Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences · Problem 6.12

FUNCTIONS OF A COMPLEX VARIABLE — Mary Boas

Mathematics — Methods · continuous-distributions-hydrogen-atom

Problem

A hydrogen atom consists of a proton and an electron. According to the Bohr theory, the electron revolves about the proton in a circle of radius aa (a=5⋅10−9a = 5 \cdot 10^{-9} cm for the ground state). According to quantum mechanics, the electron may be at any distance rr (from 0 to ∞\infty) from the proton; for the ground state, the probability that the electron is in a volume element dVdV, at a distance rr to r+drr + dr from the proton, is proportional to e−2r/a dVe^{-2r/a}\, dV, where aa is the Bohr radius. Write dVdV in spherical coordinates (see Chapter 5, Section 4) and find the density function f(r)f(r) so that f(r) drf(r)\, dr is the probability that the electron is at a distance between rr and r+drr + dr from the proton. (Remember that the probability for the electron to be somewhere must be 1.) Sketch f(r)f(r) and show that its maximum value is at r=ar = a; we then say that the most probable value of rr is aa. Also show that the average value of r−1r^{-1} is a−1a^{-1}.

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