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Names: Englert, Berthold-Georg, 1953– author.
Title: Lectures on quantum mechanics / Berthold-Georg Englert.
Description: Second edition, corrected and enlarged. | Hackensack : World Scientific Publishing
Co. Pte. Ltd., 2024. | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Contents: Basic matters -- Simple systems -- Perturbed evolution.
Identifiers: LCCN 2023040959 (print) | LCCN 2023040960 (ebook) |
ISBN 9789811284724 (v. 1 ; hardcover) | ISBN 9789811284984 (v. 1 ; paperback) |
ISBN 9789811284755 (v. 2 ; hardcover) | ISBN 9789811284991 (v. 2 ; paperback) |
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ISBN 9789811284731 (v. 1 ; ebook) | ISBN 9789811284762 (v. 2 ; ebook) |
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Subjects: LCSH: Quantum theory. | Physics.
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Printed in Singapore
To my teachers, colleagues, and students
This page intentionally left blank
 Preface

This book on the Perturbed Evolution of quantum systems grew out of a

set of lecture notes for a fourth-year undergraduate course at the National
University of Singapore (NUS). The reader is expected to be familiar with
the subject matter of a solid introduction to quantum mechanics, such as
Dirac’s formalism of kets and bras, Schrödinger’s and Heisenberg’s equa-
tions of motion, and the standard examples that can be treated exactly,
with harmonic oscillators and hydrogen-like atoms among them.
After brief reviews of quantum kinematics and dynamics, including dis-
cussions of Bohr’s principle of complementarity and Schwinger’s quantum
action principle, the attention turns to the elements of time-dependent
perturbation theory and then to the scattering by localized interactions.
Fermi’s golden rule, the Born series, and the Lippmann–Schwinger equa-
tion are returning themes.
A chapter on general angular momentum prepares the ground for a dis-
cussion of indistinguishable particles. The scattering of two particles of the
same kind, the basic properties of two-electron atoms, and a glimpse at
many-electron atoms illustrate the matter. Throughout the text, the learn-
ing student will benefit from the dozens of exercises on the way and the
detailed exposition that does not skip intermediate steps.
Two companion books on Basic Matters and Simple Systems cover the
material of the preceding courses at NUS for second- and third-year stu-
dents, respectively. The three books are, however, not strictly sequential
but rather independent of each other and largely self-contained. In fact,
there is quite some overlap and a considerable amount of repeated mate-
rial. While the repetitions send a useful message to the self-studying reader
about what is more important and what is less, one could do without them
and teach most of Basic Matters, Simple Systems, and Perturbed Evolution
in a coherent two-semester course on quantum mechanics.

vii
viii Lectures on Quantum Mechanics: Perturbed Evolution

All three books owe their existence to the outstanding teachers, col-
leagues, and students from whom I learned so much. I dedicate these lec-
tures to them.
I am grateful for the encouragement of Professors Choo Hiap Oh and
Kok Khoo Phua who initiated this project. The professional help by the
staff of World Scientific Publishing Co. was crucial for the completion; I
acknowledge the invaluable support of Miss Ying Oi Chiew and Miss Lai
Fun Kwong with particular gratitude. But nothing would have come about,
were it not for the initiative and devotion of Miss Jia Li Goh who turned
the original handwritten notes into electronic files that I could then edit.
I wish to thank my dear wife Ola for her continuing understanding and
patience by which she is giving me the peace of mind that is the source of
all achievements.
Singapore, March 2006 BG Englert

Note on the second edition

The feedback received from students and colleagues, together with my own
critical take on the three companion books on quantum mechanics, sug-
gested rather strongly that the books would benefit from a revision. This
task has now been completed.
Many readers have contributed entries to the list of errata. I wish to
thank all contributors sincerely and extend special thanks to Miss Hong
Zhenxi and Professor Lim Hock.
In addition to correcting the errors, I tied up some loose ends and
brought the three books in line with the later volumes in the “Lectures
on . . . ” series. There is now a glossary, and the exercises, which were in-
terspersed throughout the text, are collected after the main chapters and
supplemented by hints.
The team led by Miss Nur Syarfeena Binte Mohd Fauzi at World Sci-
entific Publishing Co. contributed greatly to getting the three books into
shape. I thank them very much for their efforts.
Beijing and Singapore, November 2023 BG Englert
 Contents

Preface vii

Glossary xiii
Miscellanea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Latin alphabet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv
Greek alphabet and Greek-Latin combinations . . . . . . . . . . xvi

1. Basics of Kinematics and Dynamics 1

1.1 Brief review of basic kinematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Bohr’s principle of complementarity . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2.1 Complementary observables . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2.2 Algebraic completeness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.2.3 Bohr’s principle. Technical formulation . . . . . . . 14
1.2.4 Composite degrees of freedom . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.2.5 The limit N → ∞. Symmetric case . . . . . . . . . 17
1.2.6 The limit N → ∞. Asymmetric case . . . . . . . . 22
1.2.7 Bohr’s principle. Quantum indeterminism . . . . . 26
1.3 Brief review of basic dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
1.3.1 Equations of motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
1.3.2 Time transformation functions . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
1.4 Schwinger’s quantum action principle . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
1.4.1 An example: Constant force . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
1.4.2 Insertion: Varying an exponential function . . . . . 36
1.4.3 Time-independent Hamilton operator . . . . . . . . 38

