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    Normalization of The Wavefunction

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    Zulfiqar Ali
    The document discusses the normalization of wavefunctions in quantum mechanics. It explains that wavefunctions must satisfy the normalization condition, which requires that the probability of obtaining any measurement outcome sums to 1. This ensures the probability interpretation of the wavefunction is valid as probabilities must be between 0 and 1. The document also shows that normalized wavefunctions remain normalized over time according to Schrodinger's equation. Finally, it provides an example of normalizing a Gaussian wave packet and discusses some wavefunctions that cannot be normalized.

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    Normalization of The Wavefunction

    Uploaded by

    Zulfiqar Ali
    112 views4 pages
    The document discusses the normalization of wavefunctions in quantum mechanics. It explains that wavefunctions must satisfy the normalization condition, which requires that the probability of obtaining any measurement outcome sums to 1. This ensures the probability interpretation of the wavefunction is valid as probabilities must be between 0 and 1. The document also shows that normalized wavefunctions remain normalized over time according to Schrodinger's equation. Finally, it provides an example of normalizing a Gaussian wave packet and discusses some wavefunctions that cannot be normalized.

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    Normalization of the Wavefunction

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    The document discusses the normalization of wavefunctions in quantum mechanics. It explains that wavefunctions must satisfy the normalization condition, which requires that the probability of obtaining any measurement outcome sums to 1. This ensures the probability interpretation of the wavefunction is valid as probabilities must be between 0 and 1. The document also shows that normalized wavefunctions remain normalized over time according to Schrodinger's equation. Finally, it provides an example of normalizing a Gaussian wave packet and discusses some wavefunctions that cannot be normalized.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    112 views4 pages

    Normalization of The Wavefunction

    Uploaded by

    Zulfiqar Ali
    The document discusses the normalization of wavefunctions in quantum mechanics. It explains that wavefunctions must satisfy the normalization condition, which requires that the probability of obtaining any measurement outcome sums to 1. This ensures the probability interpretation of the wavefunction is valid as probabilities must be between 0 and 1. The document also shows that normalized wavefunctions remain normalized over time according to Schrodinger's equation. Finally, it provides an example of normalizing a Gaussian wave packet and discusses some wavefunctions that cannot be normalized.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 4

    7/3/2019 Normalization of the Wavefunction

    Next: Expectation Values and Variances Up: Fundamentals of Quantum Mechanics Previous: Schrödinger's
    Equation

    Normalization of the Wavefunction


    Now, a probability is a real number between 0 and 1. An outcome of a measurement which has a probability 0 is
    an impossible outcome, whereas an outcome which has a probability 1 is a certain outcome. According to
    Eq. (138), the probability of a measurement of yielding a result between and is

    (139)

    However, a measurement of must yield a value between and , since the particle has to be located

    somewhere. It follows that , or

    (140)

    which is generally known as the normalization condition for the wavefunction.

    For example, suppose that we wish to normalize the wavefunction of a Gaussian wave packet, centered on
    , and of characteristic width (see Sect. 3.12): i.e.,

    (141)

    In order to determine the normalization constant , we simply substitute Eq. (141) into Eq. (140), to obtain

    (142)

    Changing the variable of integration to , we get

    (143)

    However,

    (144)

    farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/qmech/Quantum/node34.html 1/4
    7/3/2019 Normalization of the Wavefunction

    which implies that

    (145)

    Hence, a general normalized Gaussian wavefunction takes the form

    (146)

    where is an arbitrary real phase-angle.

    Now, it is important to demonstrate that if a wavefunction is initially normalized then it stays normalized as it
    evolves in time according to Schrödinger's equation. If this is not the case then the probability interpretation of
    the wavefunction is untenable, since it does not make sense for the probability that a measurement of yields
    any possible outcome (which is, manifestly, unity) to change in time. Hence, we require that

    (147)

    for wavefunctions satisfying Schrödinger's equation. The above equation gives

    (148)

    Now, multiplying Schrödinger's equation by , we obtain

    (149)

    The complex conjugate of this expression yields

    (150)

    [since , , and ]. Summing the previous two equations, we get

    (151)

    Equations (148) and (151) can be combined to produce


    (152)

    farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/qmech/Quantum/node34.html 2/4
    7/3/2019 Normalization of the Wavefunction

    The above equation is satisfied provided


    (153)

    However, this is a necessary condition for the integral on the left-hand side of Eq. (140) to converge. Hence, we
    conclude that all wavefunctions which are square-integrable [i.e., are such that the integral in Eq. (140)
    converges] have the property that if the normalization condition (140) is satisfied at one instant in time then it is
    satisfied at all subsequent times.

    It is also possible to demonstrate, via very similar analysis to the above, that

    (154)

    where is defined in Eq. (138), and

    (155)

    is known as the probability current. Note that is real. Equation (154) is a probability conservation equation.

    According to this equation, the probability of a measurement of lying in the interval to evolves in time
    due to the difference between the flux of probability into the interval [i.e., ], and that out of the interval

    [i.e., ]. Here, we are interpreting as the flux of probability in the -direction at position

    and time .

    Note, finally, that not all wavefunctions can be normalized according to the scheme set out in Eq. (140). For
    instance, a plane wave wavefunction

    (156)

    is not square-integrable, and, thus, cannot be normalized. For such wavefunctions, the best we can say is that

    (157)

    In the following, all wavefunctions are assumed to be square-integrable and normalized, unless otherwise stated.

    farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/qmech/Quantum/node34.html 3/4
    7/3/2019 Normalization of the Wavefunction

    Next: Expectation Values and Variances Up: Fundamentals of Quantum Mechanics Previous: Schrödinger's
    Equation
    Richard Fitzpatrick 2010-07-20

    farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/qmech/Quantum/node34.html 4/4

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