Advanced Quantum Mechanics: Problem Sheet 4

1. Consider the harmonic oscillator in one dimension with the Hamiltonian given by

p̂2 k
Ĥ = + x̂2 .
2m 2
Define the raising and lowering operators as
! " # ! " #
† mω i mω i
â = x̂ − p̂ and â = x̂ + p̂ ,
2! mω 2! mω

with ω 2 = k/m.
The energy eigenstates are then given by

(↠)n
|n〉 ≡ √ |0〉, where â|0〉 ≡ 0.
n!

a) Confirm that ↠and â are indeed raising and lowering operators by finding their
commutator and actions on a state |n〉, i.e., ↠|n〉 and â|n〉.
b) Find the matrix representations of x̂, p̂ and Ĥ in the energy basis (i.e., find the
matrix elements 〈n|x̂|n′ 〉, etc.).
c) Find the expectation value of x̂ in an arbitrary state |n〉, i.e., calculate 〈n|x̂|n〉.
Why is your result obvious from a physical point of view?
d) As always, we can go to the coordinate basis by a simple change of basis. The
states |n〉 are then given by wave functions of the following form
! "! #
1 $ mω %1/4 − mωx2 mω
ψn (x) = e 2! Hn x ,
2n n! π! !

where the Hermite polynomials Hn (x) are defined as

dn $ −x2 %
n x2
Hn (x) = (−1) e e .
dxn
In order to illustrate that the coordinate basis is not always the best choice,
find 〈1|x̂|2〉 in the energy basis and in the coordinate basis.

1
Answer
a) Clearly
(↠)n+1 √
↠|n〉 = √ |0〉 = n + 1|n + 1〉
n!
Now note that
& '
† mω i i i −i
[â , â] = x̂ − p̂ , x̂ + p̂ = [x̂, p̂] + [p̂, x̂] = −1
2! mω mω 2! 2!
so we can act on the state |n〉
1 1 ( )
â|n〉 = √ â(↠)n |0〉 = √ [â, ↠] + ↠â (↠)n−1 |0〉
n! n!
† ( )
1 â
= √ |n − 1〉 + √ [â, ↠] + ↠â (↠)n−2 |0〉
n n!
√
= · · · = n|n − 1〉 .
b) We have ! !
! !mω
x̂ = (â + ↠) , p̂ = i (â − ↠) ,
2mω 2
Then
1 ( 2 ) !ω ( )
Ĥ = p̂ + ω 2 m2 x̂2 = −(â − ↠)2 + (â + ↠)2
2m "4 #
!ω † † † 1
= (ââ + â â) = !ω â â +
2 2
So " # " #
′ ′ 1 ′ 1
〈n|Ĥ|n 〉 = !ω n + 〈n|n 〉 = !ω n + δn,n′
2 2
For this we needed the orthogonality of the energy eigenstates, which is easy
to prove as 〈0|ânˆ(a† )n |0〉 = 0 unless n = n′ , by commuting the â through the
′

↠. In the same way (or by induction) one verifies that they are normalized.
Now for x̂ we have
! ! $√ %
! ! √
〈n|x̂|n′ 〉 = 〈n|(â + ↠)|n′ 〉 = 〈n| n′ |n′ − 1〉 + n′ + 1|n′ + 1〉
! 2mω ! 2mω
!n ′ !n
= δn,n′ −1 + δn,n′ +1
2mω 2mω
Likewise
! ! $√ %
!mω !mω √
〈n|p̂|n′ 〉 = i 〈n|(â − ↠)|n′ 〉 = 〈n| n′ |n′ − 1〉 − n′ + 1|n′ + 1〉
! 2 ! 2
!mωn ′ !mωn
= δn,n′ −1 − δn,n′ +1
2 2

2
c) Clearly based on our previous result 〈n|x̂|n〉 = 0. The reason is that the
potential is symmetric so there is no reason for the particle to be more to the
right or more to the left. More technically, for a symmetric potential, the wave
functions of all energy eigenstates will be either even or odd functions, so in
either case |ψ(x)|2 is even, and the integral
* ∞
x |ψ(x)|2 dx = 0 .
−∞

d) In the energy basis we already evaluated

!
!
〈1|x̂|2〉 =
mω
From the formula in the question we have
! $ !
1 mω %1/4 − mωx2 mω
ψ1 (x) = e 2! 2x,
2 π! !
! $
1 mω %1/4 − mωx2 $ mω 2 %
ψ2 (x) = e 2! −2 + 4 x ,
8 π! !
so
! * ! $
1 mω ∞ − mωx2 mω mω 2 %
〈1|x̂|2〉 = e ! 2x −2 + 4 x x dx
4 π! −∞ ! !
! * ∞ ! " #
! −y 2 2 2 ! 1√ 3√
= e (−1 + 2y )y dy = − π+ π
mωπ −∞ mωπ 2 2
!
!
=
mω

3
 +
2. Suppose there is a state |λ, µ〉 such that

+
J 2 |λ, +
µ〉 = λ |λ, +
µ〉 , J1 |λ, +
µ〉 = µ |λ, µ〉 ,
√ √
then − λ ≤ µ ≤ λ.

Answer

The calculation is exactly the same as in the lecture notes with J3 replaced by J1 .

