Regarding Kittel's solid state physics 167 page

AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around the normalization of wave functions at the Brillouin zone boundary in Kittel's 'Introduction to Solid State Physics.' The user questions the meaning of "normalized over unit length of line," specifically whether integrating the square of the wave function from 0 to 1 should yield a result of 1. It is clarified that the normalization condition is satisfied when the unit cell size, denoted as 'a,' is set to 1. Additionally, the periodic nature of the sine function is noted, indicating that other values of 'a' could also meet the normalization requirement. The conversation emphasizes understanding the implications of wave function normalization in solid state physics.
benz994
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Homework Statement



In Kittel's 'Introduction to solid state physics' (8th ed.), on page 167, it says "The wave functions at the Brillouin zone boundary ##k=\pi/a## are ##\sqrt{2} cos (\pi x/a)## and ##\sqrt{2} sin(\pi x/a)##, normalized over unit length of line."
Here I cannot understand what is the meaning of "normalized over unit length of line".
Does that mean that, when I integrate the square of the wave function from 0 to 1, the result should be 1? But
$$ \int_0^1 2cos^2 \frac{\pi x}{a} dx = \int_0^1 (1+cos \frac{2\pi x}{a})dx $$
$$ = 1+\frac{a}{2\pi} sin\frac{2\pi}{a} \neq 1. $$
Please help me find out what is wrong in my reasoning.
Thanks.
 
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Is ##a## given, or is it something you can specify at will? In the latter case, can you find ##a## that would satisfy the requirement?
 
Thank you for the responce.
I think ##a## is a given quantity. ##a## is the size of the unit cell in one-dimensional lattice.
The above equation is satisfied only when ##a=1##.
 
benz994 said:
The above equation is satisfied only when ##a=1##.

No, not only. The sine is a periodic function.
 
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