Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 ib Paper 1 15G Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Inside the infinite square well, the time-independent Schrödinger equation is with . For the exponential solutions cannot satisfy both conditions except trivially, and for neither can a linear function. For put . The first boundary condition selects , and the second gives . Thuson , with outside. Their squared integrals are one, and the sine orthogonality identity gives an orthonormal set. The sine Fourier basis on the interval is complete: odd extension to an interval of length reduces this to completeness of the Fourier series basis. Hence these are a complete set of normalized energy eigenstates.
Choosing the harmless sign of the second energy eigenstate so that and , the specified wave function is . The Born rule therefore giveswith no other possible measured energies. The two energy eigenvalues are and .
After the first measurement gives the ground state, the old state is . Doubling the width puts the walls at , and the new normalized ground state is . The stipulated unchanged state is zero outside the original interval, so the probability amplitude isSquaring givesThe ground-state overlap after sudden expansion of a square well stays unchanged during subsequent evolution in the fixed new well, because the energy-basis coefficients acquire only phases. The answer is conditional on the already observed old ground state; its earlier probability is not another factor in this conditional question.