Renormalizing the kinetic energy operator in elementary quantum mechanics
In this paper, we consider solutions to the three-dimensional Schrodinger equation of the form [psi](r) = u(r)/r, where u(0) [is not equal to] 0. The expectation value of the kinetic energy operator for such wavefunctions diverges. We show that it is possible to introduce a potential energy with an...
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Veröffentlicht in: | European journal of physics 2009-09, Vol.30 (5), p.1015-1023 |
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Hauptverfasser: | , |
Format: | Artikel |
Sprache: | eng |
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Zusammenfassung: | In this paper, we consider solutions to the three-dimensional Schrodinger equation of the form [psi](r) = u(r)/r, where u(0) [is not equal to] 0. The expectation value of the kinetic energy operator for such wavefunctions diverges. We show that it is possible to introduce a potential energy with an expectation value that also diverges, exactly cancelling the kinetic energy divergence. This renormalization procedure produces a self-adjoint Hamiltonian. We solve some problems with this new Hamiltonian to illustrate its usefulness. |
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ISSN: | 0143-0807 1361-6404 |
DOI: | 10.1088/0143-0807/30/5/010 |