Graduate student misunderstandings of wave functions in an asymmetric well

Abstract

Quantum mechanics is a notoriously counterintuitive subject within physics and has been the subject of a number of studies at the undergraduate level, and a few pioneering studies at the graduate level. The sketching of wave functions in a confining well is in one sense one of the most basic activities in quantum mechanics. But in another sense, it may be viewed as a rather advanced skill, as it requires the coherent inclusion of a number of details of the wave function, such as wavelength, probability amplitude, and boundary conditions, among others. Although sketching a wave function is not a common activity at the graduate level, a great deal of graduate work is concerned with the aforementioned details, especially boundary conditions. Whether it is seen as a basic skill, or as linked to higher-level understanding, sketching a wave function is an ability that physics graduate students should have. Here, we report on graduate students' ability to sketch wave functions in an asymmetric potential well. We find that the frequency of many errors is not significantly reduced from pretest to posttest, meaning that many errors persist through to the end of graduate quantum mechanics instruction. We find that only 5% of graduate students tested can sketch the 2nd excited state wave function without errors. We include quantitative and diagrammatic descriptions of student errors covering a broader range of misunderstandings than has previously been identified, and we include interview information that speaks to the persistence of some of the errors.