2. Time-Dependent Perturbations 41
2.1 Born series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.2 Scattering operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

ix
x Lectures on Quantum Mechanics: Perturbed Evolution

2.3 Dyson series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

2.4 Fermi’s golden rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.5 Photon emission by a “two-level atom” . . . . . . . . . . . 52
2.5.1 Golden-rule treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
2.5.2 A more detailed treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
2.5.3 An exact treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
2.6 Driven two-level atom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
2.6.1 Schrödinger equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
2.6.2 Resonant drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
2.6.3 Periodic drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2.6.4 Very slow drive: Adiabatic evolution . . . . . . . . 68
2.7 Adiabatic population transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
2.8 Equation of motion for the unitary evolution operator . . 74

3. Scattering 79
3.1 Probability density, probability current density . . . . . . 79
3.2 One-dimensional prelude: Forces scatter . . . . . . . . . . 82
3.3 Scattering by a localized potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
3.3.1 Golden-rule approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
3.3.2 Example: Yukawa potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.3.3 Rutherford cross section as a limit . . . . . . . . . 91
3.4 Lippmann–Schwinger equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3.4.1 Born approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
3.4.2 Transition operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
3.4.3 Optical theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
3.4.4 Example of an exact solution . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
3.5 Partial waves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
3.6 s-wave scattering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

4. Angular Momentum 115

4.1 Spin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
4.2 Addition of two angular momenta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
4.2.1 General case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
4.2.2 Two spin- 12 systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
4.2.3 Total angular momentum of an electron . . . . . . 123

5. External Magnetic Field 125

5.1 Electric charge in a magnetic field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
5.2 Electron in a homogeneous magnetic field . . . . . . . . . 132
 Contents xi

6. Indistinguishable Particles 139

6.1 Indistinguishability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
6.2 Bosons and fermions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
6.3 Scattering of two indistinguishable particles . . . . . . . . 144
6.4 Two-electron atoms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
6.4.1 Variational estimate for the ground state . . . . . . 148
6.4.2 Perturbative estimate for the first excited states . . 155
6.4.3 Self-consistent single-electron wave functions . . . . 156
6.5 A glimpse at many-electron atoms . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Exercises with Hints 165

Exercises for Chapters 1–6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Hints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Index 187
This page intentionally left blank
 Glossary

Here is a list of the symbols used in the text; the numbers in square brackets
indicate the pages of first occurrence or of other significance.

Miscellanea
0 null symbol: number 0, or null column, or null matrix,
or null ket, or null bra, or null operator, et cetera
1 unit symbol: number 1, or unit matrix, or identity
operator, et cetera
A= bB read “A represents B” or “A is represented by B”
Max{ } , Min{ } maximum, minimum of a set of real numbers
a∗ , a complex conjugate of a, absolute value of a
Re(a) , Im(a) real, imaginary part of a
a= a length of vector a
a · b, a × b scalar, vector product of vectors a and b
†
A adjoint of A [3]
det(A), tr(A) determinant [144], trace of A [14]
| i, h |; |1i, ha| generic ket, bra; labeled ket, bra [1]
|initi, hfin| initial ket, final bra [63]
|ini, |outi kets for incoming, outgoing particles [92]
|j1 , j2 ; j, mi, |(j1 , m1 )(j2 , m2 )i kets for composite angular momentum [120]
h | i, | ih | bra-ket, ket-bra [2,3]
| . . . , ti, h. . . , t| ket, bra at time t [27]
h. . . , t1 |. . . , t2 i time transformation function [29]
hAi mean value, expectation value of A
[A, B] commutator of A and B [19]
 
A(t)A(t0 ) > time-ordered product [46]
↑, ↓ spin-up, spin-down [122]
x! factorial of x [152]
f 2 (x), f −1 (x)
x 7→ f (x):

square, inverse
of the function
f 2 (x) = f f (x) , f f −1 (x) = x, f −1 f (x) = x

xiii
xiv Lectures on Quantum Mechanics: Perturbed Evolution

f (x)2 , f (x)−1 square, reciprocal

2 of the function value:
f (x)2 = f (x) , f (x)−1 = 1/f (x)
f (A; B) ordered function of operators A, B [13]
dt, δt differential, variation of t
d ∂
, total, parametric time derivative
dt ∂t
∇ gradient vector differential operator
(dr ), dS ; dΩ volume element for r , vectorial surface element [79];
solid-angle element [86]
⊗ tensor product: |ai ⊗ |bi = |a, bi

Latin alphabet
a range of the hard-sphere potential [110]
a0 Bohr radius, a0 = 0.529 Å [151]
a(t), b(t) probability amplitudes [70]
a(s) Laplace transform of α(t) [60]
A, aj generic operator, its jth eigenvalue [1]
A(t) collection of dynamical variables [27]
A± , A†± harmonic-oscillator ladder operators [129]
A(r ), B(r ) vector potential, magnetic field at r [125]
Å angstrom unit, 1Å = 10−10 m = 0.1 nm [151]
c speed of light, c = 2.99792 × 108 cm s−1 [125]
cos, sin, . . . trigonometric functions
cosh, sinh, . . . hyperbolic functions
e elementary charge, e = 4.80320 × 10−10 Fr [91]
e; ex = exp(x) Euler’s number, e = 2.71828 . . . ; exponential function
E, En , E energy, nth eigenenergy [48], Lagrange parameter [157]
f (uk , vl
) normalized mixed matrix element [12]
f k 0, k scattering amplitude [98]
F, F (x) force [35,85]
G, G1 , G2 generators [32]
G± (r , r 0 ), G Green’s functions [94], Green’s operator [101]
h = 2π~ Planck’s constant,
~ = 1.05457 × 10−34 J s = 0.658212 eV fs [19]
H, Ht , H Hamilton operator [27], at time t [29], matrix for H [68]
H0 , H1 ; H1 dominant, small part of H [41]; interaction picture [45]
Hatom , Hphot , atom, photon part of H [53]
Hint ; Hrot interaction part of H [53]; H for rotation [115]
 Glossary xv

