Minor Examination PYL556

Time: 2 hours (10:00PM - 12:00 PM) 15 March 2021 Max. Marks 25

All questions are compulsory

The examination is in a restricted open book format during the theory part. One quantum
mechanics books and printed class notes are allowed. No online materials or soft copy is
allowed.

Name and Entry No.:

Any ambiguity, or untidiness will be awarded zero points. Multiple answers for a given question will
also be awarded zero. All symbols have their usual meanings unless otherwise indicated. There is
no negative marking.

Q. Marks.

1. [ ]
2. [ ]

3. [ ]
Total [ ]

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1. Time-independent perturbation theory [7 marks]

(a) (3+1 marks) A one electron atom whose ground state is non-degenerate is placed in a uniform electric field in
z direction, E = E ẑ. Ignore spin. Obtain an approximate expression for the induced electric dipole moment
of the ground state by considering the expectation value of ez with respect to the perturbed state vector
computed to the first order. How does it match with the idea of polarisation that you learnt in your course
on Electrodynamics.

Solution:

(b) (3 marks) Show that the same expression can be obtained from the energy shift ∆ = − α2 |E|2 of the ground
state computed to second order. Here α stands for the polarisability.

Solution:

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2. Time dependent Perturbation Theory [8 marks]

(a) (3 marks) Consider a system initially at the eigenstate |ii of the unperturbed hamiltonian H0 and started
being acted by a time-dependent perturbation V (t) from time t = 0. In the interaction picture the time
evolved eigenstate can be written as
|i, 0; tiI = UI (t, 0) |ii ,
where UI (t, 0) is the time evolution operator in the interaction picture. The time evolved state can be
expanded in terms of the eigenstates of the unperturbed Hamiltonian H0 , and the expansion can be written
as X
|i, 0; tiI = cn (t) |ni .
n

Find the out the expression for the third order perturbation correction to the transition probability cn (t) and
explain its meaning.

Solution:

(b) (5 marks) Consider a one dimensional simple harmonic oscillator (choose x-axis) whose classical angular
frequency is ω0 . For t < 0 it is known to be in the ground state. For t > 0, there is also a time-dependent
potential
V (t) = F0 x cos ωt
where F0 is constant in both space and time. Obtain an expression for the expectation value hxi as a function
of time using time dependent perturbation theory to lowest non-vanishing order. Is this procedure valid for
ω ≈ ω0 ? Explain. You may use ( |ni is the unperturbed eigenstate)

~ √
r
0
√
hn | x |ni = ( n + 1δn0 ,n+1 + nδn0 ,n−1 )
2mω0

Solution:

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3. Time -Independent Perturbation Theory [10 marks]

(a) (2+3 marks) Consider a particle with mass m in a two-dimensional square box of length L in the x − y plane.
The system is subjected to a weak perturbation of the form

H1 (x, y) = V0 L2 δ(x − x0 )δ(y − y0 )

(a) Find an expression for the energy of the first excited state to the first order in V0 .
(b) For the first excited state find the point x0 , y0 defining the perturbation H1 (x, y) that does not remove
the degeneracy. Explain your result.

Solution:

(b) (2+3 marks) The Hamiltonian matrix for a two-state system can be written as
 0 
E1 λ∆
H=
λ∆ E20

(a) Solve this problem exactly to find the energy eigenfunctions ψ1 and ψ2 and the energy eigenvalues E1
and E2 .
(b) Now treat λ∆ as a perturbation. Suppose the two unperturbed energies are almost degenerate such that

|E10 − E20 |  λ∆.

Show that the exact results obtained in part (a) closely resembles what you would expect by applying
degenerate perturbation theory to this problem with E10 set exactly equal to E20 .

Solution:

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