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American Journal of Physics

Quantum mechanics in momentum space: The Coulomb system

Barry R. Holstein

Published Aug 1, 1995• 14 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We examine the Coulomb system in momentum space. Both by directly summing the multiple scattering series as well as by use of symmetry techniques we demonstrate how the familiar results for scattering amplitude and bound state wave functions/energy levels can be derived.
DOI
10.1119/1.17841

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A differential equation in momentum space is derived for the case of an attractive Coulomb potential. The bound-state energies and the momentum eigenfunctions are shown to arise from this differential equation in a simple fashion. The zero-energy partial-wave momentum eigenfunctions are also derived. The s-wave bound states and their momentum eigenfunctions in a three-dimensional linear potential and an attractive 1/(r+ beta ) potential are derived by similar techniques. The connection between the quantisation formulae in these potentials and the classical action integral in momentum space is explored.
Chapter Preview: We begin at the beginning with Plank's black-body radiation spectrum applied to the cosmic background. We move on to bound states; first finding them semi-analytically with a trial-and-error search, and then finding them numerically as an eigenvalue problem. We include relativistic effects in hydrogen bound states by solving the Klein-Gordon equation. We then examine the numerical solution of the time- independent Schrödinger equation, and various types of bound state wave functions. We move on to wave packet solutions of the time- dependent Schrödinger equation. Then we study scattering from: a 3-D square well, the Coulomb potential, three stationary disks, and on a billiard table (see also classical billiards in § 3.8 ). We next look at quantum mechanics in momentum space: integral equations, bound states, the delta-shell potential, hyperfine structure of hydrogen, SU3 symmetry of quarks. Next to last we examine several examples of coherent states. We end the chapter with the Feynman path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, and its solution via the Metropolis algorithm. If not enough, Chapter 8 discussion of quantum entanglement fits in well here too.
The momentum representation is seldom used in quantum mechanics courses. Some students are thence surprised by the change in viewpoint when, in doing advanced work, they have to use the momentum rather than the coordinate representation. In this work, we give an introduction to quantum mechanics in momentum space, where the Schrödinger equation becomes an integral equation. To this end we discuss standard problems, namely, the free particle, the quantum motion under a constant potential, a particle interacting with a potential step, and the motion of a particle under a harmonic potential. What is not so standard is that they are all conceived from momentum space and hence they, with the exception of the free particle, are not equivalent to the coordinate space ones with the same names. All the problems are solved within the momentum representation making no reference to the systems they correspond to in the coordinate representation.
We develop a systematic approach to determine the large |p| behavior of the momentum-space wave function, ϕ(p), of a one-dimensional quantum system for which the position-space wave function, ψ(x), has a discontinuous derivative at any order. We find that if the kth derivative of the potential energy function for the system has a discontinuity, there is a corresponding discontinuity in ψ(k+2)(x) at the same point. This discontinuity leads directly to a power-law tail in the momentum-space wave function proportional to 1/pk+3. A number of familiar pedagogical examples are examined in this context, leading to a general derivation of the result.
We treat the nonrelativistic quantum mechanical scattering of a wavepacket (for a single, charged, spinless particle) of well-resolved momentum incident on a fixed Coulomb potential. To implement this, we calculate the incoming and outgoing probability amplitudes for normalized state vectors on the basis of eigenvectors of total momentum magnitude and total angular momentum. We show that the method of partial wave analysis becomes applicable for this long range potential with the use of wavepackets. We find a relation between the finite probability and the differential cross section that is seen to hold sufficiently far from the singularity of the latter in the forward direction. The resulting differential cross section reduces to the familiar Rutherford form for scattering angles sufficiently far from the forward direction. We find that the interaction causes small time shifts in the detection probabilities. For our particular scattering geometry, we see, at low energies, a shadow zone of low probability for small angles around the forward direction, a phenomenon that cannot be predicted by the standard treatment.