H⊥ , H k perpendicular, parallel part of H [127]

H(1, 2) two-particle Hamilton operator [139]
HCM , Hrel center-of-mass, relative-motion parts of H [140]
Hkin , HNe , Hee parts of H for many-electron atoms [149]
i imaginary unit, i2 = −1
jl ( ) lth spherical Bessel function [107]
j (r , t), jscat (r ) probability current density [79], scattered current [97]
J , J± total angular momentum vector, ladder operators [117]
k ; k, k(x) wave vector [86]; wave number, with x dependence [83]
L, L angular momentum operator (one axis) [24], orbital
angular momentum vector operator [105]
l, m; j, m angular momentum quantum numbers [106,117]
mod modulo (modular arithmetic) [23]
M mass [30]
N
period of the basic unitary operators [7]
O  terms of oder  or smaller [96]
prob(e) probability for event e [2]
P momentum operator for the x direction [19]
p, P, Pj momentum vector, operator, for the jth particle [80]
Pl ( ) lth Legendre polynomial [107]
P principal value [58]
q change in the wave vector [89]; charge [125]
rj jth eigenvalue of the statistical operator [26]
r , R, Rj position vector, operator, for the jth particle [79]
Ry Rydberg unit of energy, 1 Ry = 13.6 eV [150]
s length of difference vector [94], spin value [142]
S(T ), Sn (T ) scattering operator [44], its nth approximation [46]
S; S scattering matrix [86]; spin vector operator [115]
s, p, d, f spectroscopic state labels [123]
t; t1 , t2 time [27]; final, initial time [32]
T duration [30]; transition operator [100]
U, V ; uk , vk basic unitary operators; their kth eigenvalues [8]
U (T ), U0 (T )
unitary evolution operators [44]
U A(t); t0 , t unitary evolution operator [74]
V (r ), V (x), V0 potential energy [80,82,110]
VLS strength of spin-orbit coupling [137]
V velocity vector operator [125]
W12 action operator [33]
x, y, z cartesian coordinates, components of r
xvi Lectures on Quantum Mechanics: Perturbed Evolution

X position operator for the x direction [19]

Ylm (ϑ, ϕ) spherical harmonics [106]
Z0 , Z ± components of S [134]
Z, Zeff atomic number [91], effective value [151]

Greek alphabet and Greek-Latin combinations

α(t), βν (t) time dependent probability amplitudes [55]
γ, γm ← n transition rate [49], from the nth to the mth state [51]
Γ complex decay rate [56]
δjk , δ(x, y) Kronecker’s delta symbol [3,13]
δ, δa, δa variation [29], of variable a, with respect to a
δl lth scattering phase [108]
δ(x − x0 ) Dirac’s delta function [20]
∆; ∆p detuning [66]; finite difference (of variable p) [21]
 small increment
θ scattering angle [90]
κ wave number (integration variable) [94]
λ formal expansion parameter [41]
µB ; µ Bohr magneton; magnetic dipole moment vector [132]
Aν , A†ν ; a0ν , a∗ν ladder operators for photons of the νth kind [52]; their
amplitudes [63]
π Archimedes’s constant, π = 3.14159 . . .
ρ, ρ(r , t) statistical operator [26], probability density [79]
ρ(E) density of states [52]
σ, σ † atomic ladder operators [52]
σ; σx , σy , σz ; Pauli vector operator; cartesian components [115]
dσ
,σ differential cross section [88], total cross section [104]
dω
τ ; t(τ ), X(τ ) path parameter; path variables [33]
φ, ϕ azimuth [23], azimuthal shift [24]
φ(k, x), φ± (k, x) wave-number amplitudes in ψ(x, t) [83,84]
ϕ, ϑ angular parameters [68], azimuth, polar angle [106]
ψ(r , t) position wave function at time t [79]
ψ±,scat (r ) scattered wave function [97]
ω, ∆ω transition frequency [49], frequency shift [58]
ω effective transition frequency [68]
f (ω) state-density averaged squared Rabi frequencies [54]
ω, ωcycl angular velocity vector [115], cyclotron frequency [128]
Ων , Ω0 , Ω νth [53], reduced [65], modified Rabi frequency [67]
Ω1 (t), Ω2 (t) time-dependent Rabi frequencies [71]
 Chapter 1

Basics of Kinematics and Dynamics

1.1 Brief review of basic kinematics

In quantum mechanics, the physical quantities are symbolized by linear

operators A, B, . . . that act on vectors — elements of a vector space, that
is, not physical vectors in the three-dimensional space of our experience. We
often speak of observables when referring to these linear operators, which is
a sloppy use of terminology because, more precisely, the operators are the
mathematical symbols that represent the physical “observable” properties
or simply “observables.” The vectors they act on come in two kinds: ket
vectors |. . .i and bra vectors h. . .| (or right vectors and left vectors). The
mathematical operation of hermitian conjugation, or as the physicists say,
“taking the adjoint,” relates them to each other,

