Advanced Quantum Physics PHY604

F. A. Hashmi
Department of Physics,
COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad
Fall 2014
() 1 / 16
Outline
1
Contents and Roadmap
2
Ket Bra Operators
() 2 / 16
Outline
1
Contents and Roadmap
2
Ket Bra Operators
() 2 / 16
Course
Contents
Schrodinger wave equation, bound states of simple systems, collision theory,
representation and expansion theory, matrix formulation, perturbation theory,
many-body theory, second quantization,Fermi systems, Bose systems, interaction
of radiation with matter, quantum theory of radiation, spontaneous emission,
relativistic quantum mechanics, Dirac equation, Klein-Gordon equation, covariant
perturbation theory.
() 3 / 16
Course
Roadmap
Week 1 Quiz 0, review of quantum mechanics, bra and ket vectors, linear
operators, adjoint of a linear operator, eigenvalues and
eigenvectors, completeness and expansion in eigen basis,
commutativity and compatibility of observables.
Week 2 Representation theory, change of representation, coordinate and
momentum representation.
Week 3 Quiz 1, quantum dynamics, Schrodinger equation, Schrodinger
equation in coordinate and momentum representation, Schrodinger
equation in matrix form, Heisenberg picture, Interaction picture.
Week 4 Bound states of simple systems, particle in a box, harmonic
oscillator, hydrogen-like atoms.
() 4 / 16
Course
Roadmap
Week 5 Perturbation theory, time independent and time dependent
perturbation theory, some examples of time dependent
perturbation.
Week 6 Quiz 2, second quantization, Fermi and Bose systems
Week 7 Quantum theory of radiation
Week 8 Interaction of radiation with matter
Week 9 Quiz 3, scattering theory
week 10 Mid-term exam
() 5 / 16
Course
Roadmap
Week 11 Quizes 4 and 5, Relativistic quantum mechanics, Dirac and
Klein-Gordon equation, covariant perturbation theory.
() 6 / 16
Course
Recommended books
1
Concepts in Quantum Mechanics by V. S. Mathur and S. Singh, CRC press.
2
Advanced Quantum Mechanics (4th edition) by F. Schwabl, Springer.
3
Advanced Quantum Mechanics by J. J. Sakurai, Pearson.
4
Quantum Mechanics by A. Messiah, Dover.
() 7 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Quiz 0
Answer any of the following questions
What was the need for quantum mechanics? What were the
experimental observations which could not be explained using classical
mechanics? How did quantum mechanics provide the explanations?
What is quantum mechanics? How is it dierent from classical
mechanics?
What are the postulates of quantum mechanics?
What is wavefunction? What are the conditions on the wavefuntion
of a quantum system? Give examples of some systems with their
possible wavefunctions.
What is state vector? How is it dierent from the wavefunction? How
does one get information of a system from its state vector?
What are operators? What is the use and signicance of Hermitian
operators in quantum mechanics?
() 8 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Quiz 0
Answer any of the following questions (continued)
What is the quantum theory of measurement? What happens to a
quantum system when a measurement is performed on the system?
What is the dierence between expectation and eigenvalues? What is
one likely to obtain if a measurement is performed on a quantum
system? What will be the result if a large number of measurements
are performed on identical systems?
What are compatible and incompatible observables? Give some
examples of incompatible observables.Why are these incompatible?
What is energy quantization? How does it arise in quantum systems?
How does one quantum mechanically solve Hydrogen atom? What is
the solution? What are the advantages of the quantum treatment
over Bohrs atomic model?
() 9 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Ket and Bra Vectors
State Vector
In quantum mechanics the physical state of a system is represented by a state
vector in a complex vector space. The vector can be represented either as a ket
vector | or a bra vector |.
Operations on State Vector
superposition | = | + |
multiplication by a complex number c |
operation with an operator

L | = |
inner product |
outer product | |
() 10 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Operators
Operator
An operator is a rule or a tranformation that transforms a ket or a bra into a new
ket or bra. It acts on a ket from its left side and acts on a bra from its right side.
The action of an operator

L on a ket | and a bra | can be represented as

L | = |
|

L = |
where | and | are in general dierent from | and | respectively.
Operator equality
Two operators

L and

M are said to be equal if

L | =

M |
where | is an arbitrary ket.
() 11 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Operators
Null operator
An operator

N is a null operator if

N | = 0
for an arbitrary ket |.
Identity operator
An operator

I is an identity operator if we have

I | = |
for any ket |.
() 11 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Operators
Operator addition
The operators can be added together. The operator addition is both commutative
and associative. If

L,

M, and

N are dierent operators then we have

L +

M =

M +

L
and

L +
_

M +

N
_
=
_

L +

M
_
+

N
i.e. the order in which dierent operators are added together is not important.
() 11 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Operators
Operator multiplication
The operators can be multiplied together. The operator multiplication is
associative but not commutative. If

L,

M, and

N are dierent operators then we
have

L
_

M

N
_
=
_

L

M
_

N
but in general

L

M =

M

L
() 11 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Operators
Commutator algebra
The commutator of two operators

L and

M is dened as
_

L,

M
_
=

L

M

M

L
It satises following relations
_

L,

M
_
=
_

M,

L
_
_

L,

M +

N
_
=
_

L,

M
_
+
_

L,

N
_
_

L,

M

N
_
=
_

L,

M
_

N +

M
_

L,

N
_
0 =
_

L,
_

M,

N
__
+
_

M,
_

N,

L
__
+
_

N,
_

L,

M
__
() 11 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Operators
Inverse of an operator
The inverse of an operator when multiplied to the operator returns the unit
operator. i.e if

