Wave-particle duality

 The de Broglie equation is one of the equations that is

commonly used to define the wave properties of matter. It
basically describes the wave nature of the electron.

 Electromagnetic radiation, exhibit dual nature of a particle

(having a momentum) and wave (expressed in frequency,
wavelength). Microscopic particle-like electrons also proved to
possess this dual nature property.

 Louis de Broglie in his thesis suggested that any moving

particle, whether microscopic or macroscopic will be associated
with a wave character. It was called ‘Matter Waves’. He
further proposed a relation between the velocity and momentum
of a particle with the wavelength if the particle had to behave as
a wave.
De Broglie wavelength:
Plank’s quantum theory relates the energy of an electromagnetic wave to its
wavelength or frequency
E= hν
Again, if ν is the frequency, then momentum, p=hν /c
frequency ν= c/ λ
p=h/ λ
De Broglie derived an expression relating the mass of particles and its
wavelength.

h
Wavelength
  , λ=h/mv, v= velocity
p
This equation relating the momentum of a particle with its wavelength is de
Broglie equation and the wavelength calculated using this relation is de Broglie
wavelength.
Davisson Germer Experiment

 An electron gun comprising a tungsten filament

was coated with barium oxide and heated through
voltage power supply.

 While applying suitable potential difference from

a high voltage power supply, the electron gun
emits electrons which were again accelerated to a
particular velocity.

 In a cylinder perforated with fine holes along its

axis, these emitted electrons were made to pass
through it, thus producing a fine collimated beam.

 The beam produced from the cylinder is again

made to fall on the surface of a nickel crystal. Due
to this, the electrons scatter in various directions.
Davisson Germer Experiment

 The beam of electrons produced has a certain amount of

intensity which is measured by the electron detector and
after it is connected to a sensitive galvanometer (to
record the current), it is then moved on a circular scale.

 By moving the detector on the circular scale at different

positions that is changing the θ (angle between the
incident and the scattered electron beams), the intensity
of the scattered electron beam is measured for different
values of angle of scattering.

 Classical physics predicts that the scattered electrons will

emerge in all directions with only a moderate
dependence of their intensity on scattering angle and
even less on the energy of the primary electrons.
Using a block of nickel as the target, Davisson and
Germer verified these predictions.
Davisson Germer Experiment

 After they have conducted observing the scattering phenomena for several
times, they noticed the oxidized layer was formed on the surface of nickel
target.

 To remove the oxidation layer they heated up the nickel target and
continued the experiment.

 Now they observed the diffraction phenomena, which did not happen before
the annealing of the nickel target.

 They came to a conclusion that the nickel target got crystallized and because
of that the electrons were diffracted as they have behaved with wave nature
also.

 To prove this they had to show that the wavelength of the emitted electrons
should be same as the wavelength of the diffracted electrons.
Davisson Germer Experiment: Observations

 They obtained the variation of the intensity (I) of the scattered electrons by changing the
angle of scattering, θ.
 By changing the accelerating potential difference, the accelerated voltage was varied
from 40V to 68 V.
 With the intensity (I) of the scattered electron for an accelerating voltage of 54V at a
angle θ = 50º, we could see a strong peak in the intensity.
 This peak was the result of constructive interference of the electrons scattered from
different layers of the regularly spaced atoms of the crystals.
 With the help of electron diffraction, the wavelength of matter waves was calculated to
be 1.65 Å.
Davisson Germer Experiment
In a particular case, a beam of 54-eV electrons was directed perpendicularly at the nickel
target and a sharp maximum in the electron distribution occurred at an angle of 50° with the
original beam.
Davisson Germer Experiment
They concluded that the nickel target got crystallized and because of that the electrons were
diffracted as they have behaved with wave nature also. To prove this they had to show that
the wavelength of the emitted electrons should be same as the wavelength of the
diffracted electrons.

1
me v 2 the kinetic energy of emitted electrons
2
= eV (The electrical energy supplied to the electrons).

me − mass of electron; V − Voltage applied to the filament

v (the velocity of e− s) = 2eV/me

h
λ (the debroglie wavelength of the incident e− s) =
me v
h
=
2eVme
Davisson Germer Experiment

= 1.65 Å

Here, Nickel crystal is acting as a reflection grating. The energy of the incident electrons are chosen in such a way that
only surface layer of atoms are considered (low energy electrons, do not penetrate deeply into the crystal.)
Heisenberg uncertainty principle
The position and momentum of any particle cannot be
measured simultaneously precisely.
This is not due to the instrumental limitation. This limitation exists in nature
itself.
∆𝑥. ∆𝑝 ≥ ℎ
Uncertainty in position Uncertainty in momentum

Wave mechanics,
∆𝑥. ∆𝑝 ≥ ℎ/4π
Or, ∆𝑥. ∆𝑝 ≥ ħ/2
Werner Heisenberg uncertainty in 1927
Heisenberg uncertainty principle
 We might want to measure the position and
momentum of an object at a certain moment.

 To do so, we must touch it with something that

will carry the required information back to us.
That is, we must poke it with a stick, shine light
on it, or perform some similar act. The
measurement process itself thus requires that the
object be interfered with in some way.

 Suppose we look at an electron using light of

wavelength, as in Fig. When one of these photons
bounces off the electron (which must happen if
we are to “see” the electron), the electron’s
original momentum will be changed.
Heisenberg uncertainty principle
The exact amount of the change p cannot be
predicted, but it will be of the same order of
magnitude as the photon momentum h/λ.
Hence ℎ
∆𝑝 ≈
𝜆
The longer the wavelength of the observing photon, the
smaller the uncertainty in the electron’s momentum.

