16.1.

PROBLEM SET I 197

Answers: Problem set I
1. (a) In one dimension, the current operator is specied by

j =
1
2m
(

p +
( p)

). Applied to the left hand side of the system (outside the region
of the potential), where (x) = Ae
ikx
+Be
ikx
, we have j
left
=
k
m
(|A|
2

|B|
2
); similarly j
right
=
k
m
(|C|
2
|D|
2
). Current conservation demands
that j
left
= j
right
, i.e. |A|
2
+|D|
2
= |C|
2
+|B|
2
all of the incoming beam
is transferred to the outgoing beam, a statement of particle conservation.
This conservation of current can be written as
in
|
in
=
out
|
out
.
Therefore, using the expression for |
out
, we have

in
|
in
=
out
|
out
=
in
S

S
..
!
=I

in
,
leading to the unitarity condition.
(b) From the unitarity condition, it follows that
S

S = I =
_
|t|
2
+ |r|
2
rt

+r

t
rt

+ r

t |t|
2
+ |r|
2
_
Comparing the matrix elements, we obtained the required result.
(c) For the -function scattering problem, the wavefunction is given by
(x) =
_
e
ikx
+ re
ikx
x < 0
te
ikx
x > 0
For the -function potential, the wavefunction must remain continuous as
x = 0, and

x
|
+

x
|

=
2maV
0

2
(0) .
This translates to the conditions 1 +r = t, and ik(t 1 +r) =
2maV0

2
t.
As a result, we obtain
t =
ik
ik +
maV0

2
,
as required. Using the result from (b), since the potential is symmetric,
we have
r
2
=
t
t

(|t|
2
1) =
ik +
ik +
_
k
2
k
2
+
2
1
_
=
ik +
ik +

2
k
2
+
2
=

2
(ik +)
2
As a result, we obtain the required expression for r.
2. (a) We are told that

H|
1
= E
1
|
1
and

H|
2
= E
2
|
2
, where E
1
= E
2
.
Therefore
1
|

H|
2
=
_

1

H
2
dx =
_

1
E
2

2
dx = E
2

1
|
2
. Since

H is Hermitian, we can write

1
|

H|
2
=
_
(

H
1
)

2
dx =
_
(E
1

1
)

2
dx = E

1
|
2
= E
1

1
|
2
,
since E
1
and E
2
are real. Therefore, (E
1
E
2
)
1
|
2
= 0 and, if E
1
= E
2
then
1
|
2
= 0, i.e. |
1
and |
2
are orthogonal.
(b) If

A|
1
= |
2
and

A|
2
= |
1
, then adding them,

A(|
1
+ |
2
) =
|
1
+|
2
and subtracting,

A(|
1
|
2
) = |
2
|
1
= (|
1
|
2
).
Hence we have an eigenvector of a = +1 corresponding to a normalized
eigenvector
1

2
(|
1
+ |
2
) and an eigenvalue a = 1 corresponding to
eigenvector
1

2
(|
1
|
2
).
Advanced Quantum Physics
16.1. PROBLEM SET I 198
(c) The time-dependent Schrodinger equation is

H = E = i
t
, hence
(t) = (t = 0)e
iEt/
. Since |
1
and |
2
are eigenstates of the Hamil-
tonian

H then we can write, |(t) =
1

2
[|
1
e
iE1t/
|
2
e
iE2t/
].
P = |(t = 0)|(t)|
2
=
1
4

[
1
|
2
|][|
1
e
iE1t/
|
2
e
iE2t/
]

2
=
1
2
[1 + cos((E
1
E
2
)t/)] = cos
2
((E
1
E
2
)t/2)
3. (a) Dierentiating the left hand side of the given expression with respect to ,
one obtains
e
a

[a, a

]
. .
=1
e
a

= 1 .
Integrating, we therefore have that e
a

ae
a

= +integration constant

.
By setting = 0 we can deduce that the constant must be a yielding
the required result. Using this result, we have that
e
a

a| = e
a

ae
a

. .
=+a
|0 = ( + a)|0 = |0 .
Lastly, to obtain the normalization, we have that
| = N
2
0|e

a
| = N
2
0|

n=0
(

a)
n
n!
|
= N
2

n=0
(

)
n
n!
0| = N
2
e
||
2
!
= 1 .
i.e. N = e
||
2
/2
as required.
(b) For the harmonic oscillator, the creation and annihilation operators are
related to the phase space operators by x =
_

