Lecture 9: Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) approximation

(another way in approximately solving the stationary Schrodinger equation)

G. Wentzel, Z. Physik 38, 518 (1926) H.A. Kramers, Z. Physik 39, 828 (1926) L. Brillouin, Compt. Rend. 183, 24 (1926)

So WKB approximation was also almost as old as QM itself

de Broglie (1892-1987) (Louis Victor Pierre Raymond duc de Broglie)

as in my conversations with my brother we always arrived at the conclusion that in the case of X-rays one had both waves and corpuscles, thus suddenly - ... it was certain in the course of summer 1923 - I got the idea that one had to extend this duality to material particles

Direct observation of de Broglie wave interference of heavy particles (1 million times heavier than an electron)

Interference pattern of C60 double-slit experiment

Okay, so everything is associated with a de Broglie wave, but

From Nature 401, 680 (1999).

Idea:
As we consider heavier particles, the de Broglie wave length is becoming smaller and smaller, then we should be approaching something familiar in classical mechanics, and some approximation can then be made

Justification:
After all, we dont have to use de Broglie waves to describe a

macroscopic object such as a ping-pong ball, even though in principle we should do so

Classical from quantum

How classical definite reality emerges from the quantum world (where there is only potential to become definite reality) ? No good answer here (some possible solutions: gravity-induced wavefunction collapse, a super-being/God collapsing wavefunctions, environmental effects, nonlinear correction to quantum mechanics..) How Newtonian evolution law (classical Hamiltonian mechanics) emerges from quantum evolution?

A lot can be said

A general argument:
1D Schrodinger equation in x-representation:

definition of classical momentum

continued on the next slide

Continuing the previous slide

If V(x) is constant, then

so the exact solution is

is a constant.

with the oscillation wavelength given by

If V(x) is varying little over the scale of the oscillation wavelength, then V(x) is almost a constant, so the solution is expected to be like

slowly varying functions

Formal derivation of the WKB approximation

Plugging this into

Continued on the next slide

Continuing the previous slide

Our earlier expectation

Suggests the expansion

(to first order of hbar)

Plugging in this expansion into

Working out

and

terms:

terms:
Classical time-independent Hamilton-Jacobi equation! is identified as Hamiltons characteristic function!

terms:

Two final equations from the previous slide lead to

integration constant is assumed to zero.

Finally, the WKB solution

More generally, considering nonzero integration constants and the linearity of the Schrodinger equation:

where coefficients A & B may be determined by boundary conditions, or by matching with some exact solutions (e.g., connection formula).

Example: Potential wells with two vertical walls

Inside the potential wall the classical momentum is a constant because V = 0 is a constant.

WKB solution:

Left boundary condition

Right boundary condition

For a general smooth potential, one serious problem though:

At the classical turning points, we got and so the earlier problems because WKB solution diverges!

when the ball changes its moving direction

Denominator becomes problematic at classical turning points!

This ill behavior is somewhat expected, because in constructing the WKB solution, we assumed that the De Broglie wavelength is small. This assumption is violated near the turning points

Fixing the problem by the Connection Formula Idea: near the classical turning points, (i) treat the potential as a linear potential and find the exact solution and (ii) then match WKB solution with this exact solution in the neighborhood of the turning point

left turning point

E
Neighborhood of

model this regime as a linear potential: Exactly solvable by Airy functions

Comparing the WKB solution

with asymptotic behavior of the exact solution based on Airy functions:

Only particular relative phase between A and B is allowed

Highly technical details can be found from Griffiths textbook

Applying the same strategy to the right turning point

right turning point

Neighborhood of

model this regime as a linear potential Hence:

WKB quantization rule:

Self-consistency for arbitrary value of x leads us to the following solution:

From this rule we can find approximate eigenvalues for bound states In 1D smooth potentials. For example, this rule yields the exact energy levels for a harmonic oscillator potential (exercise to be done during lecture )

Summary
Main idea of WKB approximation is that as de Broglie wavelength becomes very small as compared with the scale of the potential, a quasi-classical solution of the Schrodinger equation becomes a very useful approximation. We formally derived a general WKB solution by an expansion in terms of hbar. At classical turning points, the general WKB solution diverges. This divergence problem can be overcome by a connection technique. A useful WKB quantization rule of eigen-energy values associated with 1D smooth potential wells is also discussed.