Physics 3220 - Notes, lecture 9 (Mon, Sep 16, 1996)


(Previous lecture)


Operators and commutators

Hermiticity - physical operators (observables) have real expectation values

Definitions of eigenvalues, eigenfunctions

Example: momentum eigenfunctions

Separation of S.E. into time and space - solution of time dependent part

Reduction of TDSE to TISE, which is really an eigenvalue problem

Puzzle: What "functions" satisfy the eigenvalue problem x_op f(x) = lambda f(x) ?


Next lecture: Mathematical interlude, particle in a box


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Email: Steven.Pollock@colorado.edu