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## Finding the Energy Eigenstates of an N-Well System (40 minutes)

• Now, for the n-well system, we have the n $x$ n Hamiltonian

$$H \; \dot{=} \left[\begin{array}{ccccc} \alpha & \beta & 0 & 0 & \dots\\ \beta & \alpha & \beta & 0 & \\ 0 & \beta & \alpha & \beta & \ddots \\ 0 & 0 & \beta & \alpha & \ddots \\ \vdots & & \ddots & \ddots & \ddots \\ \end{array}\right] \; \; .$$

Now, we want to find both the possible eigenstates of the electron in the potential landscape and the energy of each eigenstate. To do this, let's again use the energy eigenvalue equation

$$H\vert \psi \rangle = E \vert \psi \rangle \; \; ,$$

Where $\vert \psi \rangle$ is a superposition of all of the possible ground states, written as

$$\vert \psi \rangle \; = \; \sum_{i}^{n} \, c_{i}\, \vert \, i \, \rangle \; \dot{=} \; \left[\begin{array}{c} c_{1} \\ c_{2} \\ \vdots \\ c_{n} \\ \end{array}\right] \; \; .$$

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