Wave Packets

• Recall that for a wave packet ?x ?k~1

• to localize a wave to some region ?x we need a spread of wavenumbers ?k

• de Broglie hypothesis ?=h/p or p=h/?

• but k=2?/? and p=(h/2?)(2?/?) = h k

• h bar

• ?p= h ?k and ?x ?p~ h

• ?x ?p ? h uncertainty principle

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