Physics 137B

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Chapter1: Time-Independent Pertubation Theory
1.1 Non-Degenerate Pertubation Theory
Pertubation theory is a systematic procedure for obtaining approximate solutions to the perturbed prob-
lem, by building on the known exact solutions to the unperturbed case.
When a pertubation is applied to a system the new Hamiltonian is given as
H = H
0
+H

where H
0
is the unperturbed Hamiltonian and H

is the pertubed Hamiltonian. The new wave function

is given by
|
n
= |
0
n
+|
1
n
+
2
|
2
n
+...
and the eigenvalues are given as
E
n
= E
0
+E
1
+
2
E
2
+...
and we nd that the rst-oder perubation to the energy is given as
E
1
n
=
0
n
|H

|
0
n
(1)
This is the fundemental result of rst-order pertubation theory; as a practical matter, it may well be the
most important equation in quantum mechanics. It says that the rst-order correction to the energy is the
expectation value of the pertubation, in the unperturbed state.
Now, the unperturbed wave functions constitute a complete set, so
1
n
(like any other function) can be
expressed as a linear combination of them

1
n
=

m=n
c
(n)
m

0
m
(2)
and the coefcients are given by
c
(n)
m
=

0
m
|H

|
0
n

E
0
l
E
0
n
(3)
the wave functions are given by

1
n
=

m=n

0
m
|H

|
0
n

E
0
m
E
0
n

0
m
(4)
The perturbation theory often yields suprisingly accurate energies but the wave functions are notori-
ously poor.
1
Second-Order Energies
Proceeding as before, we take the inner product of the second order equation with
0
n

0
n
|H
0

2
n
+
0
n
|H

1
n
= E
0
n

0
n
|
2
n
+E
1
n

0
n
|
1
n
+E
2
n

0
n
|
0
n
(5)
and the second-order pertubation to the energies is given by
E
2
n
=

m=n
|
0
m
|H

|
0
n
|
2
E
0
n
E
0
m
(6)
1.2 Degenerate Perubation Theory
Two-Fold Degeneracy
Suppose that we have a degenerate system, i.e
E
0
k
= E
0
n
= E
0
We must diaganolize the secular equation
_
E
0
+W
aa
W
ab
W
ba
E
0
+W
bb
_
where
W
i j

0
i
|H

|
0
j
, (i, j = a, b) (7)
and setting the determinate equal to 0 we nd a quadratic equation of the form
E
1

=
1
2
_
W
aa
+W
bb

_
(W
aa
W
bb
)
2
+4|W
ab
|
2
_
(8)
This is the fundemental result of degenerate pertubation theory; the two roots correspond to the two
perturbed energies.
Problems
Problem # 1
The unperturbed Hamiltonian of a 1-D simple harmonic oscillator is H
0
=
p
2
x
2m
+
kx
2
2
.The energy levels
are E = (n+1/2), where = (k/m)
1/2
and n = 0, 1, 2, 3, .. . A perubation H

= ax
4
is now
turned on.
a) Calculate E
1
0
and E
1
1
, the rst order corrections to the n = 0 and n = 1 energy states.
We know that the ground state and the rst excited state wave functions for the simple harmonic
oscillator are given by

1
0
=
_
m

_
1/4
e

m
2
x
2
and
0
1
=
_
m

_
1/4
_
2m

_
1/2
xe

m
2
x
2
the rst order pertubation is dened as
2
E
1
n
=
n
|H

|
n
where H

= ax
4
therefore
E
1
0
= 0|ax
4
|0 = 2a
_
m

_
1/2
Z

0
x
4
e

x
2
dx
=
24
32
a
_
m

_
1/2

_

m
_
5/2
=
3
4
a
_

m
_
2
and now for the rst order correction to the rst excited state is
E
1
1
= 1|ax
4
|1 = 2a
_
m

_
1/2
_
2m

_
Z

0
x
6
e

x
2
dx
=
15
4
_
m

_
m

_
1/2
_

m
_
7/2
=
15
4
_

m
_
2
(b). Calculate E
2
0
, the second order correction to the ground state energy.
First, we know that the second order correction to the ground state energy is given by
E
2
n
=

m=n
|n|ax
4
|m|
2
E
0
n
E
0
m
and we know
x =
_

2m
(a

+a) x
4
=

2
4m
2

2
(a

+a)
4
so we nee to nd
E
2
n
=
a
2
16
_

m
_
4
1

m=0
|0|(a

+a)
4
|m|
2
m
now we need to foil the ladder operators, which I will not present here, but we nd
0|(a

+a)
4
|1 = 0
0|(a

+a)
4
|2 = [

1+

2+

1]
0|(a

+a)
4
|3 = 0
0|(a

+a)
4
|4 = 2

6
so we nd that the second order correction to the ground state energy is
E
2
0
=
a
2
16
_

m
_
4
1

_
(6

2)
2
2
+
(2

6)
2
4
_
=
21
8
a
2
_

m
_
4
Problem # 2
3
Two identical bosons are placed in an innite square well. They interact weakly with one another, via
the potential
V(x
1
, x
2
) =aV
0
(x
1
x
2
)
where V
0
is a constant with the dimensions of energy and a is the width of the well.
(a). First, ignoring the interaction between the particles, nd the ground state and rst excited state-
both the wave functions and the associated energies.
The wave functions for a particle in a innite square well with width a is given by

n
=
_
2
a
sin
_
nx
a
_
we also know that we can write the combined wave function as a product of two wave functions, i.e

0
1
(x
1
, x
2
) =
1
(x
1
)
1
(x
2
) =
2
a
sin
_
x
1
a
_
sin
_
x
2
a
_
and the energies are given by
E
0
1
= E
1
+E
2
= 2E
1
=

2

2
ma
2
The wave functions and associated energies for the rst excited state are given by

0
2
=

2
a
_
sin
_
x
1
a
_
sin
_
2x
2
a
_
+sin
_
2x
1
a
_
sin
_
x
2
a
_
_
and the energies are
E
0
2
= E
1
+E
2
= (n
2
1
+n
2
2
)

2
2ma
2
=
5
2

2
ma
2
(b). Use rst-order pertubation theory to calculate the effect of the particle-particle interaction on the
ground state and rst excited state energies.
We know that
E
0
1
=
0
1
|H

|
0
1

=
4
a
V
0
Z
a
0
Z
a
0
sin
2
_
x
1
a
_
sin
2
_
x
2
a
_
(x
1
x
2
)dx
1
dx
2
=
4
a
V
0
Z
a
0
sin
4
_
x
a
_
dx
if we let
u =
x
a
dx =
a

du
so we nd
E
0
1
=
4

V
0
Z

0
sin
4
(u)du
=
4

V
0
_
1
32
(12u)
_

0
E
0
1
=
3
2
V
0
4
and for the rst excited state
E
0
2
=
0
2
|H

|
0
2

=
2
a
V
0
Z
a
0
Z
a
0
_
sin
_
x
1
a
_
sin
_
2x
2
a
_
+sin
_
2x
1
a
_
sin
_
x
2
a
_
_
2
(x
1
x
2
)dx
1
dx
2
=
8
a
V
0
Z
a
0
sin
2
_
x
a
_
sin
2
_
2x
a
_
dx
if we let
u =
x
a
dx =
a

du
so we nd
E
0
12
=
8

V
0
Z

0
sin
2
(u)sin
2
(2u)du
=
8

V
0
_
4
_
u
16
__

0
E
0
1
= 2V
0
Problem # 3
A particle of mass m moves in a square well potential
V(x) =
_
0 |x| <
a
2
|x| >
a
2
A delta function of height V
0
() and width x(0) is introduced at x = 0 (thus the area under the
peak is A =V
0
x)
(a). Show that this pertubation has no effect on the odd-parity states.
We know that the total (even and odd) wave functions for the innite square well are given by

n
=
_
_
_
_
2
a
sin
_
nx
a
_
odd wavefunction
_
2
a
cos
_
nx
a
_
even wave function
and we know that the rst-order pertubation to the odd wave functions is
E
1
odd
= n|H

|m
=
2
a
A
Z
a/2
a/2
sin
2
_
nx
a
_
(x)dx
=
2
a
Asin
2
(0) = 0
thus this pertubation has no effect on the odd-parity states.
(b). Find general formulas for the energy shift and the coefcients a
nm
for the even-parity states.
We know that
E
0
n
E
0
m
= (n
2
+m
2
)

2
2ma
2
5
and the coefcients can be found using
a
nm
=

m
|H

|
n

E
0
n
E
0
m
and

m
|A(x)|
n
=
2
a
A
Z
a/2
0
cos
_
mx
a
_
cos
_
nx
a
_
(x)dx
=
2
a
Acos
2
(0)
=
2
a
A
so the coefcient is
a
nm
=
4ma

2
A
(n
2
m
2
)
and the energy shift is
E
1
n
=
2
a
A
Z
a/2
a/2
cos
2
_
nx
a
_
(x)dx =
2
a
A
Problem # 4
An electron of charge e moves in a one-dimensional harmonic oscillator potential; the unperturbed
Hamiltonian is
H =
p
2
2m
+
1
2
m
2
x
2
A weak, uniform electric eld E is applied in the positive x direction. Thus, the potential energy due
to the electric eld is eEx.
(a). Write down the pertubation Hamiltonian H

in terms of a, a

and other quantities.

We know that
H =
p
2
2m
+
1
2
m
2
x
2
H

= eEx x =
_

2m
(a

+a)
and thus
H

=
_

2m
eE(a

+a)
(b). Find the rst-order correction to the ground state energyusing time-independent pertubation the-
ory.
The ground state wave function for the harmonic oscillator is

0
=
_
m

_
1/4
e

m
2
x
2
thus the rst order correction is
E
1
0
=0|H

|0 =
_

2m
eE0|(a

+a)|0 = 0
6
(c). Find the second-order correction to the ground state energy using time-independent pertubation
theory
E
2
n
=

m=n
|m|H

|n|
2
E
0
n
E
0
m
E
0
n
E
0
m
= (nm)
letting n = 0 we get
E
2
0
=
(eE)
2
2m
2

m=n
|m|(a

+a)|0|
2
m
the only allowed transition is where m = 1 and so we nd
|1|(a

+a)|0|
2
= [

1]
2
= 1
and so we nd
E
2
0
=
(eE)
2
2m
2
Problem # 5
Consider a particle conned to a 2-D innite square well dened by 0 x L and 0 y L. Write
down the eigenfunctions
np
(x, y) (where n and p are positive integers), and the eigenvalues in terms of
the ground state energym E
1
.
The innite square potential is
V(x, y) =
_
0 if 0 x L, 0 y L
otherwise
the wave function is
n
=
_
2
L
sin
_
nx
L
_
the eigenfunctins and the eigenvalues in terms of the ground state energy are

0
np
=
2
L
sin
_
nx
L
_
sin
_
py
L
_
and E
0
np
=

2

2
2mL
2
(n
2
+ p
2
) =
E
1
2
(n
2
+ p
2
)
For the case where n = p , the eigenfunctions are usually two-fold degenerate. Calculate the change in
the enrgies under the pertubation H

=E
1
sin(x/L), where 1.
If we dene our wavefunctions as

a
=
0
np
=
2
L
sin
_
nx
L
_
sin
_
py
L
_

b
=
0
pn
=
2
L
sin
_
px
L
_
sin
_
ny
L
_
if W
i j

0
i
|H

|
0
j
then
W
aa
=
0
np
|H

|
0
np
W
bb
=
0
pn
|H

|
0
pn
W
ab
=
0
np
|H

|
0
pn

for W
aa
we nd
W
aa
=np|H

|np =
4
L
2
E
1
Z
L
0
sin
_
x
L
_
sin
2
_
nx
L
_
dx
Z
L
0
sin
2
_
py
L
_
dy
using mathematica yields
W
aa
=E
1
8

_
n
2
4n
2
1
_
7
for W
bb
we nd
W
bb
=pn|H

|pn =
4
L
2
E
1
Z
L
0
sin
_
x
L
_
sin
2
_
px
L
_
dx
Z
L
0
sin
2
_
ny
L
_
dy
using mathematica yields
W
bb
=E
1
8

_
p
2
4p
2
1
_
for W
ab
we nd
W
bb
=np|H

|pn =
4
L
2
E
1
Z
L
0
sin
_
x
L
_
sin
_
nx
L
_
sin
_
px
L
_
dx
Z
L
0
sin
_
ny
L
_
sin
_
py
L
_
dy
using mathematica yields
W
ab
= 0
to nd the energies we use
E
1

=
1
2
[W
aa
+W
bb
(W
aa
W
bb
)]
E
1
+
= E
1
8

_
n
2
4n
2
1
_
E
1

= E
1
8

_
p
2
4p
2
1
_
Problem # 6
A two-dimensional isotropic oscillator has the Hamiltonian
H =

