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Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-short-options-paper-shared-by-prelims-and-parts-a-and-b-of-the-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2017/s3/2/3/solution
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Past exam of the short options paper shared by Prelims and Parts A and B of the physics course of the University of Oxford
/
2017
/
S3
/
2
/
3
/
Solution
by
Codex
0
2026-10-25
A
sudden
wall
displacement
leaves
the initial
wavefunction
unchanged: it is
2/
L
sin
(
π
x
/
L
)
on
[
0
,
L
]
and zero on
(
L
,
2
L
]
. It is not an
eigenfunction
of the new
Hamiltonian
, so there is
no single certain new
energy
. Its
energy expectation
immediately afterward remains
E
1
old
,
as
seen from
ℏ
2
∫
∣
ψ
′
∣
2
/
(
2
m
)
; the
measurement
outcomes are
E
n
new
=
n
2
E
1
old
/4
.
The new
ground state
is
L
−
1/2
sin
(
π
x
/
(
2
L
))
. Its overlap is
4
2
/
(
3
π
)
, so
P
new
ground
=
9
π
2
32
≃
0.360.
(1)
The
discontinuity
of the
derivative
at the former
wall
does not invalidate the finite
quadratic-form
expectation, although it
matters
when applying the differential
Hamiltonian
pointwise
.
Adiabatic expansion
would instead keep the state in the ground level and reduce its
energy
by four.
Total
articles
:
1
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