Physics 115C

Homework 3

Problem 1
In this problem, it will be convenient to introduce the Einstein summation convention. Note
that we can write X
L·S = Li Si
i
where the sum is over i = x, y, z. In the Einstein summation convention, we leave out
the overall summation sign, and assume the convention that if an index is repeated in an
expression, there is an implied summation over it, like so:
X
Li Si ≡ Li Si
i

This will make our expressions easier to work with (and will save some typing for me).
Now, let’s start. Recall that the commutation relations for angular momentum are
[Li , Lj ] = i~ǫijk Lk [L2 , Li ] = 0
where ǫijk is the Levi-Civita symbol, and identical expressions hold for S and J (and there
is an implied sum over the index k!). Using these commutation relations along with the
definition J = L + S, let’s compute the commutator of L · S with J 2 , L2 , S 2 , Jz , Lz , and Sz :
[L · S, L2 ] = 0
[L · S, S 2 ] = 0
These two are trivial, since L2 and S 2 commute with all of their components, and therefore
also with L · S. Next,
[L · S, J 2 ] = [L · S, J · J ]
= [L · S, (L + S) · (L + S)]
= [L · S, L2 + S 2 + 2L · S]
= [L · S, L2 ] + [L · S, S 2 ] + 2[L · S, L · S]
= [L · S, L2 ] + [L · S, S 2 ]
= 0

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To get the the fourth line, I used the fact that since S and L commute, L · S = S · L; to
get to the fifth line, I used the fact that L · S commutes with itself; and to get to the last
line, I used the fact that L2 commutes with all the components of S and L. Continuing,

[L · S, Lz ] = [Li Si , Lz ]
= Li [Si , Lz ] + [Li , Lz ]Si
= 0 + i~ǫizk Lk Si
= i~ǫzki Lk Si
= i~(L × S)z

To get to the third line, I used the fact that the components of S and L commute with each
other; to get to the fourth line, I used the antisymmetry of the Levi-Civita symbol under
exchange of any two indices (e.g. ǫijk = −ǫjik = ǫjki , etc.); and to get to the last line I used
the expression for the dot product

(A × B)i = ǫijk Aj Bk

Moving on,

[L · S, Sz ] = [Li Si , Sz ]
= Li [Si , Sz ] + [Li , Sz ]Si
= i~ǫizk Li Sk + 0
= −i~ǫzik Li Sk
= −i~(L × S)z

Finally,

[L · S, Jz ] = [L · S, Lz + Sz ]
= [L · S, Lz ] + [L · S, Sz ]
= i~(L × S)z − i~(L × S)z
= 0

where I made use of our results above. Therefore, J 2 , L2 , S 2 , and Jz commute with L · S,
but not Lz and Sz . Since the spin-orbit coupling perturbation is proportional to L · S, this
is why the “good” basis states are those labeled by n, ℓ, s, j, and mj , but not those labeled
by n, ℓ, s, mℓ , and ms .

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Problem 2 (Griffiths 6.21)
From Griffiths’ equations 6.75 and 6.76, we have that the first-order corrections to the energy
in the weak-field Zeeman effect are
(1)
EZ = µB gJ Bext mj

where µB is the Bohr magneton, Bext is the external electric field (along which we align
our z-axis), and gJ is the Landé g-factor:
j(j + 1) − ℓ(ℓ + 1) + 3/4
gJ = 1 +
2j(j + 1)
(incidentally, Griffiths’ derivation of the Landé g-factor gives a good physical idea of what’s
going on, but isn’t very mathematically rigorous. A more rigorous derivation of equation 6.73
makes use of the Wigner-Eckart theorem). Now, the eight n = 2 states of the hydrogen atom
have s = 1/2 and ℓ = 0 or ℓ = 1. For ℓ = 0, the only possible value of j is 1/2; for ℓ = 1,
the possible values of j are j = 1/2 and j = 3/2. Thus there are two states with ℓ = 0
(corresponding to quantum numbers mj = ±1/2) and six states with ℓ = 1 (j = 1/2
and mj = ±1/2, and j = 3/2 and mj = ±1/2, ±3/2). Let’s label these states as follows:
using the notation |ℓjmj i, we define the eight states as

|1i = |0, 1/2, 1/2i

|2i = |0, 1/2, −1/2i
|3i = |1, 1/2, 1/2i
|4i = |1, 1/2, −1/2i
|5i = |1, 3/2, 3/2i
|6i = |1, 3/2, 1/2i
|7i = |1, 3/2, −1/2i
|8i = |1, 3/2, −3/2i

