements, so it seems that you should be able to know E and t to
arbitrary accuracy, contrary to the uncertainty principle.
 Bohr Wins
• Bohr pointed out that the position and momentum of the scale had to obey
an uncertainty relation. It's true that to weigh the emitted particle, all you
care about is the change of the scale's momentum, so Einstein had assumed
that the momentum was well defined. But Bohr reminded him that General
Relativity implied that the rate at which the clock ran depended on how high
up it was in the Earth's gravitational field! Trying to get a well-defined
momentum gives a very uncertain position, and that IS relevant because it
affects what the time of the event is. If the scale position/momentum initially
obey the uncertainty relation, so will the measurements of the particle energy
and time.
p
mg 
t
Notice the astounding unity of physics:
c 2 p
E  c m 
2
the self-consistency of QM was saved by GR!
gt
Einstein temporarily gave up.
 g
t  tx  2  from G.R.
 
c
tE  xp   / 2
 Uncertainty relations for Spin
• In QM, many physical systems have complementary pairs of observables
which cannot be measured at the same time. e.g. the product of the
uncertainties in position (x) and momentum (px) must exceed ħ .
• Another physical quantity, spin, S
z

will be important in arguments to follow.

A spinning ball’s angular momentum points zs
y
along the axis of rotation and has a length x
sx
s
equal to the rate of rotation times the y

moment of inertia. It is a vector and all three components can be specified.

• In QM, pairs of spin components satisfy uncertainty relations  s j sk   .
At most one component of the spin can have a definite value. Results of spin
measurements are quantized. When one measures sx, one always finds a
multiple of .
• This is true for photons as well: there are 2 polarization states.
 Experimental implications
• If you separate a beam of neutrons into sx= +1/2 and sx =-1/2 beams (by running through
magnet pole-faces), you can discard the (-1/2) part to get a beam of pure sx =1/2
neutrons.
• Now try measuring sy (just using a magnet turned 90°): you find that the measurements
still give ±1/2, with a random pattern of + and - results.
• If you take either the sy= 1/2 or the sy= 1/2 beam, and again try measuring sx, you also
find random results. The neutrons don't seem to be able to remember both values at
once. (the uncertainty relation)

• But if you recombine the sy= 1/2 and the sy= 1/2 beams without measuring, i.e. without
letting them interact with some sort of detector, the resulting beam is still all s x= +1/2.

• Each sx= +1/2 was BOTH sy= +1/2 and sy= -1/2, and follows BOTH pathways . Only a
"measurement" makes it choose one or the other. Apparently sy is not specified by a
hidden variable, since each sx= +1/2 neutron seems to have both values of sy.
 The Copenhagen Interpretation
(Bohr 1930)

• Particles have some fixed quantities: charge, mass, spin.

• Also dynamic attributes: position, momentum
• The wavefunction contains all knowledge of a system, but it can’t always tell you
what will happen.
• These attributes are contextual: an electron’s position depends on how you
measure it.
• There is no reality to its (position, momentum) together. What is the color of
something? It depends on the viewing light.
• Position only become defined when it interacts with the outside world, a
measurement.
• This is an inversion of the classical picture.
– Classical: bottom up. Macroscopic objects made from atoms….
– Quantum: top down. Electrons don’t have positions until we measure them...
• But what is a measuring appartus and what is a quantum system?
• Bohr: one should not ascribe reality to events that cannot be observed.
 “Collapse of the wavefunction”
• What happens in a measurement?
• During a measurement they electrons acquire positions and momentum.
Their wavefunction changes.
• It is not the disturbance which causes the collapse, but the transfer of
information to the outside world.
• According to the Copenhagen interpretation there are 2 steps
– An unmeasured wavefunction advances deterministically.
– A measurement forces nature to choose between classical possibilities. It does so
randomly. Afterwards there is a new wavefunction.
• The collapse happens faster than the speed of light, even backwards in
time. How can that be?
• Observations are consistent with relativity but “reality” is not.