Exam PHY3001 - Quantum Mechanics, 2019

- Please write your answers down neatly. Illegible answers will be considered incorrect.
- Please do not only write down your calculations, but explain what you are doing.
- Please start every question on a separate piece of paper. Good luck!!

Schrodinger equation in 3D:

∂
i~ ∂t Ψ(x, y, z, t) = ĤΨ(x, y, z, t)

Hamiltonian:
~2 d2 d2 d2
∇2 + V (x, y, z) , where ∇2 =


Ĥ = − 2m dx2
+ dy 2
+ dz 2

Hamiltonian eigenstates for Hydrogen:

ψ100 (r, θ, φ) = √ 1 3 e−r/a ,
πa
−r/2a
1 1 r
ψ200 (r, θ, φ) = √2πa 2a 1 − 2a e ,
ψ210 (r, θ, φ) =√1 1
2πa 4a2
re−r/2a cos(θ),
m e2 2 1 4π0 ~2


with eigenvalues En = − 2~ 2 4π
0 n2
, and a = me2
(Bohr radius).

Trigonometric identities:
sin2 (x) + cos2 (x) = 1
sin(2x) = 2 sin(x) cos(x)
sin2 (x) = (1 − cos(2x))/2
cos2 (x) = (1 + cos(2x))/2
2 sin(x) sin(y) = cos(x − y) − cos(x + y)
2 cos(x) cos(y) = cos(x − y) + cos(x + y)
2 cosh(x) = ex + e−x
2 sinh(x) = ex − e−x
eix = cos(x) + i sin(x) [Euler’s formula]

Hamiltonian eigenstates of the 1D harmonic oscillator:

p2
+ 12 mω 2 x2 = ~ω(a+ a− + 12 ),with eigenvalues En = n + 12 , a± = √2~mω
1


H = 2m (∓ip + mωx)
q q
2 (a− + a+ ) and [a− , a+ ] ≡ a− a+ − a+ a− = 1
~
x = 2mω (a− + a+ ) and p = ~mω
mω 1/4 − mω 2
x
e 2~ , ψn (x) = √1n! (a+ )n ψ0 (x)

 
ψ0 (x) = π~
√ √
a+ |ψn i = n + 1|ψn+1 i and a− |ψn i = n|ψn−1 i

Tips
R +∞ Rfor integrals: R ∞ R π R 2π
+∞ R +∞
−∞ −∞ −∞ dxdydz = r=0 θ=0 φ=0 r2 sin(θ)drdθdφ
R ∞ n −λr n!
0 r e dr = λn+1 (if n ∈ N)
cos(θ)
R ∞ sin(θ)dθ =psin(θ) d sin(θ), cos2 (θ) sin(θ)dθ = − cos2 (θ) d cos(θ)
2
−bx dx =
−∞ e π/b (if b > 0)
R ∞ 2 −bx2 √
π
−∞ x e dx = 2b3/2 (if b > 0)
R ∞ 4 −bx2 √
3 π
−∞ x e dx = 4b5/2 (if b > 0)

Time-independent perturbation theory:

H = H0 + H0
En1 = hψn0 |H 0 |ψn0 i

1
 0 |H 0 |ψ 0 i
hψm
ψn1 = 0
P
0 −E 0 ) ψm
n
m6=n (En m

Time-dependent perturbation theory / transition probabilities

H = H 0 + H 0 (t), ψ = ca ψa + cb ψb , H 0 ψa = Ea ψa , H 0 ψb = Eb ψb , 0 ≡ hψ |H 0 (t)|ψ i
Hab a b
i 0 −iωab t i 0 −iωab t 0 0 =0
ċa = − ~ Hab e ċb = − ~ Hba e where ωab ≡ (Eb − Ea )/~ and Haa = Hbb
(1) Rt 0 (τ )eiωab τ
Probability of transition Pa→b (t) ≡ |cb (t)|, where perturbative solution cb (t) = − ~i 0 dτ Hba
Constants:
~ = h/2π = 1.05 × 10−34 m2 kg s−1 [reduced Planck’s constant]
8
c = 3.00 × 10 m/s [speed of light]
me = 9.1 × 10−31 kg [electron mass]
e = 1.6 × 10 −19 C [elementary charge]
mp = 1.67 × 10−27 kg
a = 0.5 × 10−10 m [Bohr radius]
0 = 8.85 × 10 −12 F m−1 [vacuum permittivity]
ω = (2πc)/λ

Pauli 
matrices:
    
0 1 0 −i 1 0
σx = , σy = , σz = .
1 0 i 0 0 −1
Eigenvalues of angular operators (holds for J, L, S):
hJ 2 i = ~2 j(j + 1) , hJz i = ~mj

Hamiltonian due to torque on a magnetic dipole:

~ where µ ˆ
q ~ ˆ
q ~
Ĥ = −~
µ · B, ~S = m S is due to spin, and µ
~L = 2m L is due to orbital angular momentum.

