Skip to main content
Physics

Return to Question

deleted 6 characters in body; edited tags
Source Link
Qmechanic ♦
Qmechanic ♦
  • 213k
  • 48
  • 590
  • 2.3k

For an infinite square well, beyond the walls ( including them ) are infinite potentials and the wavefunctions have to be zero when they hit the walls because of these boundary conditions. For such a case, how do you say whether the stationary states are bounded or not  ? InfactIn fact my confusion springs from the fact that when we solve the Schrodinger's equation we take

$$k = \sqrt{\frac{2mE}{\hbar^2}}$$$$k = \sqrt{\frac{2mE}{\hbar^2}},$$

which automatically assumes $E \geq 0$ which I thought was the condition for scattering states. However it doesn't make sense to have scattering states for this case physically. So what is going on  ?

Thanks.

For an infinite square well, beyond the walls ( including them ) are infinite potentials and the wavefunctions have to be zero when they hit the walls because of these boundary conditions. For such a case, how do you say whether the stationary states are bounded or not  ? Infact my confusion springs from the fact that when we solve the Schrodinger's equation we take

$$k = \sqrt{\frac{2mE}{\hbar^2}}$$

which automatically assumes $E \geq 0$ which I thought was the condition for scattering states. However it doesn't make sense to have scattering states for this case physically. So what is going on  ?

Thanks.

For an infinite square well, beyond the walls ( including them ) are infinite potentials and the wavefunctions have to be zero when they hit the walls because of these boundary conditions. For such a case, how do you say whether the stationary states are bounded or not? In fact my confusion springs from the fact that when we solve the Schrodinger's equation we take

$$k = \sqrt{\frac{2mE}{\hbar^2}},$$

which automatically assumes $E \geq 0$ which I thought was the condition for scattering states. However it doesn't make sense to have scattering states for this case physically. So what is going on?

Source Link
Astronomer
Astronomer
  • 23
  • 7

Infinite square well bound states

For an infinite square well, beyond the walls ( including them ) are infinite potentials and the wavefunctions have to be zero when they hit the walls because of these boundary conditions. For such a case, how do you say whether the stationary states are bounded or not ? Infact my confusion springs from the fact that when we solve the Schrodinger's equation we take

$$k = \sqrt{\frac{2mE}{\hbar^2}}$$

which automatically assumes $E \geq 0$ which I thought was the condition for scattering states. However it doesn't make sense to have scattering states for this case physically. So what is going on ?

Thanks.