Now, let’s calculate the g-factors for these states. For |1i and |2i, we have
1/2(1 + 1/2) − 0 + 3/4
gJ = 1 + =2
2(1/2)(1 + 1/2)
For |3i and |4i, we have
1/2(1 + 1/2) − 1(1 + 1) + 3/4 2
gJ = 1 + =
2(1/2)(1 + 1/2) 3
For the last four states, we have
3/2(1 + 3/2) − 1(1 + 1) + 3/4 4
gJ = 1 + =
2(3/2)(1 + 3/2) 3

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To find the energies of these eight states, we’ll need to include fine structure. From Griffiths’
equation 6.67, we have that the energies of the first four states (including fine structure but
not yet the Zeeman perturbation) are

α2
  
E0 n 3
Ef s = 1+ 2 −
n2 n j + 1/2 4
α2
  
E0 2 3
= 1+ −
4 4 1/2 + 1/2 4
 
E0 5 2
= 1+ α
4 16

where E0 = −13.6 eV is the (unperturbed) Hydrogen ground-state energy. The energies of

the last four states (again, including just fine structure) are

α2
  
E0 2 3
Ef s = 1+ −
4 4 3/2 + 1/2 4
 
E0 1 2
= 1+ α
4 16

Including the first-order perturbation from the Zeeman effect, the energy of each state is
thus
E = Ef s + µB gJ Bext mj
Using our expressions for Ef s and the g-factor, we can write down the energies of all eight
states:  
E0 5 2
E1 = 1 + α + µB Bext
4 16
 
E0 5 2
E2 = 1 + α − µB Bext
4 16
 
E0 5 2 1
E3 = 1 + α + µB Bext
4 16 3
 
E0 5 1
E4 = 1 + α2 − µB Bext
4 16 3
 
E0 1
E5 = 1 + α2 + 2µB Bext
4 16
 
E0 1 2 2
E6 = 1 + α + µB Bext
4 16 3
 
E0 1 2
E7 = 1 + α2 − µB Bext
4 16 3
 
E0 1
E8 = 1 + α2 − 2µB Bext
4 16

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Here’s a depiction of how the energies vary with the perturbing magnetic field Bext (not to
scale, of course):

5
Problem 3
If a system begins at time t = 0 in an eigenstate |ii of the unperturbed Hamiltonian, then
the probability of measuring the system to be in some other state |f i at a later time t (after
the perturbation has been turned on) is |cf (t)|2 , where
t
i
Z
(0) (0)
−Ei )t′ /~
cf (t) = δf i − ei(Ef hf | H ′ (t′ ) |ii dt′
~ 0

where H ′ (t) is the perturbing Hamiltonian. In our particular case, we have

H ′ (t) = βxe−t/τ

To give this perturbation a physical interpretation, we might imagine that this would be the
perturbation the oscillator would experience if it were placed in an exponentially decaying
electric field (which might arise, for instance, inside of a capacitor as it was being discharge in
an LR circuit). We are further given that the oscillator begins in the ground state, so |ii = |0i.
(0)
Since the (unperturbed) energies of the harmonic oscillator are given by En = (n + 1/2)~ω,
we have
i t
    ′
1 1 t
Z
cn (t) = δn0 − exp i n+ ~ω − ~ω hn| H ′ (t′ ) |0i dt′
~ 0 2 2 ~
iβ t inωt′ −t′ /τ
Z
= δn0 − e e hn| x |0i dt′
~ 0
Since we’re interested only in the probability of measuring the system to be in the nth state
at large time, we might as well take the limit t → ∞:
Z ∞
iβ ′
cn (∞) = δn0 − hn| x |0i e−(1/τ −inω)t dt′
~
Z0 ∞
iβ ′
= δn0 − hn| x |0i e−(1/τ −inω)t dt′
~
0 ∞
iβ −1 −(1/τ −inω)t′
= δn0 − hn| x |0i e
~ 1/τ − inω 0
iβ
= δn0 − hn| x |0i
~(1/τ − inω)

To evaluate the matrix element hn| x |0i, let’s use the ladder operators: recall that we can
express r
~
x= (a† + a)
2mω

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Thus
r
~
hn| x |0i = hn| (a† + a) |0i
r 2mω
~
= hn|1i
r 2mω
~
= δn1
2mω
and therefore r
~ iβ
cn (∞) = δn0 − δn1
2mω ~(1/τ − inω)
Note that this expression is zero unless n = 1 or n = 0, i.e. the probability of the system
transitioning to any state higher than n = 1 is zero (at least to first order in perturbation
theory). To get the probability of transition, we take the norm squared: the probability of
no transition at all is

P0 = |c0 (∞)|2
= |1 − 0|2
= 1

The probability of transitioning to the first excited state is

P1 = |c1 (∞)|2
 r 2
 ~ iβ 
= 0 −
 
2mω ~(1/τ − iω) 


