Delta function potential

Okay, let's say you're playing with toy cars on a road that has a bump in the middle. The bump is called a speed hump and it makes your cars go up and down a little bit. Now, imagine that instead of a speed hump, there's a tiny little bump that is so small, you can't even see it. This tiny bump is what we call a delta function potential.

In science, a delta function potential is a little bump in an imaginary road that we use to study how particles and waves (like light or sound) behave when they come across it. It's like a tiny obstacle in their path that they have to get over or around.

The delta function potential is called a delta function because it's so small that it looks like the Greek letter delta (which looks like a triangle) when we draw it on a graph.

When particles or waves encounter a delta function potential, they react differently depending on how big or small the bump is. Sometimes they bounce back or go around it, and other times they go straight through it like it's not even there.

Scientists use delta function potentials to study many things like how sound travels through walls, how light moves through glass, and even how electrons move through atoms. It helps us understand how the world works, even the things we can't see with our own eyes.