{{page>wiki:headers:hheader}}

===== Energy eigenvalues and eigenstates (Lecture, 60 minutes) =====
{{courses:lecture:splec:spins_unit_schrodinger_time_evolution.ppt}} Pages 6-11

  * Start with the activity to get them working with simple time-dependent calculations
  * Discuss meaning of stationary states
  * Have students do short whiteboard activity for calculating the probability of finding a state at time t for a simple 2 level system
  * Emphasize what is special about starting in an eigenstate vs. a mixed state
  * Relate this to using a different operator: it will only remain a stationary state if that operator commutes with H
  * Introduce a name for the frequency of the oscillations between 2 states (in a 2 state system): Bohr frequency
  * By analog, discuss stationary states vs. oscillatory states in a continuous system - I used the square well from the PhET simulation to have students make meaning of what they were observing based on the 2 level system ideas: [[http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/bound-states]]

{{page>wiki:footers:courses:spfooter}}