Algebra in potential barrier problem

AI Thread Summary
The discussion focuses on simplifying the transmission probability for a potential barrier problem in quantum mechanics, where the energy of the incoming wave is greater than the barrier height. The user has derived an expression for the ratio of the transmitted wave amplitude to the incident wave amplitude, but struggles with simplifying the transmission probability equation. Key issues include managing complex exponentials and trigonometric functions in the algebraic expressions. The user realizes the need to consider the complex conjugate of the wave amplitudes to correctly compute the transmission probability. Overall, the conversation highlights the challenges of algebraic manipulation in quantum mechanics problems.
Summer95
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Homework Statement


It is a potential barrier with E of the incoming matter wave E>U (greater than the height of the barrier). I have already done a LOT of algebra to get to the point where

##\frac{F}{A}=\frac{2kk'e^{-ikL}}{2kk'cos(k'L)-i(k'^{2}+k^{2})sin(k'L)}##

which I won't bother writing out because its done and I can check that this is the correct expression.

k and k' are clearly the usually values corresponding to the time independent Schrodinger equation outside and inside of the barrier, respectively. F is the amplitude of the transmitted wave and A is the amplitude of the incident wave. L is the width of the barrier.

Homework Equations


The transmission probability *should* simplify to:

##T=\frac{4\frac{k'^{2}k^{2}}{(k^{2}-k'^{2})^{2}}}{sin^{2}k'L+4\frac{k'^{2}k^{2}}{(k^{2}-k'^{2})^{2}}}##

The Attempt at a Solution



So the transmission probability

##T=\left | \frac{F}{A} \right |^{2}=\frac{4k^{2}k'^{2}(coskL-isinkL)^{2}}{4k^{2}k'^{2}cos^{2}k'L+(k^{2}+k'^{2})^{2}sin^{2}k'L-2ikk'cosk'Lsink'L(k^{2}+k'^{2})}##

I have tried to simplify this twice - the second time I started by just multiplying the whole bottom out. I won't write out all of my work because nothing after this point lead to anything useful but if I do get somewhere I will add it. Mostly I don't understand how to get rid of the exponential in the numerator (or the trigs associated with it) and all of the i's.
 
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The complex exponential in the numerator of the first expression disappears when you take the modulus in the second, because ##\forall x\in\mathbb{R}:\ |e^{ix}|=1##.
In the denominator of the second expression, square and add the imaginary and real parts to get the modulus.
 
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andrewkirk said:
The complex exponential in the numerator of the first expression disappears when you take the modulus in the second, because ##\forall x\in\mathbb{R}:\ |e^{ix}|=1##.
In the denominator of the second expression, square and add the imaginary and real parts to get the modulus.
Thank you! I also just realized I need to re-square F/A because I did not take the complex conjugate.
 
Summer95 said:

The Attempt at a Solution



So the transmission probability

##T=\left | \frac{F}{A} \right |^{2}=\frac{4k^{2}k'^{2}(coskL-isinkL)^{2}}{4k^{2}k'^{2}cos^{2}k'L+(k^{2}+k'^{2})^{2}sin^{2}k'L-2ikk'cosk'Lsink'L(k^{2}+k'^{2})}##

I have tried to simplify this twice - the second time I started by just multiplying the whole bottom out. I won't write out all of my work because nothing after this point lead to anything useful but if I do get somewhere I will add it. Mostly I don't understand how to get rid of the exponential in the numerator (or the trigs associated with it) and all of the i's.
So the transmission probability is actually:
## T=\left | \frac{F}{A} \right |^{2}=\frac{F*F}{A*A}## (where F* means the complex conjugate of F)
so doing that I get:

##\frac{4k^{2}k'^{2}}{4k^{2}k'^{2}cos^{2}k'L+(k^{2}+k'^{2})^{2}sin^{2}k'L}##

I guess I am still struggling with the algebra here. This should look like:
##T=\frac{4\frac{k'^{2}k^{2}}{(k^{2}-k'^{2})^{2}}}{sin^{2}k'L+4\frac{k'^{2}k^{2}}{(k^{2}-k'^{2})^{2}}}##

What am I missing?
 
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