~ β2
=
2mω ~2 (1/τ 2 + ω 2 )
β2
=
2m~ω(1/τ 2 + ω 2 )

Thus the probability of measuring the system to be in the nth state at large time is

1
 n=0
β2
Pn = 2m~ω(1/τ 2 +ω 2 ) n=1

0 otherwise


7
Problem 4
As in the previous problem, we have
t
i
Z
(0) (0)
−Ei )t′ /~
cf (t) = δf i − ei(Ef hf | H ′ (t′ ) |ii dt′
~ 0

In this case, we have (

V0 −T < t < T, 0 < x < L/2
H ′ (t) =
0 otherwise
If the well starts in the ground state, then we have |ii = |1i (for the infinite square well,
it is conventional to start numbering the states at 1 rather than zero as in the harmonic
oscillator). Since the energies of the states in the infinite square well go like En = E1 n2 , we
have that the transition coefficients at large time (t > T ) are

i T
t′
Z  
2
cn (t > T ) = δn1 − exp i E1 n − E1 hn| H ′ (t′ ) |1i dt′
~ −T ~
Z T
i 2 ′
= δn1 − hn| H |1i ′
ei(n −1)E1 t /~ dt′
~ −T

For n = 1, the integral is just 2T ; for n 6= 1, we get

 T
i ′ ~ i(n2 −1)E1 t′ /~
cn (t > T ) = δn1 − hn| H |1i e
~ i(n2 − 1)E1 −T
 
i ′ 2~ 2 E 1T
= δn1 − hn| H |1i 2 sin (n − 1)
~ (n − 1)E1 ~

We only need to evaluate the matrix element. Recall that the stationary state wave functions
of the infinite square well are r
2  nπ 
ψn = sin x
L L
Thus
Z
′
hn| H |1i = ψn∗ H ′ ψ1 dx
Z L/2
= V0 ψn∗ ψ1 dx
0
2V0 L/2  nπ  π 
Z
= sin x sin x dx
L 0 L L
V0 L/2
    
(n − 1)π (n + 1)π
Z
= cos x − cos x dx
L 0 L L

8
(I used the identity sin(a) sin(b) = (1/2)[cos(a − b) − cos(a + b)]). The integral has different
behaviors for n = 1 and n 6= 1. For the case n = 1, we have

V0 L/2
  
2π
Z
′
h1| H |1i = 1 − cos x dx
L 0 L
  L/2
V0 L 2π
= x− sin x
L 2π L 0
V0 L
=
L 2
V0
=
2
For n 6= 1, we have
L/2     
V0 (n − 1)π (n + 1)π
Z
′
hn| H |1i = cos x − cos x dx
L 0 L L
    L/2
V0 L (n − 1)π L (n + 1)π
= sin x − sin x
L (n − 1)π L (n + 1)π L
     0
V0 L (n − 1)π L (n + 1)π
= sin − sin
L (n − 1)π 2 (n + 1)π 2

Using the fact that sin((n − 1)π/2) = sin((n + 1)π/2) = 0 for odd n, and sin((n − 1)π/2) =
−(−1)n/2 and sin((n + 1)π/2) = (−1)n/2 for even n, we get
 
′ V0 L n/2 L n/2
hn| H |1i = − (−1) − (−1)
L (n − 1)π (n + 1)π
(−1)n/2
 
1 1
= −V0 +
π n−1 n+1
(−1)n/2 2n
= −V0
π n2 − 1
for even n, and hn| H ′ |1i = 0 for odd n. Consequently, for n even we have
 
i ′ 2~ 2 E1 T
cn (t > T ) = − hn| H |1i 2 sin (n − 1)
~ (n − 1)E1 ~
 
iV0 n/2 2n 2~ 2 E1 T
= (−1) sin (n − 1)
π~ n2 − 1 (n2 − 1)E1 ~
 
iV0 4n E1 T
= (−1)n/2 2 2
sin (n2 − 1)
πE1 (n − 1) ~

9
For n = 1, we instead get
T
i
Z
c1 (t > T ) = 1 − h1| H ′ |1i dt′
~ −T
i V0
= 1− 2T
~ 2
iV0 T
= 1−
~
For n 6= 1 and n odd, we have simply cn (t > T ) = 0. Thus the transition probabilities are

2

 1 + V0~T n=1
  2
V0 16n2 2 2 E1 T


Pn = πE (n 2 −1)4 sin (n − 1) ~
even n
 1

0 odd n


where E1 = π~2 /2mL2 , as usual. In particular, the probability of measuring the well to be
in the first excited state is P2 , or
 2  
V0 16(4) 2 E1 T
P2 = sin (4 − 1)
πE1 (4 − 1)4 ~
 2  
8V0 2 3E1 T
P2 = sin
9πE1 ~

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