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PH 333 - Quantum Physics - Homework sheet 1!

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Antonio Souza - ID.: 13261192!
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1 - Explain, as precisely as you can, the key hypotheses used by Planck and describe how they
were used to develop a theoretical description for black body radiation.!

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Answer:!
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The classical description for black body radiation brings us to the earliest accurate measurements
of the spectral distribution, made by Lummer and Pringsheim in 1899, when later on, analysing the
energy density of cavity radiation (which has/emits a black body spectrum/radiation), Rayleigh and
Jeans had proposed a mathematical treatment of the experimentally observable, revealing a
serious conflict between classical physics and the experimental results called ultraviolet
catastrophe (FIG.1.)!

The Rayleigh-Jeans Law can be derived considering the cavity radiation problem using classical
electromagnetic theory, where the radiation emitted by the wall is electromagnetic and is reflected
back and forth inside cavity. The behaviour of the electromagnetic waves is basically governed by
the wave equation for the electric field in three dimensions. Its solutions leads us to the following
expression for the energy density inside cavity in terms of frequency by means of the law of
equipartition of energy:!

As we can see, as the frequency goes to infinity, for a fixed temperature T, the energy density also
goes to infinity; disagreeing with the experimentally observed.!

In trying to resolve the discrepancy between theory and experiment, Planck was led to consider the
possibility of a violation of the law of equipartition of energy on which the theory was based. Planck
assumed that the energy could take on only certain discrete values, rather than any value, and that
the discrete values of the energy were uniformly distribute!

Plancks postulate: Any physical entity with one degree of freedom whose "coordinate" is a
sinusoidal function of time (i.e., executes simple harmonic oscillations) can possess only total
energies.!

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2 - Explain the origin of the different contributions to the specific heat capacity of a diatomic
molecule.!
Answer:!
3 - Explain why the phase velocity of a de Broglie wave can exceed c without violating special
relativity.!
Answer:!
The phase velocity is defined as the rate at which the phase of the wave propagates in space; and
the special relativity forbid the transmission of a signal at velocities greater than c. The phase
velocity of a de Broglie wave can exceed c because it is not an observable quantity (there is no
transmission of signal).!
4 - Briefly describe how Heisenbergs uncertainty principle arises from the basic construction of the
wave packet, when constructed from first principles.!
Answer !
Using the stationary wave packet:!

to localize the particle, we have to add a large number of wave functions with different K values.
The problem is, as we do that (to create a certainty in position) we increase the uncertainty in K or
momentum, and as we saw in class, taking the square of the wave function give us the density of
probability os finding the particle in space and its uncertainty is !

Likewise, the range of K values which the particle is likely to have is given by !

with the uncertainty:!

Multiplying the uncertainties in position and K we have:!

Finally, multiplying both sides by h/2pi, we get the Heisenbergs uncertainty principle!

The uncertainty in momentum and in position, is an inherent characteristic of describing matter


using waves

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