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ate, and we can derive what these operators look like based on the nature and nu
mber of the particles in the system. We will see a couple of examples of that in
the rest of this section. How the operators extract these parameters from the w
avefunction depends on the operator, but as an example let s take a sine wave with
frequency ? :
?( x )=sin?( 2p?x ).
Lene Vestergaard Hau is the Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and of Applied Phy
sics at Harvard University. Her group has been working on the interaction of lig
ht with cold matter. The constant c=2.998 10 8 m s ?-1 that we use throughout th
is book is the speed of light in a vacuum, but light travels slower than this wh
en it passes through matter. The Hau group has studied ways of slowing laser lig
ht as it propagates through a very cold gas known as a Bose Einstein Condensate, o
r BEC (See the companion volume of this text, Physical Chemistry: Statistical Me
chanics, Thermodynamics, and Kinetics, Chapter 4). In a sample of atomic sodium
gas cooled to roughly 10 ?-6 ?K , Hau and her coworkers slowed the photons to a
speed of only 17?m? s ?-1 . This braking of the light can be switched on and off
by a second laser called the pump. With the pump laser off, a burst of light fr
om the first laser (the probe) travels through the gas near its vacuum speed. Tu
rning on the pump laser mixes together two quantum states of the sodium atoms in
a cleverly planned interaction that prevents the light from the probe laser fro
m being absorbed but forces it to interact so strongly with the sample that the
light slows down to a ten-millionth of its typical speed. The effect is used to
study the nature of the BEC as well as the light that it affects so dramatically
.
Context
Quantum mechanics often involves solving a lot of integrals, and it s a big help i
f we can set up a problem so that we know in advance that a whole class of integ
rals over complicated functions evaluate to zero. We usually select the basis fu
nctions that we will use to write wavefunctions so that they are mutually orthog
onal. By clever planning along these lines, the daunting mathematics of quantum
mechanics became sufficiently tractable during the 1980s that we could start rel
iably predicting geometries of molecules based on only the fundamental physics.
Computational quantum mechanics is now a major tool in the development of new dr
ugs and new materials
First, let us consider the classical solution to our problem. In the region 0<x<
a , the potential energy is zero, so the kinetic energy is equal to the total en
ergy: E=m v 2 /2 , where v is the speed of the particle. Higher energies corresp
ond to higher speeds. The particle cannot be found outside the walls, in the reg
ions x=0 or x>a , because any place where the potential energy becomes greater t
han the total energy, the particle must turn around. Because the system has ener
gy E=K+U and the kinetic energy K=m v 2 /2 is always positive, a classical syste
m can never have an energy less than the potential energy at any given point
We have taken the trouble here to define ? dB as h/| p x | , to ensure that it i
s a positive number. This choice of phase defines the relationship between the m
omentum operator and the Cartesian axes for everything that follows.
(We neglect the trivial case n=0 , for which ?=0 .) We have our first genuinely
quantum-mechanical energy expression. Like the energies of Bohr s one-electron ato
m, only discrete values of the energy are possible.
Furthermore, unlike the free particle, no state exists for which E=0 . Even the
lowest energy quantum state, the ground state, has some kinetic energy. The diff
erence between the energy of the ground state and the minimum value of the poten
tial energy is called the zero-point energy,
E zero-point = E gnd - U min ,
(2.32)
and it is present in any quantum-mechanical system for which the potential energ
y limits the particle s domain.3 For the particle in a box, the zero-point energy
is E 1 = p 2 ? 2 /( 2m a 2 ) .
3 The particle s de Broglie wavelength requires this, because if the particle coul
d have zero kinetic energy, then ? dB would become infinite. The only way for th
e particle to be at rest is for it to occupy all space. We will see, however, in
Section 9.1 that, in the right coordinate system, this does not require the par
ticle itself to be infinitely large.
The free particle has the continuous energies of a classical system because the
flat potential energy function means that the domain of the particle is infinite
, larger than any de Broglie wavelength. To introduce the energetics of a quantu
m-mechanical system, we need a potential energy function that puts up walls, lim
iting the particle s domain and thus allowing ? dB to become comparable to the dom
ain. Our next consideration, therefore, is the solution to a Schrdinger equation
with a more interesting potential function.
Tot era el dios local de Hermopolis del Delta (Bajo Egitpo XV Nomno) donde se le
honraba bajo una de las formas antes dichas
la de ibis, que siurvio para escribir su nombre: Dhwf
De alli paso a Hemenopiolis Magna en el XV Nomo de Alto Egipto la actual -.--donde su culto se desarrollo y persistio hasta bien ebtrada la wra romana.
Aqui adquirio el carcter de dios primordial del que surge la Ogdoada. sobre la c
olina primige ia
de Hermenopolis. Y desde Hemnopilis paso a intregrarse aistema de vida mas diver
so
se le identoifica con la luna y como tal es el seor del tiempo
calculador del tiepo de la vioda, corazon y pensamiento de Ra.
The GRE is comprised of three sections:
Analytical Writing: Within the Analytical Writing section, you ll be asked to comp
lete two writing
tasks: an Analyze an Issue task and an Analyze an Argument task.
Verbal Reasoning: The Verbal Reasoning section includes critical-reading questio
ns, text completions,
and sentence equivalences.
Quantitative Reasoning: The Quantitative Reasoning questions may appear as multi
ple-choice,
quantitative-comparison, or numeric-entry questions.
In the answer keys for the Diagnostic Test and Full-Length Practice Test, you ll f
ind spaces to enter
your responses to some of the Quantitative Reasoning questions. On the computerbased test, you ll
simply type your answer into a box on-screen. On the paper-based test, you ll be a
sked to enter your
The current computer-based test is an adaptive test one that allows the computer t
o tailor the test to the
ability of the individual test-taker. The test allots a set time for each sectio
n and bases your score on the
number of questions you answer in that time period and on their level of difficu
lty. You re presented first
with medium-difficulty questions, which are scored as you answer them. Based on
your responses, the
computer assigns you questions of higher, lower, or equal difficulty. Your score
is based on the number of
questions you answer correctly, as well as on the difficulty of the question, wi
th the more difficult questions
earning more points. As a result, the number of questions you answer may be diff
erent from the number