2m
(a + a

), and p =
i
_
m
2
(a a

). Therefore, we have
x =
_

2m
( +

), p = i
_
m
2
(

) .
Then, using the identity (x)
2
= (x x)
2
= x
2
x
2
, we have
x
2
=

2m
|(a
2
+aa

+a

a + (a

)
2
| =

2m
(1 + ( +

)
2
),
p
2
=
m
2
|(a
2
aa

a + (a

)
2
| =

2m
(1 + (

)
2
) .
As a result, we nd that x =

2m
and p =
m
2
leading to the required
expression.
(c) The equation follows simply from the denion of the operator a and the
solution may be checked by substitution.
(d) Using the time-evolution of the stationary states, |n(t) = e
iEnt/
|n(0),
where E
n
= (n + 1/2), it follows that
|(t) = e
it/2
e
||
2
/2

n

n!
e
int
|n = e
it/2
|e
it
.
Therefore, during the time-evolution, the coherent state form is preserved
but the centre of mass and momentum follow that of the classical oscilla-
tor,
x
0
(t) = Acos( +t), p
0
(t) = mAsin( +t) .
The width of the wavepacket remains constant.
Advanced Quantum Physics
16.1. PROBLEM SET I 199
4. (a) Starting with the electron Hamiltonian

H =
1
2m
( pqA)
2
, substitution of
the expression for the vector potential leads to the required result.
(b) Setting = m = = 1, we immediately obtained the required dimension-
less form of the Hamiltonian.
(c) Straightforward substitution of the dierential operators leads to the re-
quired identities. As a result, we can conrm that
[a, a

] =
2
4
([
z
, z] [z,
z
]) = 1 ,
and similarly [b, b

] = 1. In the complex coordinate representation,

H =
1
2
_
i(
z
+
z
)
i
4
(z z)
_
2
+
1
2
_
(
z

z
) +
1
4
(z + z)
_
2
= 2
z

z
+
1
8
zz +
1
2
(z
z
z
z
) = 2
_

z
+
z
4
__

z
+
z
4
_
+
1
2
= a

a +
1
2
(d) The angular momentum operator is given by ( = 1)

L
z
= (x p)
z
= i(x
y
y
x
) =
i
2
((z + z)(
z

z
) (z z)(
z
+
z
))
= 2
_

z
+
z
4
__

z
+
z
4
_
+ 2
_

z
+
z
4
__

z
+
z
4
_
= (a

a b

b) .
(e) In the coordinate representation, the condition a|0, 0 = 0 translates to the
equation

2
_

z
+
z
4
_
r|0, 0 = 0
We thus obtain the Gaussian expression for the wavefunction. Then, using
the relation |0, m =
(b

)
m

m!
|0, 0, we have
r|0, m =
1

m!
2
m/2
_

z
+
z
4
_
m
1

2
e
zz/4
=
1

22
m
m!
z
m
e
zz/4
,
as required.
(f ) If we populate the states of the lowest Landau with electrons, starting
from states of the lowest angular momentum m, the wavefunction is a
Slater determinant involving entries
m
(r
j
) = z
m
j
e
|zj|
2
/4
. Taking the
determinant, and making use of the Vandemonde determinant identity,
one obtains the required many-electron wavefunction.
5. The spin operator in the (, ) direction,

S

, can be found by forming the

scalar product of the spin operator

S with a unit vector in the (, ) direction,
(sin cos , sin sin, cos ). Therefore

=

2
_
cos e
i
sin
e
i
sin cos
_
.
We need the eigenvalues of the matrix, i.e.

2
_
cos sine
i
sine
i
cos
__
u
v
_
=
_
u
v
_
.
Eliminating u and v, we nd
2
= 1 and hence the eigenvalues of

S

are /2,
as expected. Substituting the values = 1 back into the equations relating
u and v, we can infer the ratios,
u
v
= e
i
cot(/2) and e
i
tan(/2). So, in
matrix notation, the eigenstates are
_
cos(/2)
e
i
sin(/2)
_
and
_
sin(/2)
e
i
cos(/2)
_
,
Advanced Quantum Physics
16.1. PROBLEM SET I 200
for eigenvalues +/2 and /2 respectively. The spin states in the x-direction
are obtained by setting = /2, = 0, and the spin states in the y-direction
are obtained by setting = /4 in these general formulae.
6. The four states are given by
1
=
+
(1)
+
(2),
2
=

(1)

(2),
3
=
1

2
[
+
(1)

(2)+

(1)
+
(2)], and
4
=
1

2
[
+
(1)

(2)

(1)
+
(2)], where

1
,
2
and
3
are symmetric under particle interchange and
4
is antisymmet-
ric.
Since

S
+

S

=

S
2
x
+

S
2
y
+i(

S
y

S
x


S
x

S
y
) =

S
2

S
2
z
+

S
z
,

S
2
=

S
+

S

+

S
2
z

S
z
. (16.1)
Noting that

S
z
=

S
(1)
z
+

S
(2)
z
, and likewise for

S

, and using the basic results

for the operation of the spin operators on the single particle states,

S
(1)
z

(1) =
1
2

(1),

S
(1)

