[Physics] Momentum and position for free particle

fourier transformheisenberg-uncertainty-principlemomentumquantum mechanicswavefunction

In the section of 'The free particle' in 'Introduction to quantum mechanics, second edition' by Griffiths page 65. He has the wave equation as $$\Psi(x,t) = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2 \pi}} \int_{-\infty}^{\infty}\phi(k)e^{i(kx-\omega t)}dk$$ He then makes statements about if $\phi(k)$ has a large spread then the momentum is ill-defined. Why? Does $\phi(k)$ have such a strong influence on momentum? And how does a small spread in $\phi(k)$ correspond to a more well defined position?

Best Answer

We usually define $p=\hbar k$. In this post, I'll take $\hbar =1$ (see natural units) to simplify the notation. This means that $k=p$. This is not necessary, but IMHO this makes the arguments more transparent (besides the fact that natural units are indeed more natural once you get used to them). I usually recommend every learning physicist to try to use natural units whenever they can. If you don't like to, you can exchange $k\leftrightarrow p/\hbar$ in my answer.

In general, the expectation value of the momentum is given by $$ \langle k\rangle= \int_{-\infty}^{+\infty} \mathrm dk\ k\ |\phi(k)|^2 \tag{1} $$ which means that $|\phi(k)|^2$ has to decrease faster than $1/k^3$ as $k\to\infty$ for $\langle k\rangle$ to be well defined. In fact, we also want $\langle k^2\rangle$ to be well defined, which means we usually want $\phi(k)$ to be $\mathcal O(k^{-2})$ as $k\to\infty$.

If $\phi(k)$ has a large spread (it doesn't decrease fast enough), then the momentum is not well-defined, because the integrals that define momentum are divergent.

Why Does $\phi(k)$ have such a strong influence on momentum?

Well, $\phi(k)$ is the wave-function in momentum space, so all the information about the momentum of the system is contained in $\phi(k)$.

And how does a small spread in $\phi(k)$ correspond to a more well defined position?

Note that $\phi(k)$ is the Fourier Transform of $\Psi$, so that this statement is actually equivalent to the uncertainty principle of the Fourier Transform.

UPDATE

Here we prove that both expressions $(1)$ and $(2)$ are equivalent: $$ \langle k\rangle=-i\int_{-\infty}^{+\infty} \mathrm dx \ \Psi^*\partial_x\Psi \tag{2} $$

The proof is non-trivial, but in the end is just the differentiation property of the Fourier Transform. To prove the equivalence, we'll make use of the known fact $$ \int_{-\infty}^{+\infty} \mathrm dx\ \mathrm e^{iqx}=2\pi\delta(q) \tag{3} $$ for any $q\in\mathbb R$. Here, $\delta(q)$ is the Dirac delta function.

First, note that $$ \Psi=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2\pi}}\int \mathrm dk\ \phi(k)\;\mathrm e^{i(kx-\omega t)} \tag{4} $$ so that $$ \partial_x\Psi=\frac{i}{\sqrt{2\pi}}\int \mathrm dk\ k\;\phi(k)\;\mathrm e^{i(kx-\omega t)} \tag{5} $$

If we make the change of variable $k\to k_1$ in $(4)$ and $k\to k_2$ in $(5)$, and plug these into $(2)$ we get $$ \begin{align} \langle k\rangle&=\frac{1}{2\pi}\int \mathrm dx \int\mathrm dk_1\int\mathrm dk_2\ \overbrace{\phi^*(k_1)\;\mathrm e^{-i(k_1x-\omega t)}}^{\Psi^*}\ \overbrace{k_2\;\phi(k_2)\;\mathrm e^{i(k_2x-\omega t)}}^{\partial_x\Psi}=\\ &=\frac{1}{2\pi}\int\mathrm dk_1\int\mathrm dk_2\ k_2\ \phi^*(k_1)\;\phi(k_2)\int \mathrm dx\ \mathrm e^{i(k_2-k_1)x} \end{align} $$

Next, use $(3)$ to simplify the $x$ integral, where $q\equiv k_2-k_1$: $$ \begin{align} \langle k\rangle&=\int\mathrm dk_1\int\mathrm dk_2\ k_2\ \phi^*(k_1)\;\phi(k_2)\;\delta(k_2-k_1)=\\ &=\int\mathrm dk_1 k_1\ |\phi(k_1)|^2 \end{align} $$ which is just $(1)$ upon the change of variables $k_1\to k$. As you can see, both expressions are equivalent, which means that you can use whichever you like the most.