Because light is a wave phenomenon as well as a particle

phenomenon, we cannot expect to determine the
electron’s location with perfect accuracy regardless of the
instrument used. A reasonable estimate of the minimum
uncertainty in the measurement might be one photon
wavelength, so that
∆x≥λ
For energy and time,

Another form of the uncertainty principle concerns energy and time. We might
wish to measure the energy E emitted during the time interval t in an atomic
process.
∆𝑥
=𝑣 → ∆𝑥 = 𝑣∆𝑡
∆𝑡
𝑝2 2𝑝∆𝑝 𝑚𝑣∆𝑝 ∆𝐸
𝐸= ; ∆𝐸 = → ∆𝐸 = → ∆𝑝 =
2𝑚 2𝑚 𝑚 𝑣
∆𝐸
𝑣∆𝑡. = ∆𝐸. ∆𝑡 ≥ ℎ
𝑣

The more accurately we know the energy of a body, the less accurately we know how
long it possessed that energy
The energy can be known with perfect precision (∆ E = 0), only if the measurement is
made over an infinite period of time (∆ t = ∞)
Wave function

State and wave functions. Born interpretation

The state of a quantum mechanical system is completely

specified by a wave function ψ (r,t) that depends on the
coordinates of the particles (r) and time t. These functions are
called wave functions or state functions.

Meaning of wave function:

P(r) = |ψ|2 = Born

=> the probability that the particle can be found at a particular
point x and a particular time t.
Wave function

 While ψ itself has no physical interpretation, the square of

its absolute magnitude |ψ|2 evaluated at a particular place
at a particular time is proportional to the probability of
finding the body there at that time.

 The linear momentum, angular momentum, and energy of

the body are other quantities that can be established from
ψ.

 The problem of quantum mechanics is to determine ψ for a

body when its freedom of motion is limited by the action of
external forces.
 Wave function
It is usually convenient to have IψI2 be equal to the probability density P of finding
the particle described by , rather than merely be proportional to P.

If IψI2 is to equal P, then it must be true that

A wave function that obeys this Eq. is said to be normalized

Boundary conditions of ψ
ψ must be single-valued, since P can have only one value at a particular place and
time, and continuous
 Wave equation
From Classical,

(i)

wave whose variable quantity is y that propagates in the x direction with the
speed v.

This wave is described by the general solution of Eq. (i) for undamped (that is,
constant amplitude A), monochromatic (constant angular frequency ) harmonic waves
in the x direction, namely
Schrodinger equation: time dependent

In quantum mechanics the wave function ψ corresponds to the wave variable y of

wave motion in general. However, ψ unlike y, is not itself a measurable quantity and
may therefore be complex. For this reason we assume that ψ for a particle moving
freely in the x direction is specified by

(i)

(ii) Erwin Schrödinger

(1887–1961)

energy

(iii)
Schrodinger equation: time dependent

(iii)

(iv)

(iii)

(v)

(vi)
Schrodinger equation: time dependent
(vi)

(vii)

(iv) (v)

Also written as, U

Schrödinger’s equation cannot be derived from other basic principles of physics; it is
a basic principle in itself.
Schrodinger equation: time independent
Schrodinger decided that if electron or any particle is expected to show wave nature,
its wave equation also should be like the general wave equation (similar for water
waves wind waves or any waves), which is written as follows.
𝜕2Ψ 𝜕2Ψ 𝜕2Ψ 1 𝜕2Ψ
+ + = ----1
𝜕𝑥 2 𝜕𝑦 2 𝜕𝑧 2 𝑣 2 𝜕𝑡 2

Where, Ψ − is amplitude of waves; v − is velocity of waves; t − is time.

Ψ = Ψ0 e−iωt −−− −𝟐
Eqn 2, is the general solution of the wave equation, which is eqn 1.

From eq. (2), 𝜕Ψ

= Ψ0 e−iωt × −iω And,
𝜕t 𝜕2Ψ 2 ----3
= −ω Ψ
= −iωΨ (since Ψ = Ψ0 e−iωt ) 𝜕𝑡 2

𝜕2Ψ 𝜕2Ψ 𝜕2Ψ 1 2Ψ ----4

From eq. (1) and (3), + + = −ω
𝜕𝑥 2 𝜕𝑦 2 𝜕𝑧 2 𝑣 2
Schrodinger equation: time independent

2
𝜕2 𝜕2 𝜕2
𝛻 = 2 + 2 + 2 (𝐿𝑎𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟)
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧
2
ω
𝛻2Ψ = − 2 Ψ ----5
𝑣

Now we have chance to include electron’s wavelength as follows,

ω = 2πϑ = 2π 𝑣 λ ∵ϑ=𝑣 λ
ω 2π
=
𝑣 λ
Putting the value of ω/v in eq. (5),
4π2
𝛻2Ψ + 2
Ψ = 0 ----6
λ
Schrodinger equation: time independent
h
From De-broglie’s wave, λ =
mv
4π2 m2 v 2
From eq. (6), 𝛻 2Ψ + Ψ=0 ----7
h2
1
E = 2 mv 2 + 𝑈 (T.E=K.E+P.E)

1
Or, E−U= mv 2
2
Or, 2 E − U = mv 2
Or, 2m E − U = m2 v 2 ----8 (multiply with m on both side)
From eq. (7) and (8)
8π 2m 2m Time independent
2
2
𝛻 Ψ+ 2
E − U Ψ = 0 Or, 𝛻 Ψ + 2 E − U Ψ = 0 equation
h ђ

2mE
for a free particle, U = 0; thus 𝛻 2 Ψ + Ψ=0
ђ2