Physics 113A

Exam 2
June 4, 2009

June 5, 2009

For questions 1 - 6 consider a spin 1/2 particle with a Hamiltonian given

by H = µB(Sx + Sy ) where µ and B are constants and Sx and Sy are the
usual spin operators.

1) What is the commutator of H with each of the components of the spin

operator (Sx , Sy , Sz )? (3pts)

2) What is the physical interpretation of the answer to question 1? (2 pts)

3) Consider a state in which you measure the spin to be −h̄/2 in the x-

direction. If you wait some time t and measure the spin in the x-direction
again, are you guaranteed to get a value of −h̄/2? Briefly explain your an-
swer. (2 pts)

4) Show that !
µBh̄ 0 1−ı
H=
2 1+ı 0
in a basis where
! !
1 0
|sz = +1/2 >= and |sz = −1/2 >=
0 1

and show that is it Hermitian. (3 pts)

1
5) What is the expectation value for the energy of a particle in the state
!
3/5
|ψ >=
4ı/5

(5 pts)

6) What are the possible values of the energy of a particle with this Hamil-
tonian? (5 pts)

7) Consider a particle whose angular momentum measured along the z-axis

is found to be 5h̄, what are the possible quantum numbers for the square of
the angular momentum? (2 pts)

8) What are the possible quantum numbers for the total angular momen-
tum of an electron (spin 1/2) in the n = 3 energy level of the hydrogen
atom? (3 pts)

9) Consider a particle of mass m in the following potential:

(
∞,
)
if x < 0;
V (x, y, z) = mωy2 y 2 mωz2 z 2
2
+ 2 otherwise.

Find the energy levels of the particle. (5 pts)

10) Prove that

1 ∂ ∂ 1 ∂2
L2 = −h̄2 [ (sin θ ) + ]
sin θ ∂θ ∂θ sin2 θ ∂φ2

is a Hermitian operator using the standard spherical coordinates. (This prob-

lem is worth a total of 5 pts: 3 pts for describing how you prove it and an
additional 2 pts for a complete proof.)