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

The Bohr model assumes Coulomb attraction and classical circular motion between transitions; selected stationary orbits do not radiate; their angular momentum is $mvr=n\hslash$; and a transition exchanges a photon of energy $h\nu =E_i-E_f$. The first two dynamical equations giveHere $n=1,2,\dots$, $m$ is the electron mass under the fixed-proton approximation, $e$ its charge magnitude, and ${ϵ}_0$ the vacuum permittivity. The stationary-orbit postulate deliberately suspends the classical radiation prediction; this is a historical model, not a consistent deduction from classical electrodynamics.

Substitute the quantized radius in $mvr=n\hslash$ to get $v_n=e^2/(4\pi {ϵ}_0\hslash n)$. Coulomb potential energy is $-e^2/(4\pi {ϵ}_0{r}_n)$ and the stipulated virial relation makes the total one half of this value. HenceThe negative sign means a bound state relative to a separated stationary proton and electron.

The emitted photon has energy $E_3-E_2=\mathrm{Ry}(1/4-1/9)=5\mathrm{Ry}/36$. ThereforeThis is the Balmer-alpha transition in this approximation. Absorption in the reverse direction has the same photon energy; fine structure and radiative corrections are beyond the model.

Separate center-of-mass motion and replace $m$ by the reduced mass $\mu =mM/(m+M)$ in the relative-coordinate formulas. Then $r_n$ is the proton-electron separation, energy levels and the Rydberg constant scale by $\mu /m$, and transition wavelengths increase by $m/\mu$. The electron's own orbital radius about the center of mass is $M{r}_n/(M+m)$; the proton radius is $m{r}_n/(M+m)$. The relative speed retains $\alpha c/n$, while the electron's individual speed acquires $M/(M+m)$. Replacing the mass in the radius alone but leaving energies unchanged would be inconsistent.

For a stationary nonrelativistic state, $\boxed{[-{\hslash }^2{\nabla }^2/(2m)+V(\mathbf{r})]\psi =E\psi }$. The wavefunction $\psi$ is a probability amplitude, $m$ the particle mass and $E$ its energy eigenvalue; the potential energy $V$ is measured in the same energy units. In one dimension the Laplacian becomes $d^2/d{x}^2$.

Inside the well, ${\psi }^{\prime \prime }+k^2\psi =0$. Vanishing at zero removes the cosine term; vanishing at $L$ requires $k_{n}L=n\pi$. The nonzero states have positive integer $n$ because $n=0$ gives the zero function and negative $n$ only repeats a state up to sign. Normalization follows from ${\int }_0^L{\sin }^2(n\pi x/L)dx=L/2$. ThusThe wavefunction vanishes outside the infinite barriers, so there is no additional contribution to its norm.

A sudden wall displacement leaves the initial wavefunction unchanged: it is $\sqrt{2/L}\sin (\pi x/L)$ on $[0,L]$ and zero on $(L,2L]$. It is not an eigenfunction of the new Hamiltonian, so there is no single certain new energy. Its energy expectation immediately afterward remains $E_1^{\mathrm{old}}$, as seen from ${\hslash }^2\int |{\psi }^{\prime }{|}^2/(2m)$; the measurement outcomes are $E_n^{\mathrm{new}}=n^2{E}_1^{\mathrm{old}}/4$.

The new ground state is $L^{-1/2}\sin (\pi x/(2L))$. Its overlap is $4\sqrt{2}/(3\pi )$, soThe 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.

For a fixed propagation direction and spatial mode, a photon has two independent transverse polarization amplitudes. Orthogonal horizontal and vertical states span its two-dimensional Hilbert space: $\alpha |H⟩+\beta |V⟩$, with $|\alpha {|}^2+|\beta {|}^2=1$. Polarization analyzers measure bases in this space, and phase plates implement transformations of its relative amplitudes. Additional spatial or frequency modes enlarge the space and must not be silently discarded.

Choose the upper route for horizontal polarization, the lower route for vertical polarization, and absorb fixed optical phases into the path kets. The normalized output isThis is entanglement between two degrees of freedom of one photon. Interchanging the path convention interchanges the labels but not any probabilities.

Orthogonal path projectors give an upper-path probability $1/2$. A successful non-destructive lower-path detection projects onto $|V⟩|{\downarrow }_1⟩$ and its conditional polarization is therefore pure vertical. Retaining the detection record removes the upper amplitude for that run; it would be incorrect to continue evolving the original coherent two-path state as though the detection had not occurred.

A quarter-wave plate needs a specified axis angle. If its fast axis makes angle $\eta$ to horizontal, choose its Jones matrix $Q=R(\eta )\mathrm{diag}(1,i)R(-\eta )$. ThenAfter the preceding successful lower-path detection the total state is $(aH+bV)|{\downarrow }_1⟩$. The next crystal sends it toFor axes at $45^{\circ }$, the state before splitting is circular up to phase, $a=(1-i)/2$, $b=(1+i)/2$, and the probability is $1/2$. Detection in ${\downarrow }_2$ always leaves vertical polarization. If no earlier lower-path measurement was actually performed, retain the untouched upper amplitude: the final state is $(|H,{\uparrow }_1⟩+a|H,{\uparrow }_2⟩+b|V,{\downarrow }_2⟩)/\sqrt{2}$, and the last probability is $|b{|}^2/2$, or $1/4$ at $45^{\circ }$. At axis angle zero the conditional probability is instead one, a concrete demonstration that an unspecified orientation does not determine a unique number.