Phys 790 Physics of Matter Homework Assignment #4, due Thursday, Oct 25, 2012 Ch 3: Q10, Q14, P8,

P10 Sup. Prob. 1. In light of what we just learned about the Uncertainty Principle, for an electron that exists in one of the quantum eigenstates above the ground state, how long do you expect it to exist in the state? How likely do you think it might spontaneously hop from the excited state to another state with lower energy? Sup. Prob. 2. To what voltage must we accelerate electrons (as in an electron microscope, for example) if we wish to resolve a virus of diameter 12 nm? What about an atom of diameter 0.12 nm? Sup. Prob. 3. The atom in a gas can be treated as a classical particle if their de Broglie wavelength is much smaller than the average separation between the particles. Compare the average de Broglie wavelength and the average separation between the atoms in a container of (monatomic) helium gas at 1 ATM pressure and at room temperature. At what temperature or pressure would you expect quantum effects to become important? Sup. Prob. 4. Find the function that corresponds to the Fourier transform of the ground state wave function of a one-dimensional harmonic oscillator. What is the physical meaning of this new function in the picture of quantum mechanics?