Quantum Theory for Mathematicians

Chapter 1 Exercises
Algebraists Anonymous
October 7, 2023

1. Beginning with the formula for the sum of a geometric series, use differentiation to obtain the
identity
∞
X e−A
ne−An = .
n=0
(1 − e−A )2

2. In Planck’s model of blackbody radiation, the energy in a given frequency ω of electromagnetic

radiation is distributed randomly over all numbers of the form nℏω, where n = 0, 1, 2, . . . .
Specifically, the likelihood of finding energy nℏω is postulated to be
1 −βnℏω
p(E = nℏω) = e ,
Z
1
Z=
1 − e−βℏω
where Z is a normalization constant, which is chosen so the sum over n of the probabilities is 1.
Here β = 1/(kB T ), where T is the temperature and kB is Boltzmann’s constant. The expected
value of the energy, denoted ⟨E⟩, is defined to be
∞
1X
⟨E⟩ = (nℏω)e−βnℏω .
Z n=0

(a) Using Exercise 1, show that

ℏω
⟨E⟩ = .
eβℏω
−1
(b) Show that ⟨E⟩ behaves like 1/β = kB T for small ω, but that ⟨E⟩ decays exponentially as
ω tends to infinity.

1
3. In classical mechanics, the kinetic energy of an electron is me v 2 /2, where v is the magnitude
of the velocity. Meanwhile, the potential energy associated with the force law

Q2
F =
r2
is
Q2
V (r) = − ,
r
since dV /dr = F . Show that if the particle is moving in a circular orbit with radius rn given
by
n2 h2
rn =
me Q
then the total energy (kinetic plus potential) of the particle is En , defined as

me Q4
En = − .
2ℏ2 n2