4
3. Consider the su(2) algebra with the commutation relations
[Jˆi , Jˆj ] = i&ijk Jˆk ,
which are the angular momentum commutation relations up to a factor of !. Con-
struct the spin-2 representation matrices of Jˆ1 , Jˆ2 and Jˆ3 . Verify that they indeed
satisfy the commutation relations of the algebra.

Answer

Spin-2 are the states |2, m〉 with m ∈ {−2, −1, 0, 1, 2}. There are 5 states, so we
need a representation of the algebra in terms of 5 × 5 matrices. The easy one is
Jˆ3 , which we take to be diagonal
, /
−2 0 0 0 0
- 0 −1 0 0 00
- 0
J3 = --0 0 0 0 00 0
.0 0 0 1 01
0 0 0 0 2
+
The matrix elements of J± are given by the coefficients Clm calculated in the lecture
and are above/below the2 diagonal to take the |l, m〉 state to |l, m ± 1〉. They were
+
calculated to be C2,m = 6 − m(m + 1), so we find
, /
0 2 √0 0 0
-0 0 6 √0 00
- 0
J+ = -- 0 0 0 6 0 0
0
.0 0 0 0 21
0 0 0 0 0
J− is its hermitian conjugate and now we can find
, /
0 1 20 0 0
-1 00
J+ + J− - 20 3/2 20 0
J1 = -
= -0 3/2 20 3/2 00
2 0
.0 0 3/2 0 11
0 0 0 1 0
, /
0 1 20 0 0
-−1 00
J+ − J− - 20 3/2 20 0
J2 = −i -
= −i - 0 − 3/2 00
2 20 3/2 0
.0 0 − 3/2 0 11
0 0 0 −1 0
It is easy to check by direct multiplication that maths works and indeed the algebra
is satisfied.

5
4. The eigenstates |l, m〉 of the angular momentum operators L̂2 and L̂3 are expressed
in the coordinate basis as the spherical harmonics
& '1/2 & '1/2 imφ
l (2l + 1)! 1 (l + m)! e dl−m
Ylm (θ, φ) = (−1) sin2l θ .
4π 2l l! (2l)!(l − m)! sinm θ d(cos θ)l−m
In general it is a bit nontrivial to show that they are indeed orthonormal eigen-
states, so try doing some simple checks:

a) Find explicit expressions of the spherical harmonics for states with l = 1,

b) Act on Y10 with L̂+ and see if you get what you expect.
c) Act with L̂+ on your result once more – does everything still make sense?

Answer

a) We have the three states with l = 1

! ! !
3 1 2 eiφ 2 1 3
Yl1 (θ, φ) = −1 θ
sin θ = − sin θ eiφ
2π 2 2 sin 2 2π
! ! !
3 1 1 d 1 3
Yl0 (θ, φ) = −1 sin2 θ = cos θ ,
2π 2 2 d(cos θ) 2 π
! ! !
3 1 1 −iφ d2 1 3
Yl,−1 (θ, φ) = −1 e sin θ 2
2
sin θ = sin θ e−iφ
2π 2 4 d(cos θ) 2 2π

b) We evaluate (I rescaled away the factor of ! from the definition of L̂+ in the
previous problem sheet, since now we are dealing with spherical functions, not
the quantization of angular momentum).
" # !
iφ ∂ ∂ 1 3
L̂+ Y10 = e + i cot θ cos θ
∂θ ∂φ 2 π
!
1 3 √
=− sin θ eiφ = 2Y11
2 π
√
The proportionality factor 2 is exactly 2 the factor we found previously in
+ +
L̂+ |l, m〉 = Cl,m |l, m + 1〉, with Cl,m = l(l + 1) − m(m + 1).
c) !
" #
iφ ∂ ∂ −1 3
L̂+ Y10 = e + i cot θ sin θ eiφ = 0
∂θ ∂φ 2 π
as expected.

6
5. Consider a state |ψ〉, which in the coordinate basis is given by
2 2 2 2
ψ(x1 , x2 , x3 ) = A x3 e−(x1 +x2 +x3 )a ,

where A and a are constants. Express this state in the angular momentum basis.

Answer

This is simply a coordinate change

2 /a2
ψ(r, θ, φ) = A r cos θ e−r ,

7
6. Evaluate the commutators [L̂i , r2 ] and [L̂i , p̂2 ]. Show that the Hamiltonian of a
p̂2
particle in a spherically symmetric potential Ĥ = 2m + V (r) commutes with L̂i .

Answer

The simple way to show that the commutators vanish is to write everything in
spherical coordinates. then it’s clear that L̂i has no ∂r in it, so commutes with r2 .
Likewise p̂2 in spherical coordinates is
3 4
1 ( ) L̂ 2
p̂2 = !2 2 ∂r r2 ∂r − 2
r r

L̂i commute with r, with ∂r and with L̂2 , which proves this.
We can also work with the original definitions of L̂i = &ijk x̂j p̂k and evaluate

[L̂i , r2 ] = −i!&ijk xj ∂k (r2 ) = −2i!&ijk xj xk = 0

because & is antisymmetric. Likewise

L̂i , p̂2 t = p̂l [L̂i , p̂l ] + [L̂i , p̂l ]p̂l = p̂l [&ijk xj p̂k , p̂l ] + [&ijk xj p̂k , p̂l ]p̂l
= &ijk (p̂l [xj , p̂l ]p̂k + [xj , p̂l ]p̂k p̂l ) = i!δjl &ijk (p̂l p̂k + p̂k p̂l ) = 0

again, by the antisymmetry of &.