L is an operator, then its inverse operator

L
1
is such that we have

L
1
=

I
Adjoint of an operator
The Adjoint, Hermitian adjoint, or Hermitian conjugate of an operator is the dual
of that operator in bra space, and is dened by the relation
_

_
=
_

The Adjoint of a product of two operators is given by

_

L

M
_

=

M

() 11 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Operators
Hermitian operator
An operator is called a Hermitian operator if it is the self adjoint i.e if we have

=

L
then

L is a Hermitian operator. The scalar product which involves a Hermitian
operator is given by
_

_
=
_

() 11 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Operators
Unitary operator
A unitory operator is the one which has its inverse as its Hermitian Conjugate,
and so the product of the operator with its Hermitian conjugate is the identity
operator. Consider the operator

U, if we have

U
1
=

U

then

U is a unitaory operator as we have

U

U

=

U

U
1
=

I
A unitary operator can always be written as

U = e
i

L
where

L is a Hermitian operator.
() 11 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Operators
Idempotent operator
An idempotent operator is the one which satises

2
=

If

is idempotent then so is

I

as
_

_
2
=
_

__

_
=

I
2
2

2
=

I

() 11 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Operators
Projection operator
An idempotent operator that is Hermitian as well is called a projection operator
and can be used to split any ket into two orthogonal kets. If we have an arbitrary
ket | we can write it as
| = | + |
where we have
| =

P |
| =
_

I

P
_
|
and

P is a projection operator. We can verify that | and | in this case are
orthogonal to each other.
() 11 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Operators
Linear operator
An operator

L is a linear operator if its action on a superposition of kets
c
1
|
1
+c
2
|
2
(c
1
and c
2
being the complex numbers) is equal to the sum of its
actions on individual kets. i.e.

L is linear if we have

L (c
1
|
1
+ c
2
|
2
) = c
1

L |
1
+ c
2

L |
2

() 12 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Operators
Eigenkets and eignvalues
A ket which satises the relation

L| = |
is said to be the eigenket or eigenvector of the operator

L with the eigenvalue
(that in general is a complex number).
Spectrum of an operator
The set of all the eigenvalues of an operator is called the spectrum of that
operator.
() 12 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Operators
Theorem 1
The eigenvalues of a Hermitian operator are real.
Theorem 2
The eigenkets of Hermitian operator corresponding to dierent eigenvalues are
orthogonal.
Expansion in eigenkets
Any arbitrary ket can be written as a linear combination of normalized eigenkets
of a Hermitian operator
| =

n
c
n
|
n

The coecient c
n
is given by c
n
=
n
|
() 12 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Wavefunctions
Position eigenkets
The eigenkets of position operator x are the position eigenkets denoted by |x,
and these satisfy the relation
x |x = x |x ,
where x is the position of the particle if it is in the state |x.
() 13 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Wavefunctions
Completeness of |x
The position eigenkets form a complete orthonormal basis set and any arbitrary
ket can be expanded in terms of position eigenkets.
| =
_
dx |x x| .
Here the expansion coecient x| is such that
|x||
2
dx
is the probability of nding the particle in a narrow strip dx around the position x.
() 13 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Wavefunctions
Position space wavefunction
If the state of the system is represented by |, then its position space
wavefunction is given by
(x) = x| .
() 13 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Wavefunctions
Momentum eigenkets
The eigenkets of momentum operator p are the momentum eigenkets denoted by
|p, and these satisfy the relation
x |p = p |p ,
where p is the momentum of the particle if it is in the state |p.
() 14 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Wavefunctions
Completeness of |p
The momentum eigenkets form a complete orthonormal basis set and any
arbitrary ket can be expanded in terms of momentum eigenkets.
| =
_
dp |p p| .
Here the expansion coecient p| is such that
|p||
2
dp
is the probability of nding the momentum of the particle particle in a narrow
strip dp around the value p.
() 14 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Wavefunctions
Momentum space wavefunction
If the state of the system is represented by |, then its momentum space
wavefunction is given by
(p) = p| .
() 14 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Observables
Postulate
With every dynamical variable/observable is associated a linear Hermitian
operator.
Examples
observable
operator
position coordinate x
x
position vector r

r
x component of momentum p
x
i

x
momentum p
i

kinetic energy p
2
/2m (h
2
/2m)
2
potential energy V(r , t)

V(r , t)
total energy (p
2
/2m) + V(r , t)

H = (h
2
/2m)
2
+

V(r , t)
() 15 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Observables
Compatible observables
The observables whose operators commute with each other.
Can be measured simultaneously with arbitrary precision.
Have a common set of eigenvectors.
Examples
any component of the angular momentum and its modulus square.
the x coordinate of the position of a particle and the y component of
its momentum.
() 16 / 16
Ket Bra Operators
Observables
Incompatible observables
The observables whose operators do not commute with each other.
Can not be measured simultaneously with arbitrary precision.
measurement of one observable renders the earlier measurement of the
other observable obsolete.
Do not have a common set of eigenvectors.
Examples
any two components of the angular momentum of a particle.
the x coordinate of the position of a particle and the x component of
its momentum.
() 16 / 16