2
2m
_

2
x
2
+

2
y
2
_
+
k
2
(1+bxy)(x
2
+y
2
)
(a). If b=0, write down the energies of the three lowest levels, stating the degeneracy in each case.
The energies of the 2-D harmonic oscillator are given by
E
0
= non-degenerate
E
1
= 2 double-degenerate
E
2
= 3 triply-degenerate
(b). If b is a small positive number such that b1, nd the rst-order pertubation corrections to the
energies of the ground state and rst excited state. Think raising and lowering operators
We know that the perturbing Hamiltonian is
H

=
k
2
bxy(x
2
+y
2
)
and because the oscillator is isotropic we know that
x =
_

2m
(a

x
+a
x
) y =
_

2m
(a

y
+a
y
)
8
and the perturbing Hamiltonian written in terms of raising and lowering operators is
H

=
kb
2
8m
2

2
[(a

x
+a
x
)(a

y
+a
y
)[(a

x
+a
x
)
2
+(a

y
+a
y
)
2
]]
this is a very tedious task to foil this equation, so I will skip this step. If you do not believe this solution
do it yourself. The rst-order correction to the ground state energy is
E
1
00
=00|H

|00 = 0
the rst excited state is doubly degenerate

1
a
=
01
and
1
b
=
10
and by inspection we know that
W
aa
=01|H

|01 =W
bb
=10|H

|10 = 0
and nally
W
ab
=
kb
2
8m
2

2
01|a
x
a
y
(a

y
)
2
+a
x
a

y
a
x
a

x
+a
x
a

y
a

x
a
x
+a
x
a

y
a
y
a

y
|10
looking at each case seperately we nd
01|a
x
a
y
(a

y
)
2
|10 =

1 = 2
01|a
x
a

y
a
x
a

x
|10 =

1 = 2
01|a
x
a

y
a

x
a
x
|10 =

1 = 1
01|a
x
a

y
a
y
a

y
|10 =

1 = 1
thus
W
ab
=
3kb
2
4m
2

2
=W
ba
and so
W
aa
=W
bb
= 0 W
ab
=W
ba
=
3kb
2
4m
2

2
and to nd the energies we use
E
1

=
1
2
_
W
aa
+W
bb

_
(W
aa
W
bb
)
2
+4|W
ab
|
2
_
therefore
E
1
+
= +W
ab
=
3kb
2
4m
2

2
E
1

=W
ab
=
3kb
2
4m
2

2
E
1
00
= 0
Problem # 7
For the harmonic oscillator [V(x) = (1/2)kx
2
], the allowed energies are
E
n
= (n+1/2), (n = 0, 1, 2, ...)
9
where =
_
k/m is the classical frequency. Now suppose the spring constant increases slightly:
k (1+)k. (Perhaps we cool the spring, so it becomes less exible.)
(a). Find the exact new energies (trivial in this case). Expand your formula as a power series in , up
to second order.
(b). Now calculate the rst-order correction pertubation energy. What is H

here? Comapre your

results with part (a). Hint : It is not necessary-in fact, it is not permitted - to calculate a single integral in
doing this problem.
Problem # 8
Supose we put a delta-function bump in the center of the innite square well:
H

=(x a/2)
where is a constant.
(a). Find the rst-order correction to the allowed energies. Explain why the energies are not perturbed
for even n.
(b). Find the second-order correction to the energies (E
2
n
). You can sum the series explicitly, obtaining
2m(/n)
2
for odd n.
Problem # 9
Consider a quantum system described by the Hamiltonian
H = H
0
+H

where H
0
is the two-dimensional harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian
H
0
=
1
2m
(p
2
x
+ p
2
y
) +
1
2
m
2
(x
2
+y
2
)
In parts (a) and (b) of the problem, the perturbing Hamiltonian H

is given by
H

= Kp
x
p
y
with K a constant.
(a). Evaluate the ground state energy to second order in K.
(b). Evaluate the energy of the state(s) whose unperturbed energy is 2 to rst order in K.
Chapter 2: The Variational Method
2.1 Applying the Variational Principle
Suppose you want to calculate the ground state energy,E
gs
, for a system described by the Hamiltonian H,
but you are unable to. The variational principle will get you an upper bound for E
gs
, which is sometimes
all you need. Heres how it works: Pick any normalized function whatsoever; I claim that
E
gs
|H| H (9)
To use the variational method you must follow these instructions
10
You must guess a trial wave function for the ground state
(r, )
If the wave function is not already normalized, you must normalize it
1 =
n
|
n

You must calculate the expectation of H

H =|H|
once you have calculated the expectation values you must minimize it, i.e take the derivative with
respect to and solve for
min
dH
d
= 0
Once you have found
min
you must use it to nd (r)
Then we must use
min
to nd the upper bound on the ground state energy
E
0
H
min
Problems
Problem # 1
A particle of mass m is contained in the one-dimensional potential well
V(x) =|x|
Use the (normalized) gaussian
(x) =
_
2

_
1/4
e
x
2
as a trial function to nd the upper bound on the ground state energy.
we know that
H =T +V and also
d
2
dx
2
(e
x
2
) = e
x
2
(4
2
x
2
2)
We will also be using the integral dened as
Z

0
x
2n
e
x
2
/a
2
dx =

(2n)!
n!
_
a
2
_
2n+1
(10)
to solve this problem. To nd the expectation of the potential we use
V =
_
2

_
1/2
2
Z

0
xe
2x
2
dx = 2
_
2

_
1/2

4
=

2
and for the expectation of the kinetic energy term we use
11
T =

2
m
_
2

_
1/2
Z

0
e
2x
2
(4
2
x
2
2)dx =

2
m
_
2

_
1/2

2
_
1

2
_
3

2
_
=

2

2m
thus
H =

2

2m
+

2
and
dH
d
=

2
2m

2(2)
3/2
= 0 (11)
solving for gives us
=
_

2
m
2

4
2
_
1/3
pluggin this into equation 2 and doing a bit of algebra we nd that the upper bound to the ground state
energy is
Hmin =
3
2
_
22
2m
_
1/3
Problem # 2
Obtain an upper bound on the ground state energy of the hydrogen atom, using the variational tech-
nique with the wave function for the ground state of the three-dimensional oscillator as the trial function:
=
_
2a

_
3/4
e
ar
2
Obtain a numerical estimate (in eV) for the energy.
The Hamiltonian in 3-D is given by
H =

2
2m

2
+V
where

2
=
1
r
2

r
_
r
2

r
_
+
1
r
2
sin

_
sin

_
+
1
r
2
sin
2

_

2

2
_
we know that the potential energy for the hydrogen atom is dened as
V(r) =
e
2
4
0
r
and also
H =T +V and
1
r
2

r
_
r
2

r
_
(e
ar
2
) = e
ar
2
(4a
2
r
2
6a)
to nd the expectation of the potential we use
12
V =
_
2a

_
3/2
e
2
4
0
Z
2
0
d
Z

0
sin()d
Z

0
re
2ar
2
dr =
_
2a

_
3/2
e
2

0
Z

0
re
2ar
2
dr
and using the integral in equation 1 we nd
V =
_
2a

_
3/2
e
2

0

1
4a
=
e
2

0
_
a
2
3
_
1/2
and for the expectation of the kinetic energy term we use
T =

2
m
_
2a

_
3/2
2
Z

0
r
2
e
2ar
2
(4a
2
r
2
6a)dr
=

2
m
(4a)
_
2a

_
1/2
Z

0
r
2
e
2ar
2
(4a
2
r
2
6a)dr
=

2
m
(4a)
_
2a

_
1/2

_
4a
2
12
_
1
2

2a
_
5
12a
_
1
2

2a
_
3
_
=
3
2
a
2m
therefore
H =
3
2
a
2m

e
2

0
_
a
2
3
_
1/2
and
dH
da
=
3
2
2m

e
2
2
0
_
1
2
3
_
1/2

1
a
1/2
= 0 (12)
and solving for a we nd
a =
m
2
e
4
18
2
0

3
plugging this into equation 2 we get
H
min
=
3e
4
m
36
3

2
0

e
4
m
6
3

2
0
=
e
4
m

2
0
_
3
36

1
6
_
=
1
12
e
4
m

2
0
therefore the upper bound to the ground state energy of the hydrogen atom is
H
min
=
8
3
_
m
2
2
_
e
2
4
0
_
2
_
=
8
3
E
1
= 11.54 eV
Problem # 3
A particle of mass m is bound by the three-dimensional potential V(r) =V
0
e
r/a
where
2
/mV
0
a
2
=
3/4. Use the variational method with the trial function e
r
to estimate an upper bound on the lowest
energy eigenvalue.
Note: You should nd a quartic equation in (a). You should show (by plugging in) that the real roots
are a = 0.5 and 4.36910
2
.
we know
13
V(r) =V
0
e
r/a
(r) = e
r

2
V
0
a
2
m
=
3
4
V
0
=
4
3

2
ma
2
and we will also be using the integral dened as
Z

0
x
n
e
x/a
dx = n!a
n+1
(13)
to solve this problem. To nd the expectation of the potential we use
H =T +V and
1
r
2

r
_
r
2

r
_
(e
r
) = e
r
(
2

2
r
)
rst we need to normalize the test function
A
2
Z
2
0
d
Z

0
sin()d
Z

0
r
2
e
2r
dr = 1
A
2
8
_
1
2
_
3
= 1
A =
_

_
1/2
thus
(r) =
_

_
1/2
e
r
to nd the expectation of the potential we use
V =V
0

4
Z

0
r
2
e
r(2+
1
a
)
dr =V
0
8
_
a
2a+1
_
3
and for the expectation of the kinetic energy term we use
T =

2
2m

4
Z

0
e
2r
(
2
r
2
2r)dr =

3
m
2
_
1
4

1
2
_
=

2

2
2m
therefore, we are also plugging in for v
0
we get
H =

2

2
2m
8V
0
_
a
2a+1
_
3
=

2

2
2m

32
2
3ma
2
_
a
2a+1
_
3
taking the derivative we nd
dH
d
=

2

m

32
2
ma
2
_
a
2a+1
_
2
_
(2a+1)a2
2
a
2
(2a+1)
2
_
= 0
we nd a quartic equation of the form
(2a+1)
4
= 32a
and this equation satises both roots that are given, i.e a = 0.5 and a = 4.36910
2
14
Using a = 0.5 we nd the upper bound to the ground state energy as
H
min
=

2

2
m
_
1
2

32a
3(2a+1)
3
_
letting =
0.5
a
and a = 0.5 we get
Hmin =
2
24ma2
if we use the other root a = 4.36910
2
we nd
H
min
= 2.6510
4

2
ma
2
which is not an upper bound on the energy. So we use a = 0.5 to nd our upperbound for the energy.
Problem # 4
Consider a particle with mass m moving in the one-dimensional potential
V(x) =x
4
(a). Consider a single-paramter ansatz for the wave function consisting of ground state wave function
for a simple harmonic oscillator
with frequency , where is the variational parameter. Find the value of that minimizes H and
obtain an upper bound on the energy of the ground state energy.
(b). Write down a one=paramter ansatz that you could use, with the variational principle, to obtain an
upper bound on the energy of the rst-excited state. Explain the reasoning behind your choice of ansatz,
but do not go further with the calculation than writing down an ansatz.
Problem # 5
Suppose youre given a quantum system whose Hamiltonian H
0
admits two eigenstates,
a
(with
energy E
a
), and
b
(with energy E
b
). They are orthogonal, normalized, and non-degenerate (assume E
a
is
the smaller of the two energies). Now turn on a pertubation H

, with the following matrix elements:

a
|H

|
a
=
b
|H

|
b
= 0
a
|H

|
b
=
b
|H

|
a
= h
where h is some specied constant.
(a). Find the exact eigenvalues of the perturbed Hamiltonian.
(b). Estimate the energies of the perturbed system using second-order pertubation theory.
(c). Estimate the ground state energy of the perturbed system using the variational principle, with a
trial of the form
= (cos)
a
+(sin)
b
where is the adjustable paramter. Note : Writing the linear combiunation in this way is just a neat
way to guarantee that is normalized.
(d). Compare your answers. Why is the variational principle so accurate, in this case?
15
1.1 Electron Spin and Angular Momentum
[L
x
, L
y
] = iL
z
[L
y
, L
z
] = iL
x
[L
z
, L
x
] = iL
y
it follows (as before) that the eigenvectors of L
2
and L
z
satisfy
L
2
|l m =
2
l(l +1)|l m L
z
|l m = m|l m
and
L

|l m =
_
l(l +1) m(m1)|l (m1)
where L

L
x
iL
z
and
l = 0, 1, 2, 3, ... m =l, l +1, ..., l 1, l
The algebraic theory of spin is a carbon copy of the theory of orbital angular momentum, beggining
with the fundamental commutation relations:
[S
x
, S
y
] = iS
z
[S
y
, S
z
] = iS
x
[S
z
, S
x
] = iS
y
it follows (as before) that the eigenvectors of S
2
and S
z
satisfy
S
2
|s m =
2
s(s +1)|s m S
z
|s m = m|s m
and
S

|s m =
_
s(s +1) m(m1)|s (m1)
where S

S
x
iS
z
and
s = 0,
1
2
, 1,
3
2
, ... m =s, s +1, ..., s 1, s
1.2 L-S Coupling
In light atoms (generally Z < 30), electron spin S
i
interact among themselves so they combine to form a
total angular momentum S. The same happens with orbital angular momentum l
i
forming a single orbital
angular momentum L. The interaction between the quantum numbers L and S is called Russell-Saunders
coupling. Then L and S add together to form a total angular momentum J
J = |l +s| where l = 0 then J =
1
2
for fermions and m
j
= m
l
+m
s
where l and s are
l = l
1
+l
2
+... and s = s
1
+s
2
+...
the eigenfunctions and eigenvalues are given as
J
2
= j

j
|J
2
| j, m
j
= j( j +1)
2

j
m
j
J
z
= j

j
|J
z
| j, m
j
= m
j

j
m
j
J

= j

j
|J

| j, m
j
=
_
j( j +1) m
j
(m
j
1)
j

j
m
j
1
a couple of other useful relations is
J
y
=
1
2i
(J
+
J

) J
x
=
1
2
(J
+
+J

)
16
1.3 Spin Orbit Energy
The pertubation Hamiltonian is given as
H
rel
=
p
4
8m
2
0
c
2
the spin orbit energy is given by
E

L
=
|E
n
|
2
n(2l +1)
_
1
l+1
if j = l +1/2

1
l
if j = l 1/2
where
e
2
4
0
c

1
137
is the ne structure constant
the Relativistic correction to the energy is given by
E
rel
=
5
4

2
|E
n
|
n
therefore the total energy is given as
E

L
+E
rel
=

2
|E
n
|
n
_
3
4n

1
j +1/2
_
1.4 Hyperne Interaction in H
The eigenfunctions ang eigenvalues are given as
F =

I +

J where

I is the nuclear spin interaction

and
I
2
= i(i +1)
2
I
z
= m
i
|m
i
| i
and the magnetic moment is

i
=
g
i

I
z
= g
i

N
m
i
and we also know
F
2
= f ( f +1)
2
F
z
= m
f
|m
f
| f
Problems
Problem # 1
The electron conuguration of oxygen is 1s
2
2s
2
2p
4
and the spin of its nucleus is 5/2
(a). If no electrons are excited out of their subshells, what are the possible spectral terms.
(b). What is the ground state of oxygen?
(c). For each possible overall atomic state (including both the electron states given by (a) and the
nucleus), how many energy levels are there due to the hyperne splitting?
17
(a). First we know that the 1s
2
2s
2
2p
4
state is equivalent to 4 p electrons and we can treat this problem
as 2 p holes.
l
1
= l
2
= 1 s
1
= s
2
=
1
2
so
l

= l
1
+l
2
=
_

_
2 l
1
+l
2
1
0 l
1
l
2
s

= s
1
+s
2
=
_
1 s
1
+s
2
0 s
1
s
2
j

= s

+l

The rst thing we need to know is, how many possible states are there? Since we know that these are
equivalent electrons we can put the rst electron in any of the 6 states allowed in the P shell and the
second electron can only go into any of the 5 other states. thus the number of possible states is
65 = 30 possible states
this is not total correct due to the Pauli Exclusion Principle and the fact that these are indistinguishable
particles, and we nd that the total number of allowed states are given by
30
2!
= 15 allowed states
we know
s
1
= s
2
=
1
2
l
1
= l
2
= 1
s

= s
1
s
2
=
_
1 symmetric
0 anti-symmetric
l

= l
1
l
2
=
_

_
2 symmetric
1 anti-symmetric
0 symmetric
[Note: the maximum value of s

, l

have symmetric wave functions]

we want an overall anti-symmetric wave function, so this means that when the spin is symmetric we
can only have an angular momentum that is anti-symmetric etc. so
s

= 1 l

= 1 s

= 0 l

= 2, 0
The over-all table is given as this, but we will only look at the allowed states
s

j
2s

+1
L
j
m

j
=(2 j

+1)
0 0 0
1
S
0
1
1 0 1
3
S
1
3
1 1 2,1,0
3
P
2,1,0
9
0 1 1
1
P
1
3
1 2 3,2,1
3
D
3,2,1
15
0 2 2
1
D
2
5
18
and the number of allowed states is given by
1
S
0,
3
P
2,1,0
.
1
D
2
total number of states is 15
(b). What is the ground state of oxygen?
To nd the ground state, we must use Hunds rules.
1. Maximize s

2. Maximize l

3. if shell is > 1/2 full then j

= l

+s

,if shell is < 1/2 full then j

= l

. We know that our shell is

more than half lled and we must use the former equation for j

.
These are simple to apply now that we know what the allowed states are
1
S
0,
3
P
2,1,0
.
1
D
2
l

max
= 1 s

max
= 1
a representation of this is given by
m
l
m
s
1 0 -1
+
1
2

1
2
and so
j

max
= l

+s

= 2
so the ground state of oxygen is
3
P
2
(c). For each possible overall atomic state (including both the electron states given by (a) and the
nucleus), how many energy levels are there due to the hyperne splitting?
First we know that
E
hf

I

J

I =
1
2
[F
2
I
2
J
2
] where

F =

I +

S
and

I =
1
2
[F
2
I
2
J
2
] =

2
2
[ f ( f +1) i(i +1) j( j +1)]
[Note: # of E
hf
levels is the # of f values].
Now
i =
5
2
j =
_

_
2
1
0
f =
_

_
9
2
,
7
2
,
5
2
,
3
2
7
2
,
5
2
,
3
2
5
2
19
so when
j = 2 the hyperne interaction breaks this into 5 levels
j = 1 the hyperne interaction breaks this into 3 levels
j = 0 the hyperne interaction does not split the levels
so in summary
1
S
0
has 1 hyperne level
3
P
0
has 1 hyperne level
3
P
1
has 3 hyperne level
3
P
2
has 5 hyperne level
1
D
2
has 5 hyperne level
Problem # 2
A hydrogen atom in the n = 3 state
(a). Construct a table displaying in columns all possible sets of values for the quantum numbers
l, m
l
, m
s
, j and m
j
(b). If we include the effects of the proton spin, what are the possible values of ( f , m
f
)?
(a). Our values are given as
l = n1 =
_

_
2
1
0
for l = 2 m
l
=
_

_
2
1
0
1
2
for l = 1 m
l
=
_

_
1
0
1
for l = 0 m
l
= 0 m
s
=
1
2
s =
1
2
Since we are adding s =
1
2
to l, we have j values of l 1/2 for l = 0 and j = 1/2 for l =0. In all cases,
the z-component is conserved: m
s
+m
l
= m
j
. In cases where m
j
= (l +s), only j = l +s is possible.
The table is given as
l m
l
m
s
j m
j
2 2 1/2 5/2 5/2
2 2 -1/2 5/2,3/2 3/2
2 1 1/2 5/2,3/2 3/2
2 1 -1/2 5/2,3/2 1/2
2 0 1/2 5/2,3/2 1/2
2 0 -1/2 5/2,3/2 -1/2
2 -1 1/2 5/2,3/2 -1/2
2 -1 -1/2 5/2,3/2 -3/2
2 -2 1/2 5/2,3/2 -3/2
2 -2 -1/2 5/2 -5/2
1 1 1/2 3/2 3/2
1 1 -1/2 3/2,1/2 1/2
1 0 1/2 3/2,1/2 1/2
1 0 -1/2 3/2,1/2 -1/2
1 -1 1/2 3/2,1/2 -1/2
1 -1 -1/2 3/2 -3/2
0 0 1/2 1/2 1/2
0 0 -1/2 1/2 -1/2
20
(b). If we include the effects of the proton spin, what are the possible values of ( f , m
f
)?
The total angular momentum, F is the sum of the electrons total angular momentumJ and the protons
spin. Since s
p
=1/2and j ranges from1/2 to 5/2, the possible values for f are 5/21/2=3,2; 3/21/2=2,1:
and 1/21/2=1,0. The possible values of m
f
for a given f are f , f 1, ..., f , so the possible values of
( f , m
f
) are
f m
f
3 3,2,1,0,-1,-2,-3
2 2,1,0,-1,-2
1 1,0,-1
0 0
Problem # 3
Find all spectral terms , and idenfy the ground state conguration for the following unlled subshells.
Check that the total number of states agrees with the expected degeneracy.
(a). nd
1
n

d
1
[with n = n

]
(b). p
1
d
2
(c). p
4
(a). Here, the two electrons are inequivalent (different n), so there is no exclusion principle to worry
about. The possible spin states are S = 0, 1, since we are adding two spin 1/2 particles, and the possible
orbital angular momentum states are L = 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. Any combination of these is possible, so we have.
s

j
2s

+1
L
j
m

j
=(2 j

+1)
0 0 0
1
S
0
1
0 1 1
1
P
1
3
0 2 2,1,0
1
D
2
5
0 3 3
1
F
3
7
0 4 4,2,1
1
G
4
9
1 0 1
3
S
1
3
1 1 2,1,0
3
P
2,1,0
9
1 2 3,2,1
3
D
3,2,1
15
1 3 4,3,2
1
F
4,3,2
21
1 4 5,4,3
3
G
5,4,3
27
If we sum all of the degenaries, we nd a total of 100 states. Since there are 10 available states for
each electron, the expected number of states is 10
2
=100, which agrees. Using Hunds rules, we maximize
S 1, L 4, and minimize J |LS| = 3to get a term of
3
G
3
.
(b). This case is similar in that we are again dealing with inequivalent electrons. Again the possible
spin states are S = 0, 1, but the possible orbital angular momentum states are L = 3, 2, 1 since one of the
electrons now has l = 1. Constructing a similar table we have
s

j
2s

+1
L
j
m

j
=(2 j

+1)
0 1 1
1
P
1
3
0 2 2,1,0
1
D
2
5
0 3 3
1
F
3
7
1 1 2,1,0
3
P
2,1,0
9
1 2 3,2,1
3
D
3,2,1
15
1 3 4,3,2
1
F
4,3,2
21
21
The total number of states is now 60, which agrees with our expectation of 6[p]x10[d]=60. For the
ground state, we maximize S 1, which then requires L 3, and since the subshell is less than half-full,
minimize J 2, giving
3
F
2
.
(c). We nowhave four electrons, but we can treat this as two holes. The possible spin congurations are
, as usual, a symmetric S = 1 triplet and an anti-symmetric S = 0 singlet. The possible angular momentum
states are L = 2, 1, 0. Which alternate symmetry: 2 and 0 are symmetric, 1 is anti-symmetric. Since
we are dealing with fermions, we must have over-all anti-symmetric wavefunctions, so we combine spin
symmetric states with anti-symmetric orbital angular momentum states and anti-symmetric spin states
with symmetric orbital angular momentum states.
The rst thing we need to know is, how many possible states are there? Since we know that these are
equivalent electrons we can put the rst electron in any of the 6 states allowed in the P shell and the
second electron can only go into any of the 5 other states. thus the number of possible states is
65 = 30 possible states
this is not total correct due to the Pauli Exclusion Principle and the fact that these are indistinguishable
particles, and we nd that the total number of allowed states are given by
30
2!
= 15 allowed states
we know
s
1
= s
2
=
1
2
l
1
= l
2
= 1
s

= s
1
s
2
=
_
1 symmetric
0 anti-symmetric
l

= l
1
l
2
=
_

_
2 symmetric
1 anti-symmetric
0 symmetric
[Note: the maximum value of s

, l

have symmetric wave functions]

we want an overall anti-symmetric wave function, so this means that when the spin is symmetric we
can only have an angular momentum that is anti-symmetric etc. so
s

= 1 l

= 1 s

= 0 l

= 2, 0
The over-all table is given as this, but we will only look at the allowed states
s

j
2s

+1
L
j
m

j
=(2 j

+1)
0 0 0
1
S
0
1
1 1 2,1,0
3
P
2,1,0
9
0 2 2
1
D
2
5
and the number of allowed states is given by
1
S
0,
3
P
2,1,0
.
1
D
2
total number of states is 15
22
This gives us 15 states, which agrees with our expectations: six places to put the rst electron, ve
to put the second, and division by two to avoid double counting gives us 15 states. For the ground state,
we maximize S 1, which then requires L 1, and since the subshell is more than half-full, maximize
J 2, giving
3
P
2
.
Problem # 4
A beam of hydrogen atoms, emitted from an oven 400 K, passes through a Stern-Gerlach magnet of
length 1 m. The magnetic eld gradient is 10 tesla/m.
Calculate the seperation of the two beams as they emerge from the magnet.
The energy of the electron is dened as
E =
1
2
mv
2
= 2k
B
T
we also know that the potential and the force are dened as that the atom is experiencing are
U =

B and F =

U =

B
therefore the force in the z direction is given by
F
z
=
z
B
z
where
z
=g
s
eS
z
2m
we know that g
s
2 for our case. We nd that the force in the z direction is
F
z
=
e
2m
B
z
to nd the z we have to use the classical kinematic equations.
F
z
= m
e
a
z
a
z
=
F
z
m
z
=
e
2m
2
e
B
z
we also know that
z
2
= z
0
+V
0,z
t +
1
2
a
z
t
2
z
0
= 0 V
0,z
= 0
therefore
z = a
z
t
2
we know that
a
z
=
e
2m
2
e
B
z
and t =
_
m
e
4k
b
T
thus
z =
e
m
e
8k
b
T
B
z
= 4.2110
3
m
Problem # 5
23
For the hydrogen atom, the quantum number j can take only the values 1/2, 3/2, 5/2, ..., depending on
the value of l.
Obtain the matrices J
2
, J
z
, J
+
, J

, J
y
for l = 0, 1
if l = 0 then m
l
= 0 and m
j
= m
l
+m
s
=
1
2
. The number of matrix elements is described by 2 j +1,
where j = l +s and s =
1
2
, therefore j =
1
2
and the number of matrix elements for l = 0 is 2.
for J
2
we nd
j

, m

j
|J
2
| j, m
j
= j( j +1)
2

j
m
j
therefore we know that m
j
= (1/2, 1/2) and m

j
= (1/2, 1/2) , so we nd
J
2
=
3
4

2
_
1 0
0 1
_
for J
z
we nd
j

, m

j
|J
z
| j, m
j
= m
j

j
m
j
where m
j
= (1/2, 1/2) and m

j
= (1/2, 1/2), so we nd
J
z
=
1
2

_
1 0
0 1
_
to nd J
+
, J

we need to use
j

, m

j
|J

| j, m
j
=
_
j( j +1) m
j
(m
j
1)
j

j
m
j
+1
to nd J
+
we use m
j
=
1
2
because we are using the raising operator. Using
j

, m

j
|J

| j, m
j
=
_
j( j +1) m
j
(m
j
+1)
j

j
m
j
+1
where m
j
= (1/2, 1/2) and m

j
= (1/2, 1/2), we nd
J
+
=
_
0 1
0 0
_
and J

is just the transpose of J

+
which yields
J

=
_
0 0
1 0
_
and nally J
y
is found by using
24
J
y
=
_
1
2i
_
(J
+
J

) =

2i
__
0 1
0 0
_

_
0 0
1 0
__
therefore
J
y
=

2
_
0 i
i 0
_
and also
J
x
=
_
1
2
_
(J
+
+J

) =

2
__
0 1
0 0
_
+
_
0 0
1 0
__
therefore
J
x
=

2
_
0 1
1 0
_
now if l = 1 then m
l
= 1, 0, 1 and m
j
= m
l
+m
s
=
3
2
,
1
2
,
1
2
,
3
2
. The number of matrix elements is
described by 2 j +1, where j = l s and s =
1
2
, therefore j =
3
2
,
1
2
and the number of matrix elements for
l = 1 is 6., 2 for the case where j =
1
2
and 4 for the case where j =
3
2
. We have already done the case
where j =
1
2
so we can just add these matrix to the 4x4 matrix.
for J
2
we nd
j

, m

j
|J
2
| j, m
j
= j( j +1)
2

j
m
j
therefore we knowthat m
j
= (1/2, 1/2, 3/2, 1/2, 1/2, 3/2) and m

j
= (1/2, 1/2, 3/2, 1/2, 1/2, 3/2)
, so we nd
J
2
=
1
4

2
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
3 0 0 0 0 0
0 3 0 0 0 0
0 0 15 0 0 0
0 0 0 15 0 0
0 0 0 0 15 0
0 0 0 0 0 15
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
for J
z
we nd
j

, m

j
|J
z
| j, m
j
= m
j

j
m
j
where
J
z
=
1
2

_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
1 0 0 0 0 0
0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 3 0 0 0
0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0 3
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
to nd J
+
, J

we need to use
25
j

, m

j
|J

| j, m
j
=
_
j( j +1) m
j
(m
j
+1)
j

j
m
j
+1
where j =1/2, 3/2 and m
j
= (1/2, 1/2, 3/2, 1/2, 1/2, 3/2) and m

j
= (1/2, 1/2, 3/2, 1/2, 1/2, 3/2).
For J
+
we nd
J
+
=
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0

3 0 0
0 0 0 0 2 0
0 0 0 0 0

3
0 0 0 0 0 0
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
and J

is just the transpose of J

+
which yields
J

=
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
0 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0

3 0 0 0
0 0 0 2 0 0
0 0 0 0

3 0
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
and nally J
y
is found by using
J
y
=
_
1
2i
_
(J
+
J

) =

2i
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_

_
0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0

3 0 0
0 0 0 0 2 0
0 0 0 0 0

3
0 0 0 0 0 0
_

_
0 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0

3 0 0 0
0 0 0 2 0 0
0 0 0 0

3 0
_

_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
therefore
J
y
=

2
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
0 i 0 0 0 0
i 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 i

3 0 0
0 0

3 0 2i 0
0 0 0 2i 0 i

3
0 0 0 0 i

3 0
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
and also
J
x
=
_
1
2
_
(J
+
+J

) =

2
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_

_
0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0

3 0 0
0 0 0 0 2 0
0 0 0 0 0

3
0 0 0 0 0 0
_

_
+
_

_
0 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0

3 0 0 0
0 0 0 2 0 0
0 0 0 0

3 0
_

_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
26
therefore
J
x
=

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

3 0 0
0 0

3 0 2 0
0 0 0 2 0

3
0 0 0 0

3 0
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
Problem # 6
Write down all the possible eigenkets | j, m
j
corresponding to the case l = 3 , s = 1/2
if l =3 and s =1/2 then j =l s =7/2, 5/2 and m
l
=3, 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 3 and m
s
= 1/2. Therefore
if j = 7/2 we nd m
j
= m
l
+m
s
= 7/2, 5/2, 3/2, 1/2, 1/2, 3/2, 5/2, 7/2 . If j = 1/2 then m
j
=
m
l
+m
s
=5/2, 3/2, 1/2, 1/2, 3/2, 5/2
therefore for j = 7/2 we nd all the eigenkets to be
| j, m
j
=
_

7
2
,
7
2
_
,

7
2
,
5
2
_
,

7
2
,
3
2
_
,

7
2
,
1
2
_
,

7
2
,
1
2
_
,

7
2
,
3
2
_
,

7
2
,
5
2
_
,

7
2
,
5
2
__
and for j = 5/2 we nd all the eigenkets to be
| j, m
j
=
_

5
2
,
5
2
_
,

5
2
,
3
2
_
,

5
2
,
1
2
_
,

5
2
,
1
2
_
,

5
2
,
3
2
_
,

5
2
,
5
2
__
Suppose now that the spin-orbit coupling is turned off so that m
l
and m
s
become good quantum num-
bers. For each of the eigenkets | j, m
j
just obtained, write down the corresponding eigenkets |m
l
, m
s

7
2
,
7
2
_
=

3,
1
2
_

7
2
,
5
2
_
=

3,
1
2
_
,

2,
1
2
_

7
2
,
3
2
_
=

2,
1
2
_
,

1,
1
2
_

7
2
,
1
2
_
=

1,
1
2
_
,

0,
1
2
_

5
2
,
5
2
_
=

3,
1
2
_
,

2,
1
2
_

5
2
,
3
2
_
=

2,
1
2
_
,

1,
1
2
_

5
2
,
1
2
_
=

1,
1
2
_
,

0,
1
2
_
Problem # 7
27
The relativistic correction to the ground state energy of the hydrogen atom can be found using a Hamil-
tonian of the form H

=p
4
/8m
3
0
c
2
, where p is the electron momentum and m
0
is the electron rest mass.
Calculate the energy correction using rst-order pertubation theory. [Hint: |p
4
| =p
2
|p
2
, since
p
2
is Hermitian.
E
1
0
=
100
|H

|
100

and p
2
and the ground state wave function is
p
2
=
2

2
and
100
=
1

a
3
e
r/a
a =
4
0

2
me
2

e
2
4
0
c
(14)
therefore
E
1
0
=
100
|H

|
100
=

2
8m
3
0
c
2

100
|
2

100

and

100
=
1
r
2

r
_
r
2

r
_
e
r/a
= e
r/a
_
1
a
2

2
ar
_
I left out the constant that comes along with
100
because it is not needed in the last calculation. So
we nd
E
1
0
=

4
8m
3
0
c
2

_
1
a
2

2
ar
_
2

100
|
100
if we let =

4
8m
3
0
c
2
thus
E
1
0
=

a
3
Z
2
0
d
Z

0
sind
Z

0
r
2
e
2r/a
_
1
a
2

2
ar
_
2
dr and
Z
2
0
d
Z

0
sind = 4
=

a
3
4
Z

0
r
2
e
2r/a
_
1
a
4
+
4
r
2
a
2

4
ra
3
_
dr
=
4
a
3
Z

0
r
2
e
2r/a
_
1
a
4
+
4
r
2
a
2

4
ra
3
_
dr
=
4
a
7
Z

0
r
2
e
2r/a
dr +
16
a
5
Z

0
e
2r/a
dr
16
a
6
Z

0
re
2r/a
dr
Using
Z

0
= x
n
e
x/a
dx = n! a
n+1
we nd the rst-order purtubation to be
28
E
1
0
=
4
a
7
_
2!
_
a
3
8
__
+
16
a
5
_
a
2
_

16
a
6
_
a
2
4
_
=
5
a
4
E
1
0
=
5
8

4
m
3
0
c
2
a
4
=
5
4
_

m
2
2
_
e
2
4
0
_
2
_
_
e
2
4
0
c
_
2
=
5
4
|E
1
|
2
Identical particles
There are two types of particles, bosons and fermions. Bosons have symmetric wave functions under
particle exchange and fermions have anti-symmetric wave functions under particle exchange
|
S
=
1

2
_
|

(1)|

(2) +|

(1)|

(2)

|
A
=
1

2
_
|

(1)|

(2) |

(1)|

(2)

|
T
= |

(1)|

(2) or |
T
= |

(1)|

(2)
The Slater determinent is given by
1

N!
_
_

a
(1)
a
(2)
a
(3)

b
(1)
b
(2)
b
(3)

c
(1)
c
(2)
c
(3)
_
_
where the total # of possible terms is given by N!.
The Pauli Exclusion Principle says that you can never have two identical fermions occupy the same
state.
Problem # 8
Consider a 1-D simple harmonic. Use pertubation theory to calculate the shift in the ground state
energy introduce if one uses the relativistic expression (correct to rst order) for the kinetic energy. [Use
the same trick as for the hydrogen atom!]
We know that the ground state wavefunction for the 1-D simple harmonic oscillator is given by

0
=
_
m

_
1/4
e

m
2
x
2
we also know that the rst order relativistic correction in terms of the kinetic energy is
H

r
=
p
4
8m
3
c
2
and p
2
=
2

2
29
thus the rst order correction to the ground state wavefunction is given by
E
1
0
=
0
|H

|
0
=

4
8m
3
c
2

0
|
2

where

0
=
_
m

_
1/4

2
x
2
(e

m
2
x
2
) =
_
m

_
1/4
_
m

_
e

m
2
x
2
_
m

x
2
1
_
so we nd
E
1
0
=

4
8m
3
c
2
_
m

_
2

_
m

x
2
1
_
2

0
|
0

=

4
8m
3
c
2
_
m

_
2
_
m

_
1/2
_
2
Z

0
_
_
m

_
2
x
4
2
m

x
2
_
e

x
2
dx +
Z

x
2
dx
_
=

2
m
2

2
8m
3
c
2
_
m

_
1/2

_
3
4
m
2

2
_

m
_
5/2

_

m
_
3/2
+
_

m
_
1/2
_
=

2
8mc
2
_
m

_
1/2
_
3
4
_

m
_
1/2

_

m
_
1/2
+
_

m
_
1/2
_
E
1
0
=
3
32

2
mc
2
Problem # 9
Calculate the wavelength, in centimeters, of the photon emitted under a hyperne transition in the
ground state (n = 1) of deuterium . Deuterium is heavy hydrogen, with an extra neutron in the nucleus.
The proton and neutron bindtogether to form a deuteron, with spin 1 and magnetic moment
d
=
g
d
e
2m
d
S
d
;
the deuteron g-factor g
d
= 1.71. [Hint: This is intended to be a very short problem-just scale down from
hydrogen with appropriate g-factors and masses.]
we know

d
=
g
d
e
2m
d
S
d
and g
d
= 1.71
and the wavelength of the emmited photon under a hyperne splitting is given as

d
=
hc
E
d
and
d
=
E
h
E
d

h
E
h
=

0
g
p
e
2
3m
p
m
e
a
3

h
= 21 cm
to nd the hyperne splitting for the deuteron we use
E
1
hf
=

0
g
d
e
2
3m
d
m
e
a
3
S
d
S
e

but we know
30
S
d
S
e
=
1
2
(S
2
S
2
e
S
2
d
) S
2
n
=
2
s
n
(s
n
+1)
we have two special cases
S
2
=
_
3
4

2
when s =
1
2
15
4

2
when s =
1
2
S
2
e
=
3
4

2
S
2
d
= 2
2
and so we nd
E
1
hf
=

0
g
d
e
2

2
3m
d
m
e
a
3
_
1 (singlet)
+
1
2
(triplet)
therefore
E
d
=

0
g
d
e
2

2
2m
d
m
e
a
3
therefore the wavelength of the emmited photon is

d
=
2g
p
m
d
3g
d
m
p

h
=
2(2)(5.91)
3(1.71)

h
= 4.36(21 cm) = 91.53 cm
Problem # 10
Find all the spectral terms of the states that arise from the Russell-Saunders coupling of 3 inequivalent
p electrons.
We know that for three inequivalent electrons in a p state we have
_

_
l
1
= 1
l
2
= 1
l
3
= 1
s

1
= s

2
= s

3
=
1
2
we also know that the number of possible states is given by
(2l
1
+1)(2s
1
+1) (2l
1
+1)(2s
1
+1) (2l
1
+1)(2s
1
+1) = 216 states
and also
s

= s

1
+s

2
=
_
0
1
+s

3
=
_
1
2
2
3
2
1
l

= l
1
+l
2
=
_

_
2
1
0
+l
3
=
_

_
3
2 2
1 3
0
The n notation is simply the multiplicity of the given value, also
S, P, D, F, ... = (l = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, ...) respectivily
31
and the table is given by
s

j
2s

+1
L
j
m

j
3/2 3 9/2,7/2,5/2,3/2
4
F
9/2,7/2,5/2,3/2
281
3/2 2 7/2,5/2,3/2,1/2
4
D
7/2,5/2,3/2,1/2
202
3/2 1 5/2,3/2,1/2
4
P
5/2,3/2,1/2
123
3/2 0 3/2
4
S
3/2
41
1/2 3 7/2,5/2
2
F
7/2,5/2
142
1/2 2 5/2,3/2
2
D
5/2,3/2
104
1/2 1 3/2,1/2
2
P
3/2,1/2
66
1/2 0 1/2
2
S
1/2
22
and when we add all the possible number of states we nd a total of 216 possible states.
Problem # 11
Find all the spectral terms allowed by the Pauli Exclusion Principle that arises from the
Russell-Saunders coupling of 8 equivalent d electrons. [Note: This is not as bad as it may seem! The
allowed states for holes (i.e. missing electrons) are precisely those for electrons. Thus, the spectral
terms are just those for 2 equivalent d electrons]
The rst thing we need to know is, how many possible states are there? Since we know that these are
equivalent electrons we can put the rst electron in any of the 10 states allowed in the D shell and the
second electron can only go into any of the 9 other states. thus the number of possible states is
910 = 90 possible states
this is not total correct due to the Pauli Exclusion Principle and the fact that these are indistinguishable
particles, and we nd that the total number of allowed states are given by
90
2!
= 45 allowed states
we know
s
1
= s
2
=
1
2
l
1
= l
2
= 2
s

= s
1
s
2
=
_
1 symmetric
0 anti-symmetric
l

= l
1
l
2
=
_

_
4 symmetric
3 anti-symmetric
2 symmetric
1 anti-symmetric
0 symmetric
[Note: the maximum value of s

, l

have symmetric wave functions]

we want an overall anti-symmetric wave function, so this means that when the spin is symmetric we
can only have an angular momentum that is anti-symmetric etc. so
32
s

= 1 l

= 3, 1 s

= 0 l

= 4, 2, 0
and the table is given by
s

j
2s

+1
L
j
m

j
1 3 4,3,2
3
F
4,3,2
21
1 1 2,1,0
3
P
2,1,0
9
0 4 4
1
G
4
9
0 2 2
1
D
2
5
0 0 0
1
S
0
1
and we nd a total of 45 possible states
Problem # 12
The rare earth elements Nd, Gd, Ho may each be triply ionized to form Nd
+++
, Gd
+++
, and Ho
+++
.
The congurations for these ions are
Nd
+++
4f
3
5s
2
p
6
Gd
+++
4f
7
5s
2
p
6
Ho
+++
4f
10
5s
2
p
6
thus, the 5sp subshells are full, and all the action arises from the 4f subshells.
Hunds rules are given as
1. Full shells and subshells do not contribute to total S, the total spin angular momentum and L, the
total orbital angular momentum quantum numbers.
2. The term with maximum multiplicity (maximum S) has the lowest energy level.
3. For a given multiplicity, the term with the largest value of L has the lowest energy.
4. For atoms with less then half-lled shells, the level with the lowest value of J lies lowest in energy.
Otherwise, if the outermost shell is more than half-lled, the term with the highest value of J is the
one with the lowest energy.
(i). Use Hunds rules to obtain the spectral terms for each ion in the ground state.
for Nd
+++
we nd
m
l
m
s
3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3
+
1
2

1
2
33
therefore
maximum S

=
3
2
maximum L

= 6
and since this shell is less than half-lled we nd the lowest value of J

minimumJ

= |L

| =
9
2
therefore the spectral term is given by
4
I
9/2
for Gd
+++
we nd
m
l
m
s
3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3
+
1
2

1
2
therefore
maximum S

=
7
2
maximum L

= 0
and since this shell is half-lled we nd J

to be
J

= S

=
7
2
therefore the spectral term is given by
8
S
7/2
for Ho
+++
we nd
m
l
m
s
3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3
+
1
2

1
2

therefore
maximum S

= 2
maximum L

= 6
34
and since this shell is more than half-lled we nd the highest value of J

maximum J

= |L

+S

| = 8
therefore the spectral term is given by
5
I
8
(ii). Calculate the g-values and effective magnetic moments for these ions
The g-values and effective magnetic moments are given by
g =
_
1+
j( j +1) +s(s +1) l(l +1)
2 j( j +1)
_
and
i
=g
B
_
j( j +1)
B
=
e
2m
for Nd
+++
we nd
s =
3
2
l = 6 j =
9
2
so we nd
g =
_
1+
9
2
(
11
2
) +
3
2
(
5
2
) 6(7)
2
9
2
(
11
2
)
_
=
8
11

i
=
6
11
e
m

11
for Gd
+++
we nd
s =
7
2
l = 0 j =
7
2
so we nd
g =
_
1+
7
2
(
7
2
) +
7
2
(
7
2
)
2
7
2
(
7
2
)
_
= 2
i
=
3
2
e
m

7
for Ho
+++
we nd
s = 2 l = 6 j = 8
so we nd
g =
_
1+
72+642
144
_
=
5
4

i
=
15
4
e
m

2
Problem # 13
In an atom with LS coupling, the relative seperations between adjacent energy levels of a particular
multiplet are 4:3:2:1. Assign the quantum numbers s

, l

, j

. Repeat for 7:5:3.

35
to nd the quantum numbers we must use the Lande equation
E = 2k( j +1)
so for the rst problem (Figure a) we must use
E
2
= 2E
1
2k( j +2) = 4k( j +1)
j
min
= 0
therefore
j
max
= 4 j
min
= 0
thus
j
max
= l +s = 4
j
min
= |l s| = 0
and we nd
j

= 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 l

= 2 s

= 2
so for the second problem (Figure b) we must use
E
2
=
5
3
E
1
2k( j +2) =
10
3
k( j +1)
j
min
=
1
2
therefore
36
j
max
=
7
2
j
min
=
1
2
thus
j
max
= l +s =
7
2
j
min
= |l s| =
1
2
and we nd
j

=
7
2
,
5
2
,
3
2
,
1
2
l

= 2 s

=
3
2
Problem # 14
Consider a single d electron (l = 2). Calculate the allowed values of l, j, m
j
and g, presenting your
results in a table. Draw a diagram showing the energy levels for a single d electron and a single p electron
(of lower energy) in a weak magnetic eld. Draw arrows to indicate all the allowed electronic dipole
transitions. Label the various levels in terms of m
j
and the transitions in terms of m
j
. [Relavent selection
rules: l = 1, j = 0, 1, m
j
= 0, 1]
We know that
j = |l s| thus l = 2 s =
1
2
j =
5
2
,
3
2
and the table is given by
l j m
j
g
2
5
2
5
2
6
5
2
5
2
3
2
6
5
2
5
2
1
2
6
5
2
5
2
-
1
2
6
5
2
5
2
-
2
2
6
5
2
5
2
-
5
2
6
5
2
3
2
3
2
4
5
2
3
2
1
2
4
5
2
3
2
-
1
2
4
5
2
3
2
-
3
2
4
5
37
Figure 1: Possible transitions from D to P shells
Problem # 15
Consider a single p electron. Obtain all the possible kets | j, m
j
, in terms of the kets |m
l
, m
s
with the
appropriate Clebsch-Gordan coefcients.
since we are considering an electron in a p shell we know that
l = 1 j =
3
2
,
1
2
and the m
j
values are given as
j =
3
2
m
j
=
3
2
,
1
2
,
1
2
,
3
2
j =
1
2
m
j
=
1
2
,
1
2
and the eigenkets are given as
| j, m
j
= |m
l,
m
s

3
2
,
3
2
_
=

1,
1
2
_

3
2
,
1
2
_
=

1,
1
2
_

0,
1
2
_

1
2
,
1
2
_
=

1,
1
2
_

0,
1
2
_
we will need to use
| j, m
j

=

mj=m
l
+m
s
|m
l
, m
s
m
l
, m
s
| j, m
j

38
where m
l
, m
s
| j, m
j
is the Clebsh-Gordon coefcient, to nd our C-G coefcients. We will also need
to use raising and lowering operators.
J

| j, m
j

=
_
j( j +1) m
j
(m
j
1)| j, m
j
1

|l, m
l

=
_
l(l +1) m
l
(m
l
1)|l, m
l
1

|s, m
s

=
_
s(s +1) m
s
(m
s
1)|s, m
s
1

and we also know that

J

= L

+S

| j, m
j
= L

|l, m
l
+S

|s, m
s

we know that the C-G coefcients for

3
2
,
3
2
_
=

1,
1
2
_
is 1, now for the rest of the eigenkets we nd
J

3
2
,
3
2
_
= L

1,
1
2
_
+S

1,
1
2
_
using the raising and lowering relationships we nd

3
2
,
1
2
_
=

0,
1
2
_
+1

1,
1
2
_
therefore

3
2
,
1
2
_
=
_
2
3

0,
1
2
_
+
1

1,
1
2
_
and next we use
J
+

3
2
,
3
2
_
= L
+

1,
1
2
_
+S
+

1,
1
2
_
we nd

3
2
,
1
2
_
=

0,
1
2
_
+1

1,
1
2
_
therefore

3
2
,
1
2
_
=
_
2
3

0,
1
2
_
+
1

1,
1
2
_
For the other eigenkets we must take into account orthonormality and we can write the remaining
eigenkets as a linear combination of two eigenstates. i.e.
39

1
2
,
1
2
_
=

1,
1
2
_
+

0,
1
2
_

1
2
,
1
2
_
=

1,
1
2
_
+

0,
1
2
_
we can make

1
2
,
1
2
_
orthogonal to

3
2
,
1
2
_
by saying
_
1
2
,
1
2

3
2
,
1
2
_
= 0
thus we nd
_

_
1,
1
2

+
_
0,
1
2

_
_
_
2
3

0,
1
2
_
+
1

1,
1
2
_
_
= 0
_
2
3
1,
1
2
|0,
1
2
+
1

3
0,
1
2
|1,
1
2
+

3
1,
1
2
|1,
1
2
+
_
2
3
0,
1
2
|0,
1
2
= 0
we can see that the rst two 0 due to orthonormality and so

3
=
_
2
3
and we know ||
2
+||
2
= 1
therefore
=
_
2
3
=
1

3
and so we nd

1
2
,
1
2
_
=
_
2
3

1,
1
2
_
+
1

0,
1
2
_
to nd the last C-G coefcients
_
1
2
,
1
2

3
2
,
1
2
_
= 0
thus we nd
_

_
1,
1
2

+
_
0,
1
2

_
_
_
2
3

0,
1
2
_
+
1

1,
1
2
_
_
= 0

3
1,
1
2
| 1,
1
2
+
_
2
3
0,
1
2
|0,
1
2
+
_
2
3
1,
1
2
|0,
1
2
+

3
0,
1
2
|,
1
2
= 0
40
we can see that the last two 0 due to orthonormality and so

3
=
_
2
3
and we know ||
2
+||
2
= 1
therefore
=
_
2
3
=
1

3
and so we nd

1
2
,
1
2
_
=
_
2
3

1,
1
2
_
+
1

0,
1
2
_
Problem # 16
Two particles are conned in a cubical box of sides length a. Determine the lowest energy level (wave
function,energy eigenvalues, degeneracy) for each spin state in the cases where the two particles are
(a). a proton and a neutron
(b). two alpha particles [ an alpha particle is a helium nucleus: two protons and two neutrons]
(c). two neutrons
Chapter 5: WKB Approximation
The WKBmethod is a technique for obtaining approximate solutions to the time-independent Schrodinger
equation in one dimensional (the same basic idea can be applied to many other differential equations, and
to the radial part of the Schrodinger equation in three dimensions). It is particularly useful in calculating
bound state energies and tunneling rates through potential barriers.
The phase change is given by
=
1

Z
x
2
x
1
_
2m[E V(x)]dx =
_
n+
1
2
_

and the tunneling rate can be found using

lnT
n
=
2

Z
x
2
x
1
_
2m[V(x) E]dx
Problems
Problem # 1
A particle of mass m and electric charge q is conned within a one-dimensional well, with
V(x) =
_
V
0
|x| < a/2
0 |x| > a/2
assume that V
0

2
ma
2
, i.e. the well is deep.
41
(a). Using WKB approximation, nd the energy quantization condition for abound state E < 0.
(b). Estimate the number of bound states of the system.
A weak external electric eld
0
(in the x-direction) is applied to the system. Choose the zero of the
electrostatic potential so that ((x = 0) = 0. Assume that V
0
q
0
a.
(c). Now the bound states are no longer stable. Explain why.
(d). Find the barrier penetration factor for the ground state. To leading order, you can assume that the
particle sits at x = 0 with an energy V
0
(a). Using WKB approximation, nd the energy quantization condition for abound state E < 0.
Here we have sharp walls on both sides, so the energy quantization condition is
n =
Z
_
2m(E V(x)dx =
Z
a/2
a/2
_
2m(E +V
0
)dx =
_
2m(E +V
0
)a, n = 1, 2, 3, ...
and solving for the energy we nd
E =V
0
+
1
2
_
n
a
_
2
(b). Estimate the number of bound states of the system.
To estimate the number of bound states, we note that the condition is E < 0, so the highest energy
bound state corresponds to
V
0
+
1
2m
_
n
bound

a
_
2
= 0
solving for n
bound
, we nd
n
bound
=
a

_
2mV
0
(c). Now the bound states are no longer stable. Explain why.
Turning on the electric eld adds a term q
0
x to the potential, which gives it the form (exaggerated,
assumes q > 0). The bound states are no longer bounded from below a trapped particle may reduce its
energy by tunnelling out to x .
(d). Find the barrier penetration factor for the ground state. To leading order, you can assume that the
particle sits at x = 0 with an energy V
0
Since V
0

2
ma
2
, we approximate (as specied) the ground state energy as
E V
0
+
1
2m
_

a
_
2
V
0
The tunneling factor is given by e
2
, where
=
1

Z
x
1
x
0
_
2m(V(x) E)dx
here, the tunneling region begins at x
0
= a/2 and ends at the classical turning points given by
V(x
1
) = E q
0
x
1
=V
0
x
1
=
V
0
q
0
42
we now evaluate
=
1

Z
x
1
x
0
_
2m(q
0
x +V
0
)dx =
1

2
3

2m
q
0
(0(qx
0
+V
0
)
3/2

2m
3q
0
(V
0
)
3/2
where we use V
0
q
0
a in the approximation. Our tunneling probability is then
T exp
_

2m
3q
0
(V
0
)
3/2
_
Problem # 2
A particle is bound in a spherically symmetric logarithmic potential
V(r) =V
0
ln(r/a)
where V
0
and a are constants. If the particle has no angular momentum (l =0) we can treat this a s one
dimensional problem in the radial coordinate. Use WKB approximation to nd the radial energy levels
of the bound states with no angular momentum. Because r varies from 0 , r = 0 acts as an innite
potential barrier in this 1-D problem, so the phase change is given by = (n+
3
4
) instead of (n+
1
2
).
Hint:
Z

0

xe
x
dx =

2
We know that
=
1

Z
r
0
0
_
2m(E V(r))dr =
_
n+
3
4
_
n = 0, 1, 2, ...
=
1

Z
r
0
0
_
2m(E V
0
ln(r/a))dr
The turning point r is given by
E = kE +V(r) kE = 0 E =V
0
ln(r/a) r
0
= e
E/V
0
so we nd
1

Z
r
0
0
_
2m(E V
0
ln(r/a))dr =
1

Z
r
0
0
_
2mV
0
(ln(r
0
/a) ln(r/a))dr
=
1

_
2mV
0
Z
r
0
0
_
ln(r
0
/r)dr
If we let
x = ln(r
0
/r)
r = r
0
e
x
dr = r
0
e
x
dx
so we nd
1

_
2mV
0
Z

0

xe
x
dx =

2mV
0

ae
E/V
0
=
_
n+
3
4
_
pi
43
thus
e
E/V
0
=
2

(n+3/4)
a

2mV
0
and nally
E
n
=V
0
ln
_

a
_
2
mV
0
_
n+
3
4
__
= V
0
ln
_
n+
3
4
_
+V
0
ln
_

a
_
2
mV
0
_
Problem # 3
A pareticle of mass m moves in the potential V(x) = |x|, where is a constant. Use the WKB
approximation to nd the energy levels, E
n
.
the rst thing we know is that
|x| = E thus x =
E

x
1
=
E

x
2
=
E

and we know that the energies can be found using

=
1

Z
x
2
x
1

2m(E V(x))
1/2
dx =
_
n+
1
2
_

thus we know
1

Z
E/
E/

2m(E |x|)
1/2
dx =
_
n+
1
2
_

so we nd
2

Z
E/
0

2m(E x)
1/2
dx
44
if we let
u = E x
du = dx

du

= dx
thus

Z
0
E

2m(u)
1/2
du =
_

2m
3
u
3/2
_
0
E
=
4

2m
3
E
3/2
and so we nd the allowed energies to be
4

2m
3
E
3/2
n
=
_
n+
1
2
_
E
n
=
_
3
4

2m
_
n+
1
2
_

_
2/3
Problem # 4
Use the WKB approximation to nd the allowed energies E
n
of an innite square well with a shelf,
of height V
0
, extending half-way across:
V(x) =
_

_
V
0
, if 0 < x < a/2
0, if a/2 < x < a
otherwise
Express your answer in terms of V
0
and E
0
n
(n)
2
/2ma
2
(the nth allowed energy for the unper-
turbed innite square well, with no shelf). Assume that E
0
1
>V
0
, but do not assume that E
n
V
0
.
45
the allowed energies can be found using
=
1

Z
x
2
x
1

2m(E V(x))
1/2
dx =
_
n+
1
2
_

since we know that n is proportional to n+1/2 we can just write this as

=
1

Z
x
2
x
1

2m(E V(x))
1/2
dx = n
to nd what the integral is we can split it up into to pieces i.e

2m

_
Z
a/2
0
(E V
0
)
1/2
dx +
Z
a
a/2
E
1/2
_
dx =

2m

a
2
_
(E V
0
)
1/2
+E
1/2
_
= n
thus

2m

a
2
_
(E V
0
)
1/2
+E
1/2
_
= n
and so we nd
_
(E V
0
)
1/2
+E
1/2
_
2
= 4
n
2

2
2ma
2
= 4E
0
n
foiling the left side we nd
2E +2
_
E(E V
0
) V
0
= 4E
0
n
if we rearrange this equation and square both sides we nd
(2
_
E(E V
0
)
2
= (4E +V
0
2E)
2
and this simplies to
4E
2
4EV
0
= 16(E
0
n
)
2
+4E
0
n
V
0
8E
0
n
E +4E
0
n
V
0
+V
2
0
4EV
0
8EE
0
n
+4E
2
thus we nd
16EE
0
n
= 16(E
0
n
)
2
+8E
0
n
V
0
+V
2
0
and so we nd
E
n
= E
0
n
+
V
0
2
+
V
2
0
16E
0
n
Problem # 5
In the process known as cold emmision, electrons are drawn from the surface of a room-temperature
metal by an external electric eld . The various energies and potentials are indicated in the gure. The
surface of the metal is the plane x = 0, and the potential for x > 0 (vacuum) is:
V(x) =+E
F
ex
where E
F
is the Fermi level of the electron gas in the metal and is the work function. Use WKB
approximation to show that the transmission coefcient is given by
T = exp
_

4
3

2m

3/2
e
_
Cold emmision is the principle underlying the eld ion microscope.
46
since we know that the transmission coefcient can be found using
T = e

R
x
2
x
1

2m(V(x)E)
1/2
dx
we can write this as
lnT =
2

Z
x
2
x
1

2m(V(x) E)
1/2
dx
and since we know what the potential is, we get

Z
/e
0

2m(+E
F
ex E
F
)
1/2
dx =
2

Z
/e
0

2m(ex)
1/2
dx
if we let
u = ex
du = edx

du
e
= dx
substituting this into the above equation we get
2

2m
e
Z
0

(u)
1/2
du =
_
4

2m
3e
u
3/2
_
0

=
4

2m
3e

3/2
thus we nd the transmission cofcient to be
lnT =
4

2m
3e

3/2
and solving for T we nd
T = exp
_

4
3

2m

3/2
e
_
47
Problem # 6
Use the WKB approximation in the form
Z
r
2
r
1
p(r)dr = (n1/2)
to estimate the bound state energies for hydrogen. Dont forget the centrifugal term in the effective
potential. The following integral may help:
Z
b
a
1
x
_
(x a)(bx)dx =

2
(

a)
2
Note that you recover the Bohr energy levels when n 1 and n 1/2. answer
E
nl

13.6 eV
[n(1/2) +
_
l(l +1)]
2
Chapter 6: Time-Dependent Pertubation Theory
6.1 General Formalism
this is an exact solution but totally useless
i a
k
=

a
n
(t)k|H

|ne
i
kn
t
where
kn
=
1

[E
0
k
E
0
n
]
the problem is that a
k
depends on the time dependence of all a
n
(t). We can nd a
k
by using
a
k
(t) =
1

Z
t
0
H

k j
e
i
k j
t

dt

where H

are the appropriate matrix elements and k is the nal state of the system and j is the initial
state.
6.2 Harmonic Pertubations
The transition probability/unit time to any one of the nal states |k is given by
W =
1
t

k
|a
k
(t)|
2
if we assume many states we can write this as an integral
k

R
(E
k
)dE
k
W =
1
t
Z
a
k
(t)(E
k
)dE
k
where dE
k
= d()
Fermis Golden Rule #1 is given by
W |k|
2
|ii|
1
| j|
2
Fermis Golden Rule #2 is given by
W =
2

|k|| j|
2
(E
k
)
48
6.3 Interaction of Atomic Electron With E-M Radiation
The Hamiltonian for this interaction is given by
H

k j
= e

E
0
k|r| jcost
and the transition rates are given by
W
k j
=
e
2

3
0

2
|k|r| j|
2
(
k j
)
6.4 Selection Rules for Electric Dipole Transitions
The selection rules are as follows
= 1 for x, y, andz axis
m

= 0, 1 0 for the z axis and 1 for the x and y axis

S = 0
The spin cannot ip in an electric dipole interaction.
The polarization of an E-M wave
m

= 0 only if k|z| j = 0
i.e.

E eld is along z-axis, and ,
m

= 1 only if k|x| j =k|y| j = 0

also, the component of

E-eld are out of phase by /2.
The Weak Field Limit:

L Coupling
The quantum numbers n, , j, m
j
can be expressed
|n j m
j
in terms of |n m

m
s

will give us a new set of selection rules

= 1 for x, y, andz
j = 0, 1 (cannot go from 0 0)
m
j
= 0, 1 (not from 0 0 if j = 0)
S = 0
6.5 Spontaneous Emmision: Einstein A and B coefcients
The transmission and absorption rates are given by
R
T
= [A+B()]N
2
transmission rate
R
A
= B()N
1
absorption rate
where N
1
and N
2
are the number of atoms in states 1 and 2. Now we need to nd the A and B
coefcients.
A = B()
_
e
/k
b
T
1
_
=
e
2

3
3c
3

0
|1|r|2|
2
49
6.6 Higher Order Transitions
We have the following pertubation for transitions for an E-M eld given by
H

=eE
0
k|re
ikr
| jcost
and if
k r 1 e
ikr
= 1
we have an electric diploe transition. If the selection rules does not allow this process we say it is
forbidden. But perhaps the process is allowed in higher order transition
k|re
ikr
| j =k|r[1+ik r +
1
2!
(ik r)
2
+..]| j
where the rst order term is simply the electron dipole transition and the second order term is the
electric quadrupole transition which is ~r
2
. In principle you have a very large number of higher order
terms.
6.7 Life Times and Line Widths
Natural Broadening
The transition rate is dened as
R
T
=
1

where is the lifetime

10
9
s electric dipole transitions
10
6
s electric quadrupole transition
The uncertanty principle say
E E

this means that the emitted photon is not sharp but is spread out
has a width
1

Collision
The path length is given by
l =
1
4n
where is the cross-sectional area of the gas and n is the number density of the gas. The time between
collisions is thus given by

c
=
l
v
v is the average velocity
and the rate is given by
R
T
=
1

c
The equipartition theorem states
| v| =
_
3
2
k
b
T
where k
b
is the Boltzman constant and T is the temperature.
50
Problems
Problem # 1
An innite one-dimensional square well [V=0, for |x|
a
2
, V= elsewhere] contains a particle of mass
m in the ground state. At time t =0 a pertubation H

=A(x) is turned on: (x) is the Dirac delta function.
Calculate the initial rate of transition into the rst (n=2) and (n=3) excited states using time dependent
pertubation theory.
[NOTE: Find coefcients a
2
(t) and a
3
(t) using the integral expressions we derived in class and appro-
priate matrix elements. Look carefulle at the parity of the two matrix elements before evaluating them!
Initial means t 1, where is the relavent energy differece.
We are given
H

= A(x) E =
and the wave functions for the one-dimensional innite square well are given by

odd
=
_
2
a
sin
_
nx
a
_

even
=
_
2
a
cos
_
nx
a
_
The integral expression derived in class is given by
a
k
(t) =
i

Z
t
0
H

k j
e
i
k j
t

dt

k j
=
1

_
E
0
k
E
0
n

where k is the nal state of the system and j is the initial state.
We need to nd the matrix elements H

k j
. (we also know that n = 1 is an even wave function and n =2
is an odd wavefunction)
For the n : 1 2 we nd
H

21
=2|A(x)|1 =
2A
a
Z
a/2
a/2
cos
_
x
a
_
sin
_
2x
a
_
(x)dx =
2A
a
cos(0) sin(0) = 0
thus we know that
a
2
(t) =
i

Z
t
0
H

21
e
i
21
t

dt

= 0
For the n : 1 3 we nd
H

31
=3|A(x)|1 =
2A
a
Z
a/2
a/2
cos
_
x
a
_
cos
_
3x
a
_
(x)dx =
2A
a
cos(0) cos(0) =
2A
a
we know what
31
is

31
=
1

_
E
0
3
E
0
1

=
4
2

ma
2
we will need to use the following identity for the next part
2i sin(
31
t/2) = e
i
31
t/2
e
i
31
t/2
we nd the coefcient to be
51
a
3
(t) =
i

Z
t
0
H

31
e
i
31
t

dt

=
2Ai
a
Z
t
0
e
i
31
t

dt

=
2A
a
_
e
i
31
t
1

31
t
_
t
=
2A
a
e
i
31
t/2
_
e
i
31
t/2
e
i
31
t/2

31
t
_
t =
2A
a
e
it/2
_
i sin(
31
t/2)

31
t/2
_
t
so we get
a
3
(t) =
2A
a
e
i
31
t/2
_
i sin(
31
t/2)

31
t/2
_
t
The rate of transition is given by
|a
3
(t)|
2
t
=
_
2A
a
t
_
2
_
sin(
31
t/2)

31
t/2
_
2
since
31
t 1
sin(
31
t/2)

31
t/2
1
we get
|a
3
(t)|
2
t
=
4A
2

2
a
2
t
Problem # 2
A hydrogen atom in its ground state is placed between the parallel plates of a capacitor. The z-axis
of the atom in perpendicular to the capacitor plates. At time t = 0, a uniform electric eld =
0
e
t/
is
applied to the atom. The perturbing Hamiltonian is thus
H

=er
0
e
t/
=ez
0
e
t/
and since z is given by z = r cos()
we nd the Hamiltonian to be
H

=er cos()
0
e
t/
and the three hydrogen wave functions needed for this problem are given as

100
=
1
_
a
3
0
e
r/a
0

200
=
1

2a
0
1
2a
0
_
1
r
2a
0
_
e
r/2a
0

210
=
1

2
1
4a
5/2
0
cos()e
r/2a
0
(a) Show that the electron has zero probability of being excited into the 2s state
nlm
=
200
what we are looking for is |a
200
(t)|
2
so we must use the formula
a
200
(t) =
i

Z
t
0
H

k j
e
i
k j
t

dt

where
H

200,100
= 200| er cos()
0
e
t/
|100 =e
0
e
t/
200|r cos()|100
=
e
0
e
t/

8a
3
0
Z
2
0
d
Z

0
cos()sin()d
Z

0
r
3
_
1
r
2a
0
_
e
3r/2a
0
dr
52
but since we know that
Z

0
cos()sin()d = 0
causes
H

200,100
= 0
and thus
a
200
(t) =
i

Z
t
0
H

k j
e
i
k j
t

dt

= 0
and if you square this number, you still get 0 thus the probability of this transition happening is nill.
(b) Show that after time t , the probability that the atom is in the 2p state
nlm
=
210
is
|a
210
(t)|
2
=
2
15
3
10
e
2

2
0
a
2
0

2
(
2
+1/
2
)
we must rst nd the matrix element H

210,100
which is given by
H

210,100
= 210| er cos()
0
e
t/
|100 =e
0
e
t/
210|r cos()|100
=
e
0
e
t/

8a
4
0
Z
2
0
d
Z

0
cos
2
()sin()d
Z

0
r
4
e
3r/2a
0
dr
and so we nd the integrals to be
Z
2
0
d
Z

0
cos
2
()sin()d letting u = cos() du =sin()d
thus we nd
Z
2
0
d
Z

0
cos
2
()sin()d = 2
Z
1
1
u
2
du =
4
3
and for the other integral we nd
Z

0
r
4
e
3r/2a
0
dr = 4!
_
2a
0
3
_
5
putting this all together we get
H

210,100
=
e
0
e
t/

8a
4
0
4
3
4!
_
2a
0
3
_
5
=
2
8
a
0
3
5

2
e
0
e
t/
now that we have this solution we can nd the coefcient. Plugging this into the equation derived in
class we nd
a
210
(t) =
i

Z
t
0
H

k j
e
i
k j
t

dt

=
ie
0

a
0

2
2
8
3
5
Z
t
0
e
t

(i1/)
dt

Z
t
0
e
t

(i1/)
dt

=
1
i1/
_
e
t(i1/)
1
_
53
but since we know that
for t e
t(i1/)
0
and so we nd the coefcient to be given as
a
210
(t) =
ie
0

_
a
0

2
_
2
8
3
5
_
1
i1/
_
and the probability is given by
|a
210
(t)|
2
= a
210
(t)a
210
(t)

=
2
15
3
10
e
2

2
0
a
2
0

2
(
2
+1/
2
)
Problem # 3
Consider a particle of charge q and mass m, which is in simple harmonic motion along the x-axis so
that its Hamiltonian is given by
H
0
=
p
2
2m
+
1
2
kx
2
A homogenius electric eld (t) is switched on at t = 0, so that the system is perturbed by the interac-
tion
H

=qx(t)
if (t) has the form
(t) =
0
e
t/
where
0
and are constants, and if the oscillator is in the grounds state for t 0, nd the probability
that it will be found in an excited state as t , to rst order in pertubation theory.
Problem # 4
A hydrogen atom initially (i.e. at t ) in its ground state is exposed to a pulse of ultraviolet light
that can be thought of as a time varying electric eld which points precisely in the z-direction at all times
and whose magnitude is given by
|

E(t)| = E
0
cos(t)e
t
2
/T
2
with E
0
, , and T all constants. The frequency satises
=
8
9
(13.6 eV)
The constant T is large compared to all other timescales in the problem. At t , the atom is, in
general, in some superposition of energy eigenstates. Working to rst order in time-dependent pertubation
theory, what are all the states that could arise in this superposition? (Specify state(s) by their quantum
numbers n, l, and m.)
6.8 Adiabatic Approximation
We can begin by writing the new Hamiltonian as
H (t) =H
0
(t) +H

(t)
54
the Adiabatic approximation is used if H (t) varies very slowly
a
k
=

n
a
n

k
|
n
e
i(
n

k
)

n
=
1

Z
t
0
E
n
()d
and if k = n we nd

k
|
n
=

k
|

H |
n

E
n
E
k
the Bohr angular frequency is given by

kn
=
E
k
E
n

and
a
k
=

n=k
a
n

k j

k
|

H |
n
e
i
R
t
0

k j
()d
6.9 Sudden Approximation
if a system is in specic eigenstate at t = 0 and H
0
H
1
instantaneously we use sudden approximation
method. Suppose that the eigenfuntion
| |
then
t < 0 we nd |(r, t) =

n
a
n
|
n
e
iE
n
t/
t > 0 we nd ||(r, t) =

|
Problems
Problem # 1
Consider a single electron in an atom in a high magnetic led so that we can ignore the spin-orbit
interaction (Paschen-Bach effect). We investigate the magnetic dipole transition using the perturbing
Hamiltonian

Lcost, where

B=

iB
x
+

jB
y
+

kB
z
is a constant and

L is the angular momentumoperator.

By considering appropriate matrix elements, show that the selection rules for magnetic dipole transi-
tions are = 0, m

= 0, 1. Which of these apply when

L is (i) parallel, and (ii) perpendicular to the

z-axis? [Hint: Express L
x
and L
y
in terms of L
+
and L

.]
We know that
H

=

Lcost = (B
x
L
x
+B
y
L
y
+B
z
L
z
)cost
thus we know that
k|H

| j = cost[B
x
k|L
x
| j +B
y
k|L
y
| j +B
z
k|L
z
| j]
55
for

L parallel to the z-axis we nd

B
x
L
x
= B
y
L
y
= 0
and
k|H

| j = B
z
k|L
z
| jcost = B
z
l

l|L
z
|m

l
m
l
= B
z
cost m
l

l
m
l
thus the selection rules when

L is parallel to the z-axis

l = 0 m = 0
if

L is perpendicular to the z-axis we nd

B
z
L
z
= 0
and
k|H

| j = cost[B
x
k|L
x
| j +B
y
k|L
y
| j]
we know that L
x
and L
y
can be expressed by lowering and raising operators
L
y
=
1
2i
(L
+
L

) L
x
=
1
2
(L
+
+L

)
since we know that the relationship for nding expectation values using lowering and raising operatots
is given by
l

|L

|lm =
_
l(l +1) m
l
(m
l
1)
l

l
m
l
1
thus
l

|L
+
|lm =
_
l(l +1) m
l
(m
l
+1)
l

l
m
l
+1
and
l

|L

|lm =
_
l(l +1) m
l
(m
l
1)
l

l
m
l
1
thus the selection rules when

L is perpendicular to the z-axis are

l = 0 m = 1
Problem # 2
Consider a one-dimensional simple harmonic oscillator, in which the particle has a charge q, acted
upon a homogeneus time-dependent electric eld E(t)=E
0
exp[(t/)
2
] where E
0
and are constants.
Thus, the perturbing Hamiltonian is -qE(t)x. Assuming that dE(t)/dt is small, and that at t= the oscilla-
tor is in the ground state, use adiabatic approximation to obtain the probability that it will be found in an
excited state as t. [Hint: as usual with problems on the harmonic oscillator, write the displacement in
terms of a, a

. Then look carefully at the matrix elements to see which are zero. You should come up with
a slightly messy integral, which you can solve by completing the square on the exponent.]
we know that
H =
p
2
2m
+
1
2
m
2
x
2
qE(t)x
if we let
k = m
2
56
we nd
H =
p
2
2m
+
1
2
kx
2
qE(t)x
we can complete the square and we nd
H =
p
2
2m
+
1
2
k
_
_
x
qE(t)
k
_
2

_
qE(t)
k
_
2
_
letting x
0
=
qE(t)
k
we get
H =
p
2
2m
+
1
2
k
_
(x x
0
)
2
x
2
0

now we need to nd
H
t
=k x
0
(x x
0
) k x
0
x =k x
0
x =
_

2m
m
2
x
0
(a

+a)
and so
H
t
=
_

2m
2qt

2
E
0
e
(t/)
2
(a

+a)
and
k|

H |0 =
_

2m
2qt

2
E
0
e
(t/)
2
k|(a

+a)|0
and we also know

10
=
E
1
E
0

=
(1+1/2) (1/2)

=
this tells us that the only allowed transition is from n =0 n =1. So the probabilty transition is found
by using
P
10
= |a
1
(t)|
2
=

Z
t
0
H
t

e
it

dt

2
so we can nd
a
1
(t) =
1

_

2m
2q

2
E
0
Z

te
(t/)
2
e
i
10
t
dt
if we let
K =
1

_

2m
2q

2
E
0
we nd
a
10
(t) = K
Z

te
((t/)
2
i
10
t)
dt
integrals of this form can be solved by completing the square, i.e
Z

e
(ax
2
+bx)
dx let y

a[x +(b/2a)] then (ax

2
+bx) = y
2
(b
2
/4a)
if we apply this to our problem we know that
a =
1

2
b =i
10
57
we get
a
10
(t) = K
Z

(y i
2
/2)e
y
2
(
2
/4)
dy
which gives us
a
10
(t) =e
(
2
/4)
K
Z

ye
y
2
dy +e
(
2
/4)
K
Z

i
2
2
e
y
2
dy
but we know that
Z

ye
y
2
dy = 0
so the integral simplyes to
a
10
(t) = e
(
2
/4)
K
3
Z

i
2
e
y
2
dy = e
(
2
/4)
K
3
i

2
thus the probability is given by
|a
10
(t)|
2
= e
(
10

2
/2)
K
2

4
=
q
2
E
2
0

2m
e
(
10

2
/2)
Problem # 3
The Hydrogen nucleus of mass 3 (tritium) is radioactive, and decays into a helium nucleus of mass 3
by -decay. (The helium atom is thus singly ionized.) Suppose the hydrogen atom is initially in its ground
state. Use sudden approximation to calculate the probabilities that the helium will be in the 2s and each of
the 2p states.
we have a reaction where tritium decays into helium-3
3
1
H
3
2
H by decay n p
+
+e

+
e
the states are given by
state =
_

_
1s n = 1 l = 0 m
l
= 0
2s n = 1 l = 0 m
l
= 0
2p n = 2 l = 1 m
l
= 1, 0
For helium, spherical harmonics are unchanged ( m
e
) but the radial wave functions are changed
because they depend on the potential, which depend on z. (z hydrogen=1, z helium=2)

100
=
1

a
3/2
0
e
r/a
0

200
=
1
4

2
_
z
a
0
_
3/2
_
2
zr
a
0
_
e
zr/2a
0

210
=
1
4

2
_
z
a
0
_
3/2
zr
a
0
e
zr/2a
0
cos
211
=
1
8

_
z
a
0
_
3/2
zr
a
0
e
zr/2a
0
sine
i
the probability that 1s 2s is given by
P = |200|100|
2
58
so we rst need to nd
200|100 =
Z

0

200

100
r
2
drd=
1
a
3
0

2
Z

0
_
2
2r
a
0
_
e
2r/a
0
r
2
dr
this can be solve using
Z

0
x
n
e
x/a
= n!a
n+1
so we nd
200|100 =
4
a
3
0

2
_
2
_
a
0
2
_
3

6
a
0
_
a
0
2
_
4
_
=
1
2
and the probability is given by
|200|100|
2
=
1
4
and the probability that 1s 2p is not allowed, because
|210|100| =
Z

0

210

100
r
2
dr
Z
2
0
d
Z

0
sincosd
Z

0
sincosd = 0
therefore
|210|100|
2
= 0
and we also nd
|211|100| =
Z

0

211

100
r
2
dr
Z
2
0
d
Z

0
sin
2
d
Z

0
sin
2
d = 0
therefore
|211|100|
2
= 0
Problem # 4
An electron is held in a spin up state along the zaxis by a magnetic led,

B = B
0
z. An experimenter
would like to reverse the electron spin adiabatically.
(a). Explain why, if he had the choice he would slowly rotate the magnetic eld until it pointed in the
-z direction, as opposed to slowly reversing the eld.
(b). Since it is expensive to rotate a magnet, and cheap to just reverse the current, the experimenter
decides it is almost as good just to reverse the eld, provided he places the apparatus in a weak magnet
with its eld

B
1
pointing some direction in the xy plane, what is his reasoning?
59
(c). Now suppose the weak permanent magnetic eld described in (b) is along the xdirection with
a magnitude B
1
B
0
.The experimenter slowly reverses the magnetic eld along the zdirection in the
following manner:
B
z
(t) =B
0
t
T
for T t T.
Write down the Hamiltonian of the system during the reversion process.
(d). How large does T have to be for the adiabatic condition to be valid?
Problem # 5
A particle with charge q sits in the 1D harmonic oscillator ground state. At t = 0 a constant electric
eld is turned on in an amount of time much less than
1
, where is the angular frequency of the
oscillator. Calculate the probability that it will be found in the ground state of the new potential.
Chapter 7: Scattering and Born Approximation
7.1 Scattering
Imagine a particle incident on some scattering center. it comes in with energy E the scattering cross-section
is given by
=
S
I
where S =
prob
sec
and I = prob ux = v|
i
|
2
and the differential cross section is given as
D() =
d
d
=
S()
I
where S() is the probability/second that particle scatters into a unit solid angle at angle . We are
assuming that scattering center has all the mass. We also know that the total cross section is given as

Z
D()d
7.1 Born Approximation
If we take a cube of side L, the density of the states is given by

(k
f
) =
mL
3
k
f
8
3

2
we can write the initial and nal wavefunctions as
|
i
=
1
L
3/2
e
i

k
i
r
|
f
=
1
L
3/2
e
i

k
f
r
and we will need to use Fermis golden rule # 2, and we nd
d
d
=
S()
I
=
W
i f
()
I
= |V
k
f
k
i
|
2
_
m
2
2
_
2
thus
d
d
= |V
k
f
k
i
|
2
_
m
2
2
_
2
60
where
|V
k
f
k
i
| =
Z
V(r)e
i(k
i
k
f
)r
dV
if we let

K =

k
i

k
f
|

k
i
| = |

k
f
|
than we nd for K
K = 2ksin(/2)
thus we can write
V
k
f
k
i
=
4
K
Z
V(r)sin(Kr)rdr
Problems
Problem # 1
Use the Born approximation to obtain the differential and total cross section for scattering by the
exponential potential V(r) =V
0
e
r
.
The differential cross section (in terms of V

k f

ki
) is given as
d
d
= |V

k f

ki
|
2
_
m
2
2
_
2
where
V

k f

ki
=
4
K
Z

0
V(r)sin(Kr)rdr V(r) is the potential of the system.
The potential for this system is given as
V(r) =V
0
e
r
so we have
V

k f

ki
=
4
K
Z

0
V
0
e
r
sin(Kr)rdr
but we know that
sin(Kr) =
e
iKr
e
iKr
2i
Note: This integral has limits that are imaginary, this is not a problem because the function has no
poles and we may choose our contour along the real line where all other paths vanish. Thus our effective
limits are from 0 . Thus
V

k f

ki
=
2V
0
Ki
Z

0
e
r
(e
iKr
e
iKr
)rdr =
2V
0
Ki
Z
(e
(iK)r
e
(+iK)r
)rdr
and using
Z

0
x
n
e
x/a
dx = n!a
n+1
we nd
V

k f

ki
=
2V
0
Ki
_
1
(iK)
2

1
(+iK)
2
_
=
8V
0
(
2
+K
2
)
2
61
and
|V

k f

ki
|
2
=
(8V
0
)
2
(
2
+K
2
)
4
K = 2ksin(/2)
and the differential cross section is
d
d
=
_
(8V
0
)
2
(
2
+k
2
)
4
_
_
m
2
2
_
2
=
16
2
(
2
+4k
2
sin
2
(/2))
4
_
mV
0

2
_
2
and the total cross section can be found by integrating over the solid angle
d =
16
2
(
2
+4k
2
sin
2
(/2))
4
_
mV
0

2
_
2
d=
_
mV
0

2
_
2
16
2
Z
1
(
2
+4k
2
sin
2
(/2))
4
d
thus
=
_
mV
0

2
_
2
16
2
Z
2
0
d
Z

0
sin()
(
2
+4k
2
sin
2
(/2))
4
d
we know that
sin
2
(/2) =
1
2
[1cos()] let u = 1cos() du = sin()d
so the integral now becomes
=
_
mV
0

2
_
2
16
2
2
Z
2
0
1
(
2
+2k
2
u)
4
du let w =
2
+2k
2
u du =
dw
2k
2
thus we nd
=
_
mV
0

2
_
2
16
2

k
2
Z

2
+4k
2

2
w
4
dw =
16
2
3k
2
_
mV
0

2
_
2
_
1

1
(
2
+4k
2
)
3
_
Problem # 2
A particle of mass m is scattered by an attractive Gaussian potential of the form V(r) = V
0
e
(r/R)
2
,
where V
0
and R are constants.
(a). Sketch the form of the potential.
62
(b). Using the rst Born approximation, calculate the differential cross section as a function of the
incident k-value and the angle through which the particle is scattered.
The differential cross section is given by
d
d
= |V

k f

ki
|
2
_
m
2
2
_
2
where
V

k f

ki
=
4
K
Z

0
V(r)sin(Kr)rdr =
4V
0
k
Z

0
e
(r/R)
2
sin(Kr)rdr
as before, this can be written
V

k f

ki
=
2V
0
Ki
Z

0
re
((r/R)
2
iKr)
dr +
2V
0
ki
Z

0
re
((r/R)
2
+iKr)
)dr
integrals of this form can be solved by completing the square, i.e
Z

e
(ar
2
+br)
dr let y

a[r +(b/2a)] then (ar

2
+br) = y
2
(b
2
/4a)
if we apply this to our problem we know that
a =
1
R
2
b = iK r = Ry
R
2
b
2
dr = Rdy
so the integral now becomes
V

k f

ki
=e
R
2
K
2
/4
2V
0
Ki
_
Z

0
e
y
2
(R
2
y +
R
3
iK
2
)dy
Z

0
e
y
2
_
R
2
y
R
3
iK
2
_
dy
_
63
which symplies to
V

k f

ki
=e
R
2
K
2
/4
2V
0
R
3
Z

0
e
y
2
dy
and using
Z

0
x
2n
e
x
2
/a
2
dx =

(2n!)
n!
_
a
2
_
2n+1
this becomes
V

k f

ki
=e
R
2
k
2
/4
2V
0
R
3
Z

0
e
y
2
dy = ()
3/2
V
0
R
3
e
R
2
k
2
/4
so the solution is given by
|V

k f

ki
|
2
= ()
3
V
2
0
R
6
e
R
2
K
2
/2
but we know K = 2ksin(/2)
and the differential cross section is given by
d
d
=
_
m
2
2
_
2
()
3
V
2
0
R
6
e
2kR
2
sin
2
(/2)
=
m
2
4
4
V
2
0
R
6
e
2k
2
R
2
sin
2
(/2)
(c). Sketch the form of the differential cross section versus , and comment on its relationship to the
scattering potential.
The form of the differential cross section has a Gaussian form just like the the scattering potential ,
one is increasing and the other one is decreasing.
64
(d). Write down the angle

at which the differential cross section falls of to 1/e of its value at = 0.

we can solve this by letting the exponent be
2kR
2
sin
2
(

/2) = 1
sin(

/2) =
1

2kR

= 2sin
1
_
1

2kR
_
(e). Now consider the high-energy limit kR1. Using your result in (d), nd an approximate value
for

, and show that

1.
For the high energy limit we know that
sin(

/2)

2
for very small angles
thus

2

1

2kR
so we nd

2
kR
Problem # 3
Consider a particle of mass m scaterring off a delta-shelf potential in 3D
V(r) =V
0
b(r b)
(a). What is the scattering amplitude of a particle with energy
2
k
2
/2m in the rst Born approximation.
(b). What is the differential cross section in the rst Born approximation?
(c). What is the total cross section in the limit k 0?
Problem # 4
Calculate the differential and total cross-sections for scattering from a Yukawa potential
V(r) =
e
r
r
where and are constants in the Born approximation. Express your answers as a function of E.
65