Part I

QM HW- Rak
1 Problem 1
a.
The Thomas-Reiche-Kuhn sum rule

The hats for operators are supressed. Observe,

[x, p2 ] = p[x, p] + [x, p]p = 2i~p (1)
So,

p2
  
[x, [x, H]] = x, x, + V (x)
2m
p2
  
= x, x,
2m
1
= [x, 2i~p]
2m
~2
=− .
m
But,
[x, [x, H]] = x[x, H] − [x, H]x
= x2 H − 2xHx + Hx2
now,

~2
hn| [x, [x, H]] |ni = hn| − |ni
m
~2
hn| x2 H − 2xHx + Hx2 |ni = −
m
2
~
2En hn| x2 |ni − 2 hn| xHx |ni = −
m
2
2 ~
En hn| x |ni − hn| xHx |ni = −
2m

1
 |n0 i hn0 | = 1
P
We know from completeness of the basis: n0

X ~2
(En hn| x |n0 i hn0 | x |ni − hn| xH |n0 i hn0 | x |ni) = −
n0
2m
X ~2
(En hn| x |n0 i hn0 | x |ni − En0 hn| x |n0 i hn0 | x |ni) = −
n0
2m
X ~2
(En − En0 )| hn| x |n0 i |2 = −
n0
2m
X ~2
(En0 − En )| hn| x |n0 i |2 =
n0
2m
b.
The energy of the nth state of a quantum harmonic oscillator is given by:
1
En = ~ω(n + ) (2)
2
we use raising and lowering operators:
r
~
x= (a + a† )
2mω
And the states are orthogonal to each other. so,
X ~ X
(En0 − En )| hn| x |n0 i |2 = (En0 − En )| hn| (a + a† ) |n0 i |2
n0
2mω n0
~ X √ √
= (En0 − En )| hn| ( n0 |n0 − 1i + n0 + 1 |n0 + 1i)|2
2mω n0
~ X √ √
= (En0 − En )|( n0 δn,n0 −1 + n0 + 1δn,n0 +1 |2
2mω n0
~
= ((En0 − En )n0 δn,n0 −1 + (En0 − En )(n0 + 1)δn,n0 +1 )
2mω
~
= ((En+1 − En )n0 + (En−1 − En )(n0 + 1))
2mω
~2
= ((n + 1 − n)(n + 1) + (n − 1 − n)(n − 1))
2m
~2
=
2m
I guess it works!

2
2 Problem 2
Second order time-independent perturbation theory
We have our eigenvalue equation with known solutions:

H 0 |n0 i = En0 |n0 i (3)

We add our perturbation

H = H 0 + λH 0 (4)
And using our expansion for the wavefunction and energy , the eigenvalue
equation looks like this:

(H 0 +H 0 )(|n0 i+λ |n2 i+λ2 |n2 i+...) = (En0 +λEn1 +λ2 En2 +...)(|n0 i+λ |n1 i+λ2 |n2 i+...)
(5)
I don’t remember which orthogonality condition we used in class but in my
undergrad we used
hn0 | |n0 i = 1,
so we shall use that here.
From our first order stuff we already know the first order correction:

|ni = |n0 i + (6)

From our good old eigenvalue equation, if we separate the second order
terms, we get:

H 0 |n2 i + H 0 |n1 i = En0 |n2 i + En1 |n1 i + En2 |n0 i

we take the inner product of both side with hm0 |, where m 6= n

hm0 | H 0 |n2 i + hm0 | H 0 |n1 i = hm0 | En0 |n2 i + hm0 | En1 |n1 i + hm0 | En2 |n0 i

We get:

Em0
hm0 |n2 i + hm0 | H 0 |n1 i = En0 hm0 |n2 i + En1 hm0 |n1 i + En2 hm0 |n0 i
or,
(Em 0
− En0 ) hm0 |n2 i + hm0 | H 0 |n1 i = En1 hm0 |n1 i + En1 hm0 |n1 i + 0
or,
hm0 | H 0 |n1 i En1 hm0 |n1 i
hm0 |n2 i = − 0 +
(Em − En0 ) (Em 0 − E0)
n

3
Now we use the expression for |n1 i and get this God-Awful thing:
hm0 | H 0 |n0 i hn0 | H 0 |n0 i En1 hm0 | |n0 i hn0 | H 0 |n0 i
hm0 |n2 i = − Σ m6 = n + Σ m6 = n
(Em0 − E0)
n En0 − En0 (Em 0 − E0)
n En0 − En0
hm0 | H 0 |n0 i hn0 | H 0 |n0 i En1 hm0 |n0 i hn0 | H 0 |n0 i
= −Σm6=n 0 + Σ m6 = n
(Em − En0 ) En0 − En0 (Em0 − E0)
n En0 − En0
hm0 | H 0 |n0 i hn0 | H 0 |n0 i hn0 | H 0 |n0 i hm0 |n0 i hn0 | H 0 |n0 i
= Σm6=n 0 − Σ m6 =n
(En − Em 0) En0 − En0 (En0 − Em 0) En0 − En0
hm0 | H 0 |n0 i hn0 | H 0 |n0 i hn0 | H 0 |n0 i hn0 | H 0 |n0 i
= Σm6=n 0 0)
− Σ m6=n δ 0 0
0 ) m ,n E 0 − E 0
(En − Em En0 − En0 (En0 − Em n n
hm0 | H 0 |n00 i hn0 | H 0 |n0 i hn0 | H 0 |n0 i hm0 | H 0 |n0 i
= Σm6=n 0 0)
− Σm6=n
(En − Em En0 − En0 (En0 − Em 0 )2

