Anatomy of a quantum `bounce'

Abstract

We discuss some of the properties of the `collision' of a quantum mechanical wave packet with an infinitely high potential barrier, focusing on novel aspects such as the detailed time-dependence of the momentum-space probability density and the time variation of the uncertainty principle product $\Delta x_t \cdot \Delta p_t$. We make explicit use of Gaussian-like wave packets in the analysis, but also comment on other general forms.