2
Question 1 - Spin [12 points]
     
0 1 α
A particle with spin 1/2 can be prepared in some state χ
~ = α~χ↓ +β~χ↑ ≡ α +β = ,
1 0 β
where α = cos 2θ and β = i sin 2θ , and θ is some arbitrary angle in the range from 0◦ to 180◦ .
χ
~ ↑ and χ
~ ↓ are the eigenstates of the operator Ŝz of the spin projection on the z-axis. The
experimentalist can choose to measure the projection of the spin on any axis of their liking.

a) [1pt] Write down the representation of spin projection operators Ŝx , Ŝy and Ŝz in terms
of Pauli matrices, σ̂x , σ̂y and σ̂z from the Formula Sheet.

b) [2pt] If the experimentalist chooses to measure Ŝz , what are the possible outcomes of this
measurement and what are the probabilities of these outcomes?

c) [4pt] If the experimentalist chooses to measure Ŝy instead, what outcomes of the mea-
surement should we expect and with what probabilities? [Hint: You will need to find
eigenvalues and eigenstates of the Ŝy operator.]

d) [5pt] Assume now that the experimentalist makes 2 sequential measurements on the
particle. First, the spin projection Ŝφ is measured on the axis in xy-plane oriented at
angle φ to the x-axis. Then, directly after the first measurement, the projection of the
spin on the z-axis is measured, Ŝz . Prove that the particle is equally likely to be found
with the spin up or the spin down after the second measurement irrespective of the initial
~ , i.e. that p↑ = p↓ = 21 . [Hint: Use the fact that Ŝφ = Ŝx cos(φ) + Ŝy sin(φ) and find
state χ
the eigenstates and eigenvalues of this operator, using Pauli matrices representation. Cal-
culating the probabilities after the second measurement, take into account the probabilities
of the outcomes of the first measurement.]

3
Question 2 - Force-driven oscillator [12 points]
p 2 2
Consider the harmonic oscillator H0 = 2m + 12 mω 2x . The oscillator is driven by a periodic
resonance force F (t) = F0 cos(ωt). Given that this is equivalent to the time-dependent linear
perturbation H 0 (t) = −F (t)x ≡ −F0 x cos(ωt), to the original Hamiltonian:

a) [3pt] Show that this perturbation is equivalent to the change of potential energy in time
F0 F02
as V (x, t) = 12 mω 2 (x − x0 (t))2 − E0 (t), where x0 (t) = mω 2 cos(ωt) and E0 (t) = 4mω 2 [1 +
π
cos(2ωt)]. Draw the plot of V (x, 0), V (x, 2ω ) (1/4 of the period) and V (x, ωπ ) in the same
axes as a function of x and mark the minima of the 3 parabolae with their coordinates
expressed in terms of F0 , m, ω.

b) [3pt] Calculate the matrix elements of the perturbation Hmn 0 ≡ hψm |Ĥ 0 (t)|ψn i for tran-
sitions between the energy eigenstates of the oscillator, ψn and ψm . Show that only for
m = n±1 they are not equal to zero. What does this mean in terms of transitions between
the energy eigenstates of the oscillator? [Hint: Use representation of x in terms of ladder
operators from the Formula Sheet]

c) [4pt] Assuming that the oscillator was in the ground state at t = 0, use the 1-st order
(1)
perturbation formula for c1 (t) for a two-level system to estimate the transition probability
as a function of time. Show that this formula leads to an unphysical result:

F02 t2 h sin(2ωt) 2 sin4 (ωt) i

p0→1 (t) = 1+ + −−−→ O(t2 )  1
8~mω 2ωt (ωt)2 t→∞

d) [2pt] Speculate, why one cannot simply use the two-level system formula in this case for
all values of t. Assume that t  2π/ω and get the approximate expression for p0→1 (t) in
this limit, using Taylor expansion (use sin(x) ' x if x  1).

4
Question 3 - Stark effect vs. Zeeman effect [10 points]
~ ext , the energy levels are shifted.
When an atom is placed in a uniform external electric field E
This phenomenon is known as the Stark effect. When the field points in the z-direction, the
perturbed Hamiltonian takes the shape HS0 = eEext z.

a) [1pt] Write down the Stark correction in spherical coordinates.

b) [2pt] Show that the ground state energy of Hydrogen, ψ100 , is not affected by this per-
turbation (to the first order). (Tip: don’t forget to look at the formula sheet!)

c) [4pt] It turns out that the energy perturbations for all combinations of n = 2 states
are zero as well, except for hψ200 |HS0 |ψ210 i. Calculate this contribution, and show that it
results in
ES0 = −3aeEext

d) [3pt] Compare the energy correction to the n = 2 level of Hydrogen due to Stark effect
to that caused by the Zeeman effect. The latter occurs in the external magnetic field Bext
and leads to the following energy correction
3 e~

EZ0 = gj Bext ,
2 2m

where gj = [1 + (S~ · J)/J

~ 2 ] is known as Lande g-factor. Calculate g-factor for the first

excited state of Hydrogen with s = 1/2 and l = 1 (and j = l + s). Assuming that
Bext = Eext /c (which is typical for e.g. an incoming electromagnetic wave), which effect,
Zeeman or Stark, causes the largest shift in the energy level?