Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Trivandrum

PHY-413

Quantum Mechanics-2
Assignment 1

04.08.2014

Notes:
1. Deadline: 22 August 2014

1. Conserved quantities
What components of momentum (P ) and angular momentum (L) are conserved in the following fields?
(a) field of an infinite homogeneous plane
(b) field of an infinite homogeneous cylinder
(c) field of an infinite homogeneous prism
(d) field of an infinite homogeneous semiplane
(e) field of a homogeneous cone
(f) field of a homogeneous circular ring
(g) field of an infinite homogeneous helix
2. Gauge Transformation and Schrodinger equation
In Electrodynamics you have learnt of Gauge transformations
A A +

(1)

In quantum mechanics one can look at similar transformations. The aim of

this question is to take you through the transformations.
We all know that the phase of the wavefunction satisfying the free particle
Schrodinger equation
(x, t))
h
2 2
ih
=
(x, t)
t
2m

(2)

can not be determined. In other words, the phase of the wavefunction

can be determined without altering the outcome of the experiments.
In the language of transformations, this would mean that all physical results
will produce if we perform the following transformation:
(x, t) 0 (x, t) = (x, t) exp (ip(x, t))
where p(x, t) is an arbitrary function.
1

(3)

(a) Does 0 (x, t) satisfy the free particle Schrodinger equation (2)?
(b) Repeat the transformation (3) for the following Schrodinger equation
i
h
2 h
(x, t)
=
ih
( + iA)2 + V (x) (x, t)
t
2m

(4)

Under what transformations of A and V , 0 (x, t) satisfy the above

Schrodinger equation.
(c) Can you identify the transformations of A and V ? Are they similar to
Eq. (1)?
3. Derive the conservation law corresponding to translational symmetry for a
charged particle in
(a) a homogeneous electric field E
(b) a homogeneous magnetic field B

4. For any differential operator B(x),

prove the following relations
(a)


n

i
p
h

B(x)
=

j B
j
j=0 x
n
X

nj

i
p
h

(5)

(b) Use the above relation and show that

U = A(x
+ )
U A(x)
where

(6)

i
U = exp x
h

5. Invariance of the kinetic energy operator under a transformation

An important symmetry property of any quantum mechanical system is
that the kinetic-energy operator T is invariant under any symmetry transformation U . In terms of the corresponding transformation operator U ,
we can write this property as [T, U ] = 0
(a) Use the chain rule to prove, by algebraic demonstration, that the
kinetic-energy operator T of a particle in one dimension is invariant
under an inversion.
(b) Use reasoning by analogy to construct an argument that T(x, y) of a
particle in two dimensions (cartesian coordinates) is invariant under
inversion.
y) is invariant under inver(c) Now use the chain rule to prove that T (x,
sion.
2

(d) Show that T(, ), the two-dimensional kinetic-energy operator in polar coordinates, is invariant under inversion.
(e) Show that T(, ) is invariant under an arbitrary translation and under
an arbitrary rotation Rz ().
(f) Generalize the above resullt to T for a particle in three dimensions
expressed in Cartesian, spherical, or cylindrical coordinates.