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Boundary Value Problems in Electrodynamics and Quantum Mechanics: Palpable Parallels

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Abstract

In this article, we describe the analogy between some boundary value problems in electrodynamics and quantum mechanics, which evidently results due to the plane wave solutions of the associated wave equations and similar boundary conditions. As the first example, the reflection and transmission coefficients for normal incidence of plane electromagnetic waves on the interface of two dielectric media are compared with that for the one-dimensional step potential problem in quantum mechanics. In the second example, we take a problem from Griffiths’s electrodynamics and discuss the analogy with a quantum mechanical problem.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Centre, Hyderabad, Telangana, 500 046, India

    Santu Nath

  2. Department of Physics, St. Paul’s Cathedral Mission College, Kolkata, 700 009, India

    Pintu Mandal

Authors
  1. Santu Nath
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  2. Pintu Mandal
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pintu Mandal.

Additional information

Santu Nath is a PhD student in Physics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Centre, Hyderabad. He is interested in computational soft matter physics, statistical physics, glass physics, etc.

Pintu Mandal is an Assistant Professor at St. Paul’s C. M. College, Kolkata and has been teaching physics at the undergraduate level since 2013. His research interests include quantum optics, ion trapping, etc.

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Nath, S., Mandal, P. Boundary Value Problems in Electrodynamics and Quantum Mechanics: Palpable Parallels. Reson 28, 1221–1231 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-023-1658-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-023-1658-5

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