publication . Article . Other literature type . 1997

Fractional wave-function revivals in the infinite square well

Carlos R. Stroud; David L. Aronstein;

Open Access

Published: 01 Jun 1997 Journal: Physical Review A, volume 55, pages 4,526-4,537 (issn: 1050-2947, eissn: 1094-1622,

Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)

Summary

Abstract

We describe the time evolution of a wave function in the infinite square well using a fractional revival formalism, and show that at all times the wave function can be described as a superposition of translated copies of the initial wave function. Using the model of a wave form propagating on a dispersionless string from classical mechanics to describe these translations, we connect the reflection symmetry of the square-well potential to a reflection symmetry in the locations of these translated copies, and show that they occur in a ‘‘parity-conserving’’ form. The relative phases of the translated copies are shown to depend quadratically on the translation dista...

doi: 10.1103/physreva.55.4526

Subjects

free text keywords: Wave function, Wave packet, Finite potential well, Quantum system, Time evolution, Physics, Wave function collapse, Superposition principle, Classical mechanics, Particle in a box

Related Organizations