PHYSICS 5720

FALL 2013 Problem Set # 2 Due date: Tuesday 9/10/2013 1. QM review (spin-1/2): (Grith Prob. 4.18) Suppose an electron is in the state
1 5 2 5

. [15 points total, or 5 points each for (a), (b) and (c)]

(a) If you measured Sx , what values might you get, and what is the probability of each? (b) If you measured Sy , what values might you get, and what is the probability of each? (c) If you measured Sz , what values might you get, and what is the probability of each? (hint: You will need to rst nd the eigenstates of Sx,y,z .) 2. Spin: (Grith Prob. 4.23 modied) (20 points total) The extension of everything in Section 4.2.2 to higher spin is relatively straightforward. For spin 1 we have states three 0 0 1 (ms = +1, 0, 1), which we may represent by column vectors: 0 , 1 , 0 1 0 0 respectively. The only problem is to construct the 3 3 matrices Sx , Sy , and Sz . Lets follow the procedure below: z for spin 1. (4 points) (a) Construct S x and S y it is easiest to start with the raising and lowering operators, (b) To obtain S S = Sx iSy , which have the property S |sm = h s(s + 1) m(m 1)|s(m 1) . + and S , for spin 1. (4 points each) Construct the matrices S x and S y . (2 points each) (c) Using (b), determine the spin-1 matrices S (d) What type of group do spin-1 operators belong? (4 points) 3. Isospin: Grith Prob. 4.33 (15 points total) (a) The particle is a bound state of two protons and two neutrons, that is, a 4 He nucleus. There is no isotope of hydrogen with an atomic weight of four (4 H), nor of lithium 4 Li. What do you conclude about the isospin of an particle? (5 points) (b) The reaction d + d + 0 has never been observed as a strong interaction. Explain why. (5 points) (c) Would you expect 4 Be to exist? How about a bound state of four neutrons? (5 points) Problem 4. (25 points total, or 5 points each) Following the derivation of C and G in lecture, derive the C value for , and the G parity for , , and . 1 (1)