Bloch's theorem periodic part

The first statements says that u_{n,k}(r) is a normalization constant that is independent of position, but I really don’t understand this statement. From what does this follow? There is no elaboration of this in the lecture notes.

Thanks in advance :slight_smile:

And then also, why is the momentum operator zero?

We can think about this in 2 ways, but for both you need the relation \Psi(\vec r)=u(\vec r) e^{i\vec k \cdot \vec r}.

  • If we are studying free electrons, the solutions should correspond to plane waves, which are of the form A e^{i\vec k \cdot \vec r}. Here we recognize u(\vec r)=A, a constant term.
  • If we are studying free electrons, we have to replace V=0 in the results from subsection 4. This leads us to the same answer, u is a constant.

Now, if u(\vec r) is a constant, momentum will be zero. For this we need to remember that momentum corresponds to a derivative when working in real space.

Something very important :mag: in this course is to know when and how to use real and momentum space. The right approach can save a lot of time and effort (when building the matrix in problem 3.1 NFEM for example).

Very clear, thanks!!!

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I will see that in a bit :slight_smile: