Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-quantum-mechanics-quantum-theory-and-quantum-computers-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2009/a/1/solution

Inside the infinite well, the time-independent Schrödinger equation is with Dirichlet endpoints. Negative or zero energy gives no nonzero solution satisfying both endpoints. For , the sine solution requires . Thus
The normalization follows from . These functions form an orthonormal basis. Substitute the expansion into and take the inner product with each basis vector: orthonormality gives , equivalently
For a general infinite expansion this is interpreted in the usual Hamiltonian domain or its unitary evolution; the particular state below has only two terms.
Put . The identity gives , , all others zero. Their squared magnitudes sum to one. Hence
The evolved state is . Its position probability includes an interference term with frequency . Specifically,
The three required integrals are , and , respectively. Therefore
The energy expectation is constant while the spatial probability oscillates, because relative energy phases affect interference but not the energy probabilities.

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