CYL110/Chakravarty

Particle Moving on a Circle:

The Two-dimensional Rotor
CYL110/Chakravarty
CYL110/Chakravarty
The Classical Picture
Model for understanding rotational
motion
Particle restricted to move on a circle
of radius a with moment of inertia
I=ma
2
Particle only has rotational kinetic
energy from rotation about z-axis
which is greater than or equal to zero
Will move with uniform speed v along
the circle; therefore, probability of
finding the particle anywhere on the
circle is equal
I
L
ma
L
E
z
2 2
2
2
2
= =
x-axis
y-axis
r
|
|
|
sin
cos
s Coordinate Polar Circular
r y
r x
=
=
I
L
ma
L
E
z
2 2
2
2
= =

CYL110/Chakravarty
Solving Schrodingers Equation
Require an operator representation of L
z
2
operator:

E
d
d
ma
=
2
2
2
2
2

Schrodingers equation can then be written as:

2
2
2
2
2 2
2

ma
L
H
L
i x
y
y
x
i
L
z
z
z
=
c
c
=
c
c
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c

c
c
=

CYL110/Chakravarty
Criteria for choosing the specific solutions:
1. Probability along the circle must be uniform, given that
rotation by any angle | leaves the system unchanged
Can you justify this on the basis of symmetry?
2. The eigenfunctions of the Hamiltonian must also be
eigenfunctions of the L
z
operator.
Which postulate does this refer to?
) exp( ) ( ik A =
Mathematically allowed general solutions:


x) cos( ) exp(
x) cos( ) sin(
/ 2
ik B ikx A
k B kx A
mE k
+ =
+ =
=

CYL110/Chakravarty
Circular Boundary Conditions lead to integer quantum numbers
and discrete energy levels. Note that these periodic boundary
conditions are equivalent to requiring that the wavefunction
must be single-valued.
,.... 2 , 1 , 0
2
/ 2
) ( ) 2 (
2
2 2
2
=
=
= =
= +
n
ma
n
E
n E ma k

t
Normalization condition
t
t
2 / 1 1 ) (
2
2
0
= =
}
A d
CYL110/Chakravarty
Connection with the de Broglie
equation
2
2 2
2
2 2
ma
n
E
mE
h
mK
h
p
h
n

=
= = =
L n t 2 =
Think of fitting an integer number of wavelengths in along a circle of
radius a so that there is no phase mismatch
Since potential energy inside the box is zero, we can write:
In this case we did not need to solve the Schrodinger equation because
the potential energy was constant in the region where the probability of
finding the particle was non-zero. The de Broglie equation does not tell
us anything about degeneracy.
CYL110/Chakravarty
Energy Levels & Wavefunctions
Each energy level and wavefunction is labeled by a quantum
number n=0,+/-1,+/-2,+/-3,
The particle has no zero-point energy. The absence of zero-point
energy can be understood on the basis of the uncertainty principle.
The angular variable | is allowed to have any value between 0 and
2t with equal probability.
Therefore uncertainity in position is maximum.
Except for the ground state, all other levels are doubly degenerate.
The two values of ncorrespond to angular momentum vectors
which are equal in magnitude but parallel or antiparallel relative to
the z-axis.
Find the eigenvalue and uncertainty associated with the
L
z
operator.
No nodes for the wavefunctions
Show that the set of wavefunctions of a particle moving on a ring
forms an orthonormal set