(1) =

(1),

S
(1)

(1) = 0 ,
we can now calculate the eect of applying

S
2
to each state. For example

S
2

1
=
2
[2
+
(1)
+
(2) +
+
(1)
+
(2)
+
(1)
+
(2)] = 2
2

1
,
where the three terms in square brackets correspond to the three operators on
the right hand side of Eq. (16.1). Likewise
2
. Clearly

S
z

3
= 0 =

S
z

4
, so
only the

S
+

S

term need be considered. We nd

S
+

S

+
(1)

(2) =

S
+

(1)

(2) =
2
(
+
(1)

(2) +

(1)
+
(2))

2
2

3
.
Similarly

S
+

S

(1)
+
(2) =

2
2

3
so that

S
2

3
= 2
2

3
,

S
2

4
= 0 .
Thus,
1
,
2
,
3
all have eigenvalue 2
2
and hence S = 1, while
4
has S = 0.
The state is clearly an eigenstate of

S
z
with eigenvalue 0, and must therefore
be a linear combination of
3
and
4
. The S = 1 component is thus the
3
term in the wavefunction with amplitude
c
3
=
3
| =
_
2
3

+
(1)

(2) +
_
1
3

(1)
+
(2)|
_
1
2

+
(1)

(2) +
_
1
2

(1)
+
(2)
=
_
1/3 +
_
1/6
The probability of S = 1 is therefore |c
3
|
2
=
3+2

2
6
= 0.971.
7. Taking as a basis the states of the

S
z
operator, we can deduce the form of the

S
x
operator most easily from the action of the spin raising and lower operators.
Noting that, for spin S = 1,

S

|S = 1, m = [2 m(m + 1)]
1/2
|1, m 1, we
can construct the matrix elements of

S

. The latter are given by

S
+
=

2
_
_
0 1 0
0 0 1
0 0 0
_
_
,

S

=

S

+
.
Then, using the relation,

S
x
=
1
2
(

S
+


S

), we obtained the matrix elements

of the operator and corresponding eigenstates,

S
x
=

2
_
_
0 1 0
1 0 1
0 1 0
_
_
,
m
x
= 1 m
x
= 0 m
x
= 1
1
2
_
_
1

2
1
_
_
1

2
_
_
1
0
1
_
_
1
2
_
_
1

2
1
_
_
Advanced Quantum Physics
16.1. PROBLEM SET I 201
When placed in a magnetic eld, B, the molecules will acquire an energy
Bm
z
, where is the magnetic moment of the molecule, which in this case
equals twice the magnetic moment of the proton, and m
z
is the eigenvalue of

S
z
. At t = 0, the molecules enter the magnetic eld in the m
x
= 1 state, after
which their wavefunction evolves with time in the usual way, i.e.
(t) = e
iB

Szt/
(0) =
1
2
_
_
e
iBt
0 0
0 0 0
0 0 e
iBt
_
_
_
_
1

2
1
_
_
=
1
2
_
_
e
iBt

2
e
iBt
_
_
.
Thus, if Bt = (2n + 1), with n an integer, the molecules will be in a pure
m
x
= 1 state, and none will pass the second lter. The time is given by
t = L/v = L
_
m/2E, where L = 20 mm and m and E are the mass and energy
of the molecules respectively. We thus have
=
(2n + 1)
BL
_
2E
m
_
1/2
= 2.84 10
26
JT
1
and hence the proton magnetic moment is 1.42 10
26
JT
1
.
Note that the result can also be obtained by treating the problem as one of
classical precession. The couple = B = L, where L = is the angular
momentum and the angular frequency of precession. If t = (2n + 1), the
molecules have precessed into the m
x
= 1 state, and the result readily follows.
8. Substituting for the denition of the spin raising and lowering operators using
the Holstein-Primako transformation, the commutator is obtained as
1
2S
2
[

