This is the 1D Kronig-Penney model in its exactly-solvable delta-function limit: a chain of infinitesimally thin, infinitely tall barriers spaced a apart. Matching the electron's wavefunction and its derivative across every barrier (Bloch's theorem plus the boundary conditions at each delta spike) collapses the whole crystal into one transcendental equation relating energy E to crystal momentum k:
F(E) = P·sin(αa)/(αa) + cos(αa), α = √E (ħ²/2m = 1)
solve F(E) = cos(ka) for E → the n-th real root is band n
Unlike a truncated plane-wave matrix that gets diagonalized numerically, this equation is exact — no basis-size cutoff, no approximation. |F(E)| ≤ 1 marks an allowed band; wherever |F(E)| would have to exceed 1 to keep pace with cos(ka), no real k exists for that energy, so it's forbidden — a genuine energy gap. At P → 0, F(E) → cos(αa) exactly and solving cos(αa) = cos(ka) reproduces the free-electron parabola E = (k + 2πn/a)², folded band-by-band into the first zone — the same "empty lattice" limit as the 3D nearly-free-electron model this simulation pairs with, reached here by an entirely independent, closed-form calculation.
- Barrier strength P — the delta-barrier's weight; the gap at the zone boundary grows monotonically with it (verified numerically: P=0.5 → gap≈1.9, P=8 → gap≈16.6, in these units).
- Lattice constant a — the barrier spacing; halving a roughly quadruples every band's energy scale (E ~ 1/a²), since a tighter lattice means more confinement.
- k-Point Scan — sweeps crystal momentum across the full first Brillouin zone −π/a → π/a; Γ is the zone centre, the edges are the zone boundary where Bragg reflection is strongest.
The real-space strip below the plot shows the periodic barrier chain itself (spacing a, height ∝ P) so you can see directly what "periodic potential" means for the dispersion curve above it.