we have :
c2m = hn0 |n2 i (7)
So taking an inner product of the above expression with |m0 i , where
m 6= n.
|n2 i =
hm0 | H 0 |n00 i hn0 | H 0 |n0 i hn0 | H 0 |n0 i hm0 | H 0 |n0 i
 
Σn0 6=n Σm6=n − |m0 i
(En0 − Em
0) En0 − En0 (En0 − Em 0 )2

3 Problem 3
Harmonic oscillator with a field F
Since the field is constant, the potential can be written as −xF .
Our Hamiltonian becomes:
~2 d2 1
H= 2
+ kx2 − qF x (8)
2m dx 2
The perturbation is −qF x.
a. The first order correction is zero because of parity. (Dipole Selection
Rule)

b. I spent a substantial bit of time trying to find a function of x that would

satisfy Ω when I should have moved to differential operator. I think the
doctor took more than my wisdom tooth.

4
 ∂
After a substantial bit of commutator gymnastics , the author tried Ω =
∂x
∂ ∂2
We note [ , ]=0
∂x ∂x2

H 0 = [Ω, H 0 ]
∂ kx2
or, −qF x =
∂x 2
or, −qf x = kx

Looks like we are off by some constants, so we disguise our operator to fit
our reality
−qF ∂
Ω= (9)
K ∂x
We can actually disguise it further
iqf
Ω=− P̂ (10)
mω 2 ~
Now we invoke our ladder operators
r
~mω
P̂ = −i (a − a† )
2
r
2
x̂ = i (a + a† )
~mω
Now we find our energy correction:

En(2) = hn| H 0 Ω |ni + hn| H 0 |ni hn| Ω |ni

5
The last two terms are zero.
En(2) = hn| H 0 Ω |ni
iq 2 f 2
=− hn| x̂P̂ |ni
mω 2 ~
iq 2 f 2 ~
=− 2
hn| (a − a† )(a + a† ) |ni
mω ~ 2i
q2f 2
=− hn| (a − a† )(a + a† ) |ni
2mω 2
q2f 2
=− 2
hn| (aa − a† a + aa† + a† a† ) |ni
2mω
q2f 2
=−
2mω 2
note: We used hn| aa |ni = hn| a† a† |ni = 0 and hn| aa† |ni = 1

4 Problem 4
Stark effect in Hydrogen for n=2

0 ~2 2 Ze2
H =− ∇ − F (11)
2m 4πε0 r
For n=2, l=0,1 and for l = 0 =⇒ m = 0 but for l = 1, m = 0, −1, 1
we have 4 degenerate states: |nlmi = |200i , |210i , |211i , h21 − 1|
We have the fine structure constant and the bohr radius:
e2
α= = 1/137
4π0 ~c
4π0 ~2
a0 =
me e2
WLOG, introduce a small electric field in the z direction.
H 0 = E ẑ
In spherical coordinates:
H 0 = eE ẑ = Eercos(θ)
We calculate the matrix elements now:
hnlm| H 0 |nl0 m0 i

6
From the selection rules, we know that for non-zero matrix elements, we
need to have l0 = l + 1 and m0 = m
This gives us the only non zero matrix element:

h200| H 0 |210i = h210| H 0 |200i

We know the radial wavefunctions:

  32 Zr
1 Z Zr − 2a
ψ200 = √ (2 − )e 0
32π a0 a0
  32 Zr
1 Z Zr − 2a
ψ210 = √ e 0 cos(θ)
32πr a0 a0 r
1 3
And: Y00 = and Y10 = cos(θ)
4π 4π
Using a computer program:

Z ∞ Z π Z 2π
0
h210| H |200i = ψ200 (r)Er cos(θ)Y00 Y10 ψ210 (r, θ)r2 sin(θ)dφ dθ dr
0 0 0
= −3ea0 E
(Z = 1)

We have the reduced

 matrix:
0 −1
3ea0 E
1 0
We can get the eigenvalues.
The eigenvectors
 1  are given by:
√
 2
eˆ1 =  1 
√
 12 
√
 2
eˆ1 =  −1 
√
2
So the energy shift in the two states |200i and |210i are 3ea0 E and −3ea0 E.