† †
... = ... , ... = ... , (1.1.1)

where it is understood that the ellipses indicate identical sets of quantum

numbers, which serve as the labels that identify the kets and bras. We
write | i and h | for the generic, unlabeled ket and bra.
A measurement of an observable A yields one of the possible measure-
ment results a1 , a2 , a3 , . . ., which are complex numbers in general. If it is
known that a measurement of A will surely return the value aj , then we
say that the quantum mechanical system is in the state |aj i,

aj : A aj = aj aj , (1.1.2)

which — mathematically speaking — is an eigenvector equation, here: an

eigenket equation. Here, we choose to label the eigenkets by their eigen-
values; this is not necessary and not always convenient and other labeling

1
2 Basic Kinematics and Dynamics

conventions are possible. There is also the corresponding eigenbra equation,

aj A = aj aj . (1.1.3)
The measurement result aj is the eigenvalue of A in both the eigenket
equation (1.1.2) and the eigenbra equation (1.1.3).
Under these circumstances, namely the system is in the state described
by the ket |aj i, the probability of finding the value bk upon measuring
observable B is
2
prob(bk ← aj ) = bk aj . (1.1.4)

The complex number hbk |aj i is the probability amplitude for the measure-
ment result bk in state |aj i; its absolute square is the associated probability.
This amplitude has all properties that are required of an inner product, in
particular
a = a0 + a00 : b a = b a0 + b a00 ,
a = α λ: b a = b α λ, (1.1.5)

where λ is any complex number and

∗
ab = ba ,
a a ≥ 0 with “=” only if a = 0 . (1.1.6)
In mathematical terms, these properties characterize the kets as elements
of an inner-product space or Hilbert∗ space. There is a Hilbert space for
the bras as well, related to that of the kets by hermitian conjugation.
The mathematical property ha|bi = hb|ai∗ has the very important phys-
ical implication that the two probabilities prob(b ← a) and prob(a ← b) are
equal,

prob(bk ← aj ) = prob(aj ← bk ) . (1.1.7)

The probabilities for these related, yet different, physical processes,
on the left: the probability of finding bk if aj is the case,
on the right: the probability of finding aj if bk is the case,

are therefore always equal. There is, of course, a lot of circumstantial ev-
idence for the validity of this fundamental symmetry, but — elementary
situations aside — there does not seem to be a systematic direct experi-
mental test.
∗ David Hilbert (1862–1943)
 Brief review of basic kinematics 3

Different measurement results for the same quantity A exclude each

other. This physical fact is expressed by the mathematical statement of
orthogonality,
aj ak = 0 if aj 6= ak or j 6= k . (1.1.8)
Inasmuch as prob(aj ← aj ) is the probability that a control measurement
confirms what is known, we must have
prob(aj ← aj ) = 1 (1.1.9)
so that haj |aj i = 1 must hold. Thus,
 
0 if j 6= k
aj ak = = δjk , (1.1.10)
1 if j = k
where we employ Kronecker’s∗ delta symbol for a compact presentation of
this statement of orthonormality.
Each measurement has a result. This physical fact has a mathematical
analog as well, the completeness relation
X
aj aj = 1 (= identity operator) (1.1.11)
j

so that the kets |aj i make up a basis for the ket space and the bras haj |
compose a basis for the bra space. As an immediate consequence, we note
that the eigenket equation
A aj = aj aj , (1.1.12)
multiplied by haj | on the right and then summed over j, yields
X
A= aj aj aj , (1.1.13)
j

the so-called spectral decomposition of A. We get the spectral decomposi-

tion of A† ,
X
A† = aj a∗j aj , (1.1.14)
j

by making use of the familiar product rule for the adjoint,

 †
1 λ 2 = 2 λ∗ 1 (1.1.15)

for any ket-bra |1ih2| and complex number λ.

∗ Leopold Kronecker (1823–1891)
4 Basic Kinematics and Dynamics

An apparatus that measures the physical property A, in fact measures

all functions of A,

f (A) aj = aj f (aj ) , (1.1.16)

because you just evaluate the function f (aj ) after finding the jth outcome.
Put differently, it is our choice whether we want to call the result aj or f (aj )
when the jth outcome is found. It follows that the spectral decomposition
of f (A) is given by
X
f (A) = aj f (aj ) aj . (1.1.17)
j

It makes consistent sense to regard f (A) thus defined as an operator-valued

function of operator A. For example, consider the simple function A2 ,
X 2
2
f (A) = A = aj aj aj
j
X
= aj aj aj ak ak ak
j,k
| {z }
= δjk
X X
= aj a2j aj = aj f (aj ) aj , (1.1.18)
j j

indeed. Similarly, you easily show that it works for other powers of A, then
for all polynomials, then for all functions that can be approximated by, or
related to, polynomials, and so forth. But what is really needed to ensure
that f (A) is well defined is that the numerical function f (aj ) is well defined
for all eigenvalues aj . As a consequence, two functions of A are the same
if they agree for all aj ,

f (A) = g(A) if f (aj ) = g(aj ) for all j . (1.1.19)

