CYK\2022\PH204\Tutorial 5 Quantum Mechanics
1. The angular momentum operator is defined as L = r × P.
(a) Show that L is a hermitian operator.
(b) Calculate [Lz , X], [Lz , Y ], [Lz , Px ] and [Lz , Py ].
(c) Let L2 = L2x + L2y + L2z . Compute L2 , Lx , L2 , Ly and L2 , Lz .
h i
~ = nx Lx + ny Ly + nz Lz where n̂ is a unit vector. What is L2 , n̂ · L
(d) Suppose n̂ · L ~ ?
i
2. Define an operator Uα = e− ~ αLz .
(a) Show that Uα is a rotation operator on function space, that is Uα f (x, y, z) = f (x0 , y 0 , z),
where x0 = x cos α − y sin α and y 0 = x sin α + y cos α, for infinitesimal α. Hint: use Taylor
expansion.
(b) Show that Uα XUα† = cos αX + sin αY and Uα XUα† = − sin αX + cos αY . Hint: Use Baker-
Housdorff-Campbell formula
1
eA Be−A = B + [A, B] + [A, [A, B]] + · · ·
2!
3. Let L = r × P. Here we want to show that the eigenvalues of Lz must be integral.
(a) Show that the angular momentum operators obey
X X X
[Li , Lj ] = i~ ijk Lk [Li , rj ] = i~ ijk rk [Li , pj ] = i~ ijk pk
k k k
(b) Define: (Let ~ = 1)
x + Py x − Py Px − y Px + y
q1 = √ , q2 = √ , p1 = √ p2 = √
2 2 2 2
Show that
[q1 , q2 ] = [p1 , p2 ] = 0, [qj , pk ] = iδj,k .
(c) Show that
1 1
Lz = (p21 + q12 ) − (p22 + q22 ).
2 2
(d) Argue that Lz eigenvalues must be integral (and cannot be half-integers).
4. Show that p
L± |l, mi = ~ (l ∓ m) (l ± m + 1) |l, m ± 1i
5. (Remembering Legendre polynomials!) Use Rodrigues formula
l
1 d l
Pl (x) = l x2 − 1
2 l! dx
for the Legendre polynomials Pl (x) to prove that
Z +1
2
Pl (x)Pm (x)dx = δlm .
−1 2l + 1
1
6. Let n̂ be a unit vector with polar angles (θ, φ). Show that the component of the the angular
momemnutm in the direction n̂ is
Ln = sin θ cos φLx + sin θ sin φLy + cos θLz
= sin θ e−iφ L+ + eiφ L− + cos θLz .
If the system is in the state |l, mi then,
(a) What are the possible results of a measurement of Ln ?
(b) What are the expectation values of Ln and L2n ?
7. Using the states |l, mi (eigenstates of L2 and Lz ) as a basis, obtain the matrix representation of
the angular momentum operators of Lx , Ly , Lz and L2 for the case of l = 3/2.
8. Consider the subspace V1 = span {|1, 1i , |1, 0i, |1, −1i}. Show that the subspace V1 is invariant
under the rotation operator U = exp − ~i αLx about x axis.
9. Read the section on Isotropic Harmonic Oscillator given in R Shankar’s book (pages: 351 and
352) and solve the problem 2 given at the end of the section.
10. An anisotropic harmonic oscillator has the potential energy function
1 1
V (x, y, z) = mω 2 x2 + y 2 + mωz2 z 2 .
2 2
(Assume that ωz /ω is irrational and large.)
(a) Write down first few eigen-energies and their degeneracies.
(b) This problem is separable in cartesian coordinates. Write down the eigenfunctions corre-
sponding to the first few eigenstates.
(c) Do the operators Lx , Ly and Lz commute with the hamiltonian? And does L2 ?
(d) Write down the ground state. Is this eigenfunction Lz ? If so, what is the eigenvalue?
(e) The degeneracy of the first excited state (energy: 12 ~ωz + 2~ω) is two. When separated in
cartesian coordinates, the un-normalized eigenfunctions are
α 2 x2 α2 y 2 α2 z 2
φ100 (x, y, z) = x exp − exp − exp − z
2 2 2
2 2 2 2 αz z 2
2
α x α y
φ010 (x, y, z) = y exp − exp − exp −
2 2 2
p p
where α = mω/~ and αz = mωz /~. Show that these functions are not eigenfunctions
of Lz ? Can you construct linear combinations of φ100 and φ010 , which are eigenfunctions
of Lz ? (Hint: Write these functions in spherical polar coordinates and remember eimφ are
eigenfunctions of Lz .)
11. Consider a particle trapped in a cubical box given by potential
(
0 0 ≤ x, y, z ≤ L
V (x, y, z) =
∞ otherwise.
(a) Let E1 , E2 , . . . be distinct energy levels in increasing order. Find degeneracy of the first 6
levels. What is the degeneracy of th 14th level?
(b) Let n(E) be the number of energy eigenstates with energy less than E . Find n(E) assuming
that E E1 .
2
(c) Find the density of states (number of states/unit energy/unit volume), which is defined as
1 dn
g(E) = (E).
L3 dE
(d) Sketch g(E).
12. A particle of mass m is placed inside a spherical well
(
0 r≤a
V (r) =
V0 r > a.
Find the ground state by solving the radial equation for l = 0. Show that there is no bound state
π 2 ~2
if V0 < 8ma 2 . Do you think that this could be a model of a nucleus of an atom, in which nucleons
are trapped inside but they do escape sometimes?