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Quantum Physics For Dummies, Revised Edition
book

Quantum Physics For Dummies, Revised Edition

by Steve Holzner
January 2013
Beginner to intermediate content levelBeginner to intermediate
336 pages
5h 35m
English
For Dummies
Content preview from Quantum Physics For Dummies, Revised Edition

Chapter 11

Giving Systems a Push: Perturbation Theory

In This Chapter

arrow Nondegenerate and degenerate perturbation theory

arrow Perturbing harmonic oscillators

arrow The Stark effect and perturbing hydrogen atoms

Problems in quantum physics can become pretty tough pretty fast — another way of saying that, unfortunately, you just can’t find exact solutions to many quantum physics problems. This is particularly the case when you merge two kinds of systems. For example, you may know all about how square wells work and all about how electrons in magnetic fields work, but what if you combine the two? The wave functions of each system, which you know exactly, are no longer applicable — you need some sort of mix instead.

Perturbation theory to the rescue! This theory lets you handle mixes of situations, as long as the interference isn’t too strong. In this chapter, you explore time-independent perturbation theory and degenerate and nondegenerate Hamiltonians. You also look at some examples that place harmonic oscillators and hydrogen atoms in electric fields.

Introducing Time-Independent Perturbation Theory

The idea behind time-independent perturbation theory is that you start with a known system — ...

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Quantum Physics For Dummies, Revised Edition

Quantum Physics For Dummies, Revised Edition

Steven Holzner

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781118460863Purchase book