Exercise 1 provides an example.
We recall that operators of two particular kinds play special roles in
quantum mechanics. These are the hermitian ∗ operators, which are equal
to their adjoints,
hermitian: H = H † , (1.1.20)

and the unitary operators,

−1
unitary: U = U † , U U † = 1 = U †U , (1.1.21)
∗ Charles Hermite (1822–1901)
 Brief review of basic kinematics 5

for which the inverse equals the adjoint; see Exercises 2 and 3 for properties
of hermitian and unitary operators and the link between them.
Several observables A, B, C, . . . have their state kets |aj i, |bk i, |cl i, . . .
with probability amplitudes haj |bk i, hbk |cl i, hcl |aj i, . . . . These amplitudes
are not independent, however, but must obey the composition law
X
aj bk = aj cl cl bk , (1.1.22)
l

an immediate consequence of the completeness of the |cl i kets. The self-

suggesting interpretation
“First there is |bk i, eventually |aj i, and in between |cl i,
but we do not know which C value was actually the case (1.1.23)
and so we must sum over all cl .”
is wrong. The assumption of an actual C value at an intermediate stage
leads to logical contradictions.
There are two main reasons for this. First, the l sum is not a sum
of products of probabilities but of probability amplitudes. The resulting
statement about probabilities reads
X
prob(aj ← bk ) = prob(aj ← cl ) prob(cl ← bk )
l
X
+ cl0 aj aj cl cl bk bk c l 0 , (1.1.24)
l6=l0

where the appearance of the l 6= l0 terms signifies the possible occurrence

of quantum mechanical interferences. Only when the l 6= l0 sum happens
to vanish, which is an exceptional situation, the interpretation in (1.1.23)
is justified.
Second, there is the fundamental aspect that some observables exclude
each other mutually. This feature of quantum mechanics has no true ana-
log in classical physics. In particular, there are pairs of complementary
observables. The pair A, B is complementary if the probabilities in (1.1.4),
2
prob(bk ← aj ) = bk aj , (1.1.25)

do not depend on the quantum numbers aj and bk . Physically speaking, if

the system is prepared in a state in which the value of A is known, that is,
we can predict with certainty the outcome of a measurement of property
A, then all measurement results are equally probable in a measurement of
B, and vice versa.
6 Basic Kinematics and Dynamics

Now, if C and D are complementary, we have the sum over intermediate

C values of (1.1.22) supplemented by a sum over intermediate D values,
X X
aj bk = aj cl cl bk = aj dm dm bk . (1.1.26)
l m

The wrong interpretation after (1.1.22) would then imply that both C and
D have definite, though unknown, values at the intermediate stage because
the two sums are on equal footing. But this is utterly impossible.
Given operator A with its (nondegenerate) eigenvalues aj and the kets
|aj i, can we always find another observable, B, such that A, B are a pair
of complementary observables? Yes, we can by an explicit construction, for
which
N
1 X 2π
bk = √ aj ei N jk (1.1.27)
N j=1

is the basic example; more about this in Section 1.2.1. It is here assumed
that we deal with a quantum degree of freedom for which there can be at
most N different values for any measurement.
We need to verify that the B states of this construction are orthonormal.
Indeed, they are,
1 X −i 2π jk 2π
bk bl = e N aj am ei N lm
N j,m | {z }
= δjm
N
1 X −i 2π j(k − l)
= e N = δkl . (1.1.28)
N j=1

Then,
X
B= bk bk bk (1.1.29)
k

with any convenient choice for the nondegenerate B values bk will do. By
construction, we have
2 2
1 2π 1
aj bk = √ ei N jk = (1.1.30)
N N
so that A, B are a complementary pair, indeed. We note that this property
is actually primarily a property of the two bases of kets (and bras) associ-
ated with the pair of observables. A common terminology is to call such
pairs of bases unbiased.
 Bohr’s principle of complementarity 7

In passing, it is worth mentioning that there are quite basic questions

about sets of bases that are pairwise unbiased — referred to as mutually
unbiased bases — that do not have a known answer. Quantum kinematics
is not a closed subject but still the object of research despite the profound
understanding that has resulted from a century of intense studies.

1.2 Bohr’s principle of complementarity

1.2.1 Complementary observables

We consider the situation where we can have at most N different outcomes
of a measurement, that is, there are no more than N pairwise orthogonal
states available. One such set is composed of all the eigenstates of some
observable A, with the respective kets denoted by |a1 i, |a2 i, . . . , |aN i, which
make up a basis of orthonormal kets. Another set is obtained immediately
by a cyclic permutation, effected by the unitary operator U ,

a1 −→ a2 = U a1 ,
a2 −→ a3 = U a2 ,
..
.
aN −→ a1 = U aN , (1.2.1)

generally

U aj = aj+1 , (1.2.2)

where the index is to be understood modulo N so that |aN +1 i = |a1 i, for

example. Applying U twice shifts the index by 2,

U 2 aj = aj+2 , (1.2.3)

and N such shifts amount to doing nothing,

U N aj = aj+N = aj . (1.2.4)

Accordingly, we have

UN = 1 (1.2.5)

so that U is a unitary operator of period N .

8 Basic Kinematics and Dynamics

The eigenvalues of U must obey the same equation

uN = 1 if U u = u u (1.2.6)

for which
2π
uk = ei N k , k = 1, 2, . . . , N (1.2.7)

are the possible solutions, all of which occur. We can, therefore, write the
equation for U also in the factorized form

U N − 1 = (U − u1 )(U − u2 ) · · · (U − uN )
N
Y
= (U − uk ) . (1.2.8)
k=1

Let us isolate one factor,

Y
U N − 1 = (U − uk ) (U − ul ) , (1.2.9)
l(6=k)

and note the following:

(
Y 0 if m 6= k ,
(U − ul ) um = (1.2.10)
l(6=k)
uk α if m = k,

with some complex number α 6= 0, because one of the factors

U − ul → um − ul vanishes if m 6= k but all are nonzero if m = k. We con-
clude that the operator acting on |um i in (1.2.10) is a numerical multiple of
|uk ihuk |, the projector on the kth eigenstate. This product of N − 1 factors
is a polynomial in U of degree N − 1, for which we can also give another
construction. We apply the familiar identity
 
