PH30030: Quantum Mechanics

Problems Sheet 2

This problems sheet covers section 2 of the course, on angular momentum. Quite a few of the
problems are about checking and filling in the details of derivations from the lecture notes
these are designed to give you more practice in handling operators, and to help you understand
exactly where the results come from.
1. In the lecture notes we showed that the commutator of Lx and L y is Lx , L y = i Lz . Work
carefully through the derivation, and make sure that you can follow every step. In a similar
way, show that L y , Lz = i Lx .
2. In the lectures, we stated that L2 , Lz = L2x , Lz + L2y , Lz + L2z , Lz = 0 , because L2x , Lz
and L2y , Lz cancel, and L2z , Lz = 0 . The last one is easy (see question 9 on problems sheet
1) but the cancellation of the first two needs some work. Show that
L2x , Lz = i

L2y , Lz = +i

( L L + L L )
( L L + L L )
x

Note: this is quite tricky, but it can be done just by using the commutation relations
Lx , L y = i Lz , L y , Lz = i Lx , Lz , Lx = i L y .

3. Work carefully through the derivations in the lecture notes to confirm that

L+ , L = 2 Lz

Lz , L+ = L+

Lz , L = L

4. In the lecture notes we showed that if n is an eigenfunction of Lz with eigenvalue n ,

then L+ n is an eigenfunction of Lz with eigenvalue n + . We also stated that L n is
an eigenfunction of L with eigenvalue . Confirm that this is true.
z

5. In the lecture notes we started from L+ max = 0 to show that = max ( max + ) (see the
notes for the meaning of the symbols). Starting from L min = 0 , confirm that

= min ( min ) .
6. By following a similar procedure to that we used in the lecture notes for Lz , it can be shown
that L and L can be expressed in spherical polars as
x

Lx = i sin
+ cot cos

+ cot sin
L y = i cos

Show that the ladder operators L+ and L can be expressed in spherical polars as

+ i cot
L+ = exp ( i )




+ i cot
L = exp ( i )

7. Use the results from question 6 to confirm that the ladder operator L+ has the expected effect
on the eigenfunctions of angular momentum for = 1 , ie
a) L+ Y11 Y10

b) L+ Y10 Y11

c) L+ Y11 = 0

Note: the proportional sign is needed here because the operation of the ladder operators leads
to eigenfunctions that are not normalised.
8. In the lecture notes we showed that Sx , S y = i Sz . Show, using the Pauli matrices given in
the notes, that S y , Sz = i Sx and Sz , Sx = i S y .
9. Confirm that the eigenvectors given in the lecture notes for Sx , S y and Sz are indeed
eigenvectors with the given eigenvalues. Confirm also that, for each component of spin, the
two eigenvectors are normalised and orthogonal to each other.
10. In the first section of the course we saw that a wavefunction can be expanded in terms of
eigenfunctions n as = cn n , with the coefficients given by cm = m . The
n

probability of measuring the eigenvalue associated with m is cm . The same ideas work
a
with spin. A general wavefunction can be expressed as = where a and b are
b
2

complex numbers and, to ensure that is normalised, we require a + b = 1 . We can

write = c1 1 + c2 2 , where 1 and 2 are the eigenvectors of one of the spin

components, with c1 = 1 and c2 = 2 .
a
a) Express = in terms of the eigenvectors of Sx . If a measurement is made of the x
b

component of spin angular momentum, what are the probabilities of measuring + and
2

?
2
b) Repeat a) for both S y and Sz .