Paper 3, Section II, D

Quantum Mechanics | Part IB, 2010

A π\pi^{-}(a particle of the same charge as the electron but 270 times more massive) is bound in the Coulomb potential of a proton. Assuming that the wave function has the form cer/ac e^{-r / a}, where cc and aa are constants, determine the normalized wave function of the lowest energy state of the π\pi^{-}, assuming it to be an SS-wave (i.e. the state with l=0l=0 ). (You should treat the proton as fixed in space.)

Calculate the probability of finding the π\pi^{-}inside a sphere of radius RR in terms of the ratio μ=R/a\mu=R / a, and show that this probability is given by 4μ3/3+O(μ4)4 \mu^{3} / 3+O\left(\mu^{4}\right) if μ\mu is very small. Would the result be larger or smaller if the π\pi^{-}were in a PP-wave (l=1)(l=1) state? Justify your answer very briefly.

[Hint: in spherical polar coordinates,

2ψ(r)=1r2r2(rψ)+1r2sinθθ(sinθψθ)+1r2sin2θ2ψϕ2]\left.\nabla^{2} \psi(\mathbf{r})=\frac{1}{r} \frac{\partial^{2}}{\partial r^{2}}(r \psi)+\frac{1}{r^{2} \sin \theta} \frac{\partial}{\partial \theta}\left(\sin \theta \frac{\partial \psi}{\partial \theta}\right)+\frac{1}{r^{2} \sin ^{2} \theta} \frac{\partial^{2} \psi}{\partial \phi^{2}}\right]

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