Calc group velocity and wave velocity for a wave

leonne
Messages
163
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement


a wave function \Psi=Aei(px-Et)/h where p is momentum and E=p2/2m calc group and wave velocity

Homework Equations


group vel=dw/dk
wave v=w/k

The Attempt at a Solution


I just have no idea what they did here to solve it.
i(px-Et)/h=i(kx-wt) than somehow got k=p/h than w=E/h than just used these to solve it but i don't get how they got it. Are these formulas? didn't seem them in the book. I kind of see how they got it. Did they just make it so the right side matches the left? Funny, as soon as i finish typing a problem here, i seem to figure it out.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
No, the formula wasn't just made up. e^(ipx/h) is the general equation for the momentum eigenstates, and since p can be any real number, it's also the general equation for a plane wave. According to Schrodinger's time-independent equation, the eigenstates' time evolution should be e^(-iEt/h), so the time-dependent wavefunction is e^(ipx/h)*e^(-iEt/h).
 
o ok thanks for the help
 
To solve this, I first used the units to work out that a= m* a/m, i.e. t=z/λ. This would allow you to determine the time duration within an interval section by section and then add this to the previous ones to obtain the age of the respective layer. However, this would require a constant thickness per year for each interval. However, since this is most likely not the case, my next consideration was that the age must be the integral of a 1/λ(z) function, which I cannot model.

Similar threads

Back
Top