S
+
,

S

] =
_
1
a

a
2S
_
1/2
a

a + 1
..
aa

_
1
a

a
2S
_
1/2
a

_
1
a

a
2S
_
a
=
_
1
a

a
2S
_
+ a

a
_
1
a

a
2S
_
a

a +
a

aa
2S
= 1
a

a
S
.
With

S
z
= (Sa

a), we obtain the required commutation relation [

S
+
,

S

] =
2

S
z
.
M (m
1
, m
2
)
3 (1, 2)
2 (1, 1) (0, 2)
1 (1, 0) (0, 1) (1, 2)
0 (1, 1) (0, 0) (1, 1)
1 (1, 2) (0, 1) (1, 0)
2 (0, 2) (1, 1)
3 (1, 2)
9. For the case
1
= 1,
2
= 2, a table of possible ways of forming each value
of M = m
1
+ m
2
is shown right. The largest value of M is 3, so the largest
value of L must be 3. There must also be a state with M = 2 corresponding
to L = 3, but we have two states with M = 2. Therefore there must be a
state with L = 2 as well. We need two states with M = 1, one for each of the
L = 3, 2 multiplets, but we actually have three states with M = 1, so there
must be an L = 1 state as well. All of the M states are now accounted for.
M (m
1
, m
2
)
4 (3, 1)
3 (3, 0) (2, 1)
2 (3, 1) (2, 0) (1, 1)
1 (2, 1) (1, 0) (0, 1)
0 (1, 1) (0, 0) (1, 1)
1 (0, 1) (1, 0) (2, 1)
2 (1, 1) (2, 0) (3, 1)
3 (2, 1) (3, 0)
4 (3, 1)
For the case
1
= 3,
2
= 1, we can again for a table (see right). Following the
same logic as before, we see that states with L = 4, 3, 2 just account for all the
states.
To construct the states explicitly, we start by writing the L = 3 M = 3 state,
since there is only one way of forming M = 3, viz. |3, 3 = |1, 1 |2, 2. We
then operate with the lowering operator

L

, which is simply the sum of the

lowering operators for the two separate particles. Recalling that:

|, m =
_
( + 1) m(m1)|, m1 ,
we obtain

6|3, 2 =

2|1, 0 |2, 2 +

4|1, 1 |2, 1, where the rst
term on the right hand side comes from lowering the = 1 state and the
second from lowering the = 2 state. Hence |3, 2 =
_
1/3|1, 0 |2, 2 +
_
2/3|1, 1|2, 1. The state |2, 2 must be the orthogonal linear combination,
i.e. |2, 2 =
_
2/3|1, 0 |2, 2
_
1/3|1, 1 |2, 1. Further states could be
computed in the same way if required.
Advanced Quantum Physics
16.1. PROBLEM SET I 202
10. The commutation relations are given by [J
i
, J
j
] = i
ijk
J
k
.
(a) First dene the eigenstates
m
: J
z

m
= m
m
. To see if J

m
is an
eigenstate of J
z
, we need to look at J
z
J

m
, which is equal to J

J
z

[J

, J
z
]
m
. The required commutator is [J

, J
z
] = [J
x
, J
z
] i[J
y
, J
z
],
from the denition of J

. From the basic commutators given at the start,

this is [J

, J
z
] = ) iJ
y
J
x
) = J

(if treating like a number

is confusing, do this separately for J
+
and J

). Going back to J
z
J

m
,
we can now write this as J

J
z

m
+ J

m
. The rst term is just
J

m
m
, so this is (m 1)(J

m
). Thus, J

m
is an eigenstate of
J
z
, with eigenvalue (m 1). This establishes the raising and lowering
property of J

.
(b) Two electrons would have a total spin of S = 1 or 0. Adding a third spin
1/2 particle creates total spin S = 3/2 or 1/2 from the S = 1 two-particle
state. The S = 0 two-particle state becomes S = 1/2 only on adding the
third particle, so total S = 3/2 or 1/2 are the only possibilities.
(c) The states with well-dened values of m
1
, m
2
, and m
3
for the z spin
components of all particles are the uncoupled basis. Where all particles
are spin up, this state may be written as | . This state is also the
m
S
= 3/2 state of total S = 3/2 (there is no other way to get m
1
+m
2
+
m
3
= 3/2 in the uncoupled basis). We can therefore write |S = 3/2, m
S
=
3/2 = | . To get from here to |S = 3/2, m
S
= 1/2, we need to apply
J

= S
(1)

+S
(2)

+S
(3)

. In other words, the total lowering operator is the

sum of the lowering operator for each separate spin (reasonably enough)
this follows from the denition of J

and J
x
= S
(1)
x
+ S
(2)
x
+ S
(3)
x
, etc.
Now, we need to use the given normalization result. This says that
J

|S = 3/2, m
S
= 3/2 =
_
15/4 3/4|S = 3/2, m
S
= 1/2
=

3|S = 3/2, m
S
= 1/2 .
Notice that the total quantum number, J, is the same as the overall spin
quantum number, S in this case. Therefore |S = 3/2, m
S
= 1/2 =
(1/

3)J

|S = 3/2, m
S
= 3/2. Using the given normalization result
again for a single state, S

|1/2, 1/2 =
_
3/4 + 1/4|1/2, 1/2. This
establishes the required result.
Advanced Quantum Physics