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ERIC Number: EJ1000681
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Nov
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0143-0807
EISSN: N/A
The Double-Well Potential in Quantum Mechanics: A Simple, Numerically Exact Formulation
Jelic, V.; Marsiglio, F.
European Journal of Physics, v33 n6 p1651-1666 Nov 2012
The double-well potential is arguably one of the most important potentials in quantum mechanics, because the solution contains the notion of a state as a linear superposition of "classical" states, a concept which has become very important in quantum information theory. It is therefore desirable to have solutions to simple double-well potentials that are accessible to the undergraduate student. We describe a method for obtaining the numerically exact eigenenergies and eigenstates for such a model, along with the energies obtained through the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) approximation. The exact solution is accessible with elementary mathematics, though numerical solutions are required. We also find that the WKB approximation is remarkably accurate, not just for the ground state, but also for the excited states. (Contains 4 figures and 10 footnotes.)
Institute of Physics Publishing. The Public Ledger Building Suite 929, 150 South Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 215-627-0880; Fax: 215-627-0879; e-mail: info@ioppubusa.com; Web site: http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/EJP
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A