An Exact Solution of the Time-Dependent Schr¨odinger Equation with a Rectangular Potential for Real and Imaginary Times
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15407/ujpe61.04.0331Keywords:
Schr¨odinger equation, asymmetric rectangular potential, layered magnetic nanostructuresAbstract
A propagator for the one-dimensional time-dependent Schr¨odinger equation with an asymmetric rectangular potential is obtained, by using the multiple-scattering theory. It allows the consideration of the reflection and transmission processes as the scattering of a particle at the potential jump (in contrast to the conventional wave-like picture) and the account for the non-classical counterintuitive contribution of the backward-moving component of the wave packet attributed to a particle. This propagator completely resolves the corresponding time-dependent Schr¨odinger equation (defines the wave function w(x, t)) and allows the consideration of the quantum mechanical effects of a particle reflection from the potential downward step/well and a particle tunneling through the potential barrier as a function of the time. These results are related to fundamental issues such as measuring the time in quantum mechanics (tunneling time, time of arrival, dwell time). For the imaginary time, which represents an inverse temperature (t → −ih/kBT), the obtained propagator is equivalent to the density matrix for a particle that is in a heat bath and is subject to the action of a rectangular potential. This density matrix provides information about particles’ density in the different spatial areas relative to the potential location and on the quantum coherence of different particle spatial states. If one passes to the imaginary time (t → −it), the matrix element of the calculated propagator in the spatial basis provides a solution to the diffusion-like equation with a rectangular potential. The obtained exact results are presented as the integrals of elementary functions and thus allow a numerical visualization of the probability density |w(x, t)|2, the density matrix, and the solution of the diffusion-like equation. The results obtained may also be applied to spintronics due to the fact that the asymmetric (spin-dependent) rectangular potential can model the potential profile in layered magnetic nanostructures.
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