X N − 1 = (X − 1) 1 + X + X 2 + · · · + X N −1
N
X −1
= (X − 1) Xl (1.2.11)
l=0

to X = U/uk ,
N
X −1
N N
U − 1 = (U/uk ) − 1 = (U/uk − 1) (U/uk )l
l=0
N
X
= (U/uk − 1) (U/uk )l , (1.2.12)
l=1
 Bohr’s principle of complementarity 9

where the first step exploits uNk = 1 and the last step makes use of
(U/uk )0 = 1 = (U/uk )N . Now, for U → uk , the sum equals N , and so we
arrive at
N
1 X
l
uk uk = U/uk . (1.2.13)
N
l=1

So, we know the eigenvalues of U and have an explicit construction for

the projectors on those eigenvalues as a function of U itself, and now we
find out how the eigenkets of U are related to the original set of kets |aj i.
We begin with
N
1 X −l l
uk uk aN = uk U aN (1.2.14)
N | {z }
l=1
= al

and then apply haN | from the left,

2 1 −N 1
aN uk uk aN = uk aN = u = . (1.2.15)
N k N
We make use of the freedom to choose the overall complex phase of |uk i
and agree on
1
uk aN = √ , (1.2.16)
N
with the consequence
N
1 X
uk = √ al u−l
k
N l=1
N
1 X 2π
=√ al e−i N kl (1.2.17)
N l=1

and, after taking the adjoint,

N
1 X i 2π kl
uk = √ e N al . (1.2.18)
N l=1

We read off that

1 2π
uk al = √ ei N kl (1.2.19)
N
of which the l = N case is (1.2.16).
10 Basic Kinematics and Dynamics

We have now a second set of bras and kets, for which we can repeat the
story of cyclic permutations, effected by the unitary operator V ,

uk V = uk+1 ,
uk V 2 = uk+2 ,
..
.
uk V N = uk . (1.2.20)

In full analogy with what we did above for U , we conclude here that

VN =1: V is unitary with period N , (1.2.21)

2π
that the eigenvalues of V are vl = ei N l , and that the projector on the lth
eigenvalue is

N
1 X k
vl v l = (V /vl ) (1.2.22)
N
k=1

and are led to

N
1 X −k
uN vl vl = vl uk (1.2.23)
N
k=1

and then
2 1
uN vl vl uN = uN vl = . (1.2.24)
N
1
Here, too, we choose huN |vl i = √ and establish
N

N
1 X −i 2π kl
vl = √ e N uk (1.2.25)
N k=1

as well as
N
1 X 2π
vl = √ uk ei N kl . (1.2.26)
N k=1
 Bohr’s principle of complementarity 11

Can we continue like this and get more and more sets of kets? No!
Because the kets |vl i are identical with the kets |al i; see
N
X 1 2π
vl = uk √ ei N kl
N
k=1 | {z }
= uk al
!
X
= uk uk al = al . (1.2.27)
k
| {z }
=1

We have been led back to the initial set of kets.

In summary, we have a pair of reciprocally defined unitary operators,

U vl = vl+1 , uk V = uk+1 , (1.2.28)

which are of period N ,

UN = 1 , V N = 1. (1.2.29)

Their eigenstates are related to each other by the probability amplitudes

1 2π
uk vl = √ ei N kl (1.2.30)
N
so that the probabilities
2 1
uk vl = (1.2.31)
N
do not depend on k and l. Accordingly, the two bases are unbiased and U
and V are a pair of complementary observables.
Being complementary partners of each other, U and V should have a
simple commutation relation. We find it by considering the effect of U V
and V U upon huk |,

uk U V = uk uk V = uk uk+1 ,
uk V U = uk+1 U = uk+1 uk+1 . (1.2.32)
2π
Since uk+1 = uk ei N , this establishes
2π 2π
uk V U = ei N uk uk+1 = ei N uk U V , (1.2.33)
12 Basic Kinematics and Dynamics

and the completeness of the bras huk | implies

2π 2π
U V = e−i N V U , V U = ei N U V . (1.2.34)

The generalization to
2π 2π
U k V l = e−i N kl V l U k , V l U k = ei N kl U k V l (1.2.35)
is immediate. These are the Weyl∗ commutation relations for the comple-
mentary pair U, V .

1.2.2 Algebraic completeness

Now, all functions of U are polynomials of degree N − 1, and all functions
of V are also such polynomials. Therefore, a general function of both U
and V is always of the form
N
X −1 N
X
f (U, V ) = fkl U k V l = fkl U k V l (1.2.36)
k,l=0 k,l=1

or can be brought into this form. It is written here such that all U s are
to the left of all V s in the products, but this is no restriction because the
relations (1.2.35) state that other products can always be brought into this
U, V -ordered form.
In fact, all such functions of U and V make up all operators for this
degree of freedom, which is to say that the complementary pair U, V is
algebraically complete. To make this point, we consider an arbitrary opera-
tor F and note that then the numbers huk |F |vl i are known. We normalize
these mixed matrix elements by dividing by huk |vl i, thus defining the set
of N 2 numbers
uk F vl
f (uk , vl ) = . (1.2.37)
uk vl
Multiply by |uk ihuk | from the left and by |vl ihvl | from the right and sum
over k and l,
X X
uk uk f (uk , vl ) vl vl = uk uk vl f (uk , vl ) vl
k,l k,l
| {z }
= uk F vl
X X
= uk uk F vl vl = F . (1.2.38)
k l
| {z } | {z }
=1 =1
∗ Claus Hugo Hermann Weyl (1885–1955)
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
would have served to strengthen and rest him. But how to come by
so much now? How?
The character of the places frequented by the coolies, bhisties
(water-carriers), hadjis and even beggars like Ibn, while without any
of the so-called luxuries of these others, and to the frequenters of
which the frequenters of these were less than the dust under their
feet, were still, to these latter, excellent enough. Yea, despised as
they were, they contained charpoys on which each could sit with his
little water-chatty beside him, and in the centre of the circle one such
as even the lowly Ibn, a beggar, singing his loudest or reciting some
tale—for such as they. It was in such places as these, before his
voice had wholly deserted him, that Ibn had told his tales. Here,
then, for the price of a few anna, they could munch the leavings of
the khat market, drink kishr and discuss the state of the world and
their respective fortunes. Compared to Ibn in his present state, they
were indeed as lords, even princes.
But, by Allah, although having been a carrier and a vendor himself
in his day, and although born above them, yet having now no voice
nor any tales worth the telling, he was not even now looked upon as
one who could stand up and tell of the wonders of the Jinn and
demons and the great kings and queens who had reigned of old.
Indeed, so low had he fallen that he could not even interest this
despised caste. His only gift now was listening, or to make a pathetic
picture, or recite the ills that were his.
Nevertheless necessity, a stern master, compelled him to think
better of his quondam tale-telling art. Only, being, as he knew, wholly
unsuited to recite any tale now, he also knew that the best he could
do would be to make the effort, a pretense, in the hope that those
present, realizing his age and unfitness, would spare him the
spectacle he would make of himself and give him a few anna
wherewith to ease himself then and there. Accordingly, the hour
having come when the proffered services of a singer or story-teller
would be welcomed in any mabraz, he made his way to this region of
many of them and where beggars were so common. Only, glancing
through the door of the first one, he discovered that there were far
too few patrons for his mood. They would be in nowise gay, hence
neither kind nor generous as yet, and the keeper would be cold. In a
second, a little farther on, a tom-tom was beginning, but the guests
were only seven in number and but newly settled in their pleasure. In
a third, when the diaphanous sky without was beginning to pale to a
deep steel and the evening star was hanging like a solitaire from the
pure breast of the western firmament, he pushed aside the veiling
cords of beads of one and entered, for here was a large company
resting upon their pillows and charpoys, their chatties and hubbuks
beside them, but no singer or beater of a tom-tom or teller of tales as
yet before them.
“O friends,” he began with some diffidence and imaginings, for well
he knew how harsh were the moods and cynical the judgments of
some of these lowest of life’s offerings, “be generous and hearken to
the tale of one whose life has been long and full of many unfortunate
adventures, one who although he is known to you—”
“What!” called Hussein, the peddler of firewood, reclining at his
ease in his corner, a spray of all but wilted khat in his hand. “Is it not
even Ibn Abdullah? And has he turned tale-teller once more? By
Allah, a great teller of tales—one of rare voice! The camels and
jackals will be singing in Hodeidah next!”
“An my eyes deceive me not,” cried Waidi, the water-carrier, at his
ease also, a cup of kishr in his hands, “this is not Ibn Abdullah, but
Sindbad, fresh from a voyage!”
“Or Ali Baba himself,” cried Yussuf, the carrier, hoarsely. “Thou
hast a bag of jewels somewhere about thee? Now indeed we shall
hear things!”
“And in what a voice!” added Haifa the tobacco-tramp, noting the
husky, wheezy tones with which Ibn opened his plea. “This is to be a
treat, truly. And now we may rest and have wonders upon wonders.
Ibn of Mecca and Jiddah, and even of marvelous Hodeidah itself, will
now tell us much. A cup of kishr, ho! This must be listened to!”
But now Bab-al Oman, the keeper, a stout and cumbrous soul,
coming forth from his storeroom, gazed upon Ibn with mingled
astonishment and no little disfavor, for it was not customary to permit
any of his customers of the past to beg in here, and as for a singer or
story-teller he had never thought of Ibn in that light these many
years. He was too old, without the slightest power to do aught but
begin in a wheezy voice.
“Hearken,” he called, coming over and laying a hand on him, the
while the audience gazed and grinned, “hast thou either anna or
rupee wherewith to fulfill thy account in case thou hast either khat or
kishr?” The rags and the mummy-like pallor of the old man offended
him.
“Do but let him speak,” insisted Hussein the peddler gaily, “or
sing,” for he was already feeling the effects of his ease and the
restorative power of the plant. “This will be wonderful. By the voices
of eleven hundred elephants!”
“Yea, a story,” called Waidi, “or perhaps that of the good Cadi of
Taiz and the sacred waters of Jezer!”
“Or of the Cadi of Mecca and the tobacco that was too pure!”
Ibn heard full well and knew the spectacle he was making of
himself. The references were all too plain. Only age and want and a
depressing feebleness, which had been growing for days, caused
him to forget, or prevented, rather, his generating a natural rage and
replying in kind. These wretched enemies of his, dogs lower than
himself, had never forgiven him that he had been born out of their
caste, or, having been so, that he had permitted himself to sink to
labor and beg with them. But now his age and weakness were too
great. He was too weary to contend.
“O most generous Oman, best of keepers of a mabraz—and thou,
O comfortable and honorable guests,” he insisted wheezily, “I have
here but one pice, the reward of all my seekings this day. It is true
that I am a beggar and that my coverings are rags, yet do but
consider that I am old and feeble. This day and the day before and
the day before that—”
“Come, come!” said Oman restlessly and feeling that the custom
and trade of his mabraz were being injured, “out! Thou canst not sing
and thou canst not tell a tale, as thou well knowest. Why come here
when thou hast but a single pice wherewith to pay thy way? Beg
more, but not here! Bring but so much as half a rupee, and thou shalt
have service in plenty!”
“But the pice I have here—may not I—O good sons of the Prophet,
a spray of khat, a cup of kishr—suffer me not thus be cast forth! ‘—
and the poor and the son of the road!’ Alms—alms—in the name of
Allah!”
“Out, out!” insisted Oman gently but firmly. “So much as ten anna,
and thou mayst rest here; not otherwise.”
He turned him forth into the night.
And now, weak and fumbling, Ibn stood there for a time,
wondering where else to turn. He was so weak that at last even the
zest for search or to satisfy himself was departing. For a moment, a
part of his old rage and courage returning, he threw away the pice
that had been given him, then turned back, but not along the street
of the bazaars. He was too distrait and disconsolate. Rather, by a
path which he well knew, he circled now to the south of the town,
passing via the Bet-el-Fakin gate to the desert beyond the walls,
where, ever since his days as a pack servant with the Bedouins, he
had thought to come in such an hour. Overhead were the stars in
that glorious æther, lit with a light which never shines on other soils
or seas. The evening star had disappeared, but the moon was now
in the west, a thin feather, yet transfiguring and transforming as by
magic the homely and bare features of the sands. Out here was
something of that beauty which as a herdsman among the Bedouins
he had known, the scent of camels and of goats’ milk, the memory of
low black woolen tents, dotting the lion-tawny sands and gazelle-
brown gravels with a warm and human note, and the camp-fire that,
like a glowworm, had denoted the village centre. Now, as in a dream,
the wild weird songs of the boys and girls of the desert came back,
the bleating of their sheep and goats in the gloaming. And the
measured chant of the spearsmen, gravely stalking behind their
charges, the camels, their song mingling with the bellowing of their
humpy herds.
 “It is finished,” he said, once he was free of the city and far into the
desert itself. “I have no more either the skill nor the strength
wherewith to endure or make my way. And without khat one cannot
endure. What will be will be, and I am too old. Let them find me so. I
shall not move. It is better than the other.”
Then upon the dry, warm sands he laid himself, his head toward
Mecca, while overhead the reremouse circled and cried, its tiny
shriek acknowledging its zest for life; and the rave of a jackal,
resounding through the illuminated shade beyond, bespoke its desire
to live also. Most musical of all music, the palm trees now answered
the whispers of the night breeze with the softest tones of falling
water.
“It is done,” sighed Ibn Abdullah, as he lay and wearily rested.
“Worthless I came, O Allah, and worthless I return. It is well.”
 VII
TYPHOON

I NTO a singularly restricted and indifferent environment Ida Zobel

was born. Her mother, a severe, prim German woman, died when
she was only three, leaving her to the care of her father and his
sister, both extremely reserved and orderly persons. Later, after Ida
had reached the age of ten, William Zobel took unto himself a
second wife, who resembled Zobel and his first wife in their respect
for labor and order.
Both were at odds with the brash gayety and looseness of the
American world in which they found themselves. Being narrow,
sober, workaday Germans, they were annoyed by the groups of
restless, seeking, eager, and as Zobel saw it, rather scandalous
young men and women who paraded the neighborhood streets of an
evening without a single thought apparently other than pleasure. And
these young scamps and their girl friends who sped about in
automobiles. The loose, indifferent parents. The loose, free ways of
all these children. What was to become of such a nation? Were not
the daily newspapers, which he would scarcely tolerate in his home
longer, full of these wretched doings? The pictures of almost naked
women that filled them all! Jazz! Petting parties! High school boys
with flasks on their hips! Girls with skirts to their knees, rolled-down
stockings, rolled-down neck-bands, bare arms, bobbed hair, no
decent concealing underwear!
“What—a daughter of his grow up like that! Be permitted to join in
this prancing route to perdition! Never!” And in consequence, the
strictest of rules with regard to Ida’s upbringing. Her hair was to grow
its natural length, of course. Her lips and cheeks were never to know
the blush of false, suggestive paint. Plain dresses. Plain underwear
and stockings and shoes and hats. No crazy, idiotic finery, but
substantial, respectable clothing. Work at home and, when not
otherwise employed with her studies at school, in the small paint and
color store which her father owned in the immediate vicinity of their
home. And last, but not least, a schooling of such proper and definite
character as would serve to keep her mind from the innumerable
current follies which were apparently pulling at the foundations of
decent society.
For this purpose Zobel chose a private and somewhat religious
school conducted by an aged German spinster of the name of
Elizabeth Hohstauffer, who had succeeded after years and years of
teaching in impressing her merits as a mentor on perhaps as many
as a hundred German families of the area. No contact with the
careless and shameless public school here. And once the child had
been inducted into that, there followed a series of daily inquiries and
directions intended to guide her in the path she was to follow.
“Hurry! You have only ten minutes now in which to get to school.
There is no time to lose!”... “How comes it that you are five minutes
late to-night? What were you doing?”... “Your teacher made you
stay? You had to stop and look for a blank book?”... “Why didn’t you
come home first and let me look for it with you afterwards?” (It was
her stepmother talking.) “You know your father doesn’t want you to
stay after school.”... “And just what were you doing on Warren
Avenue between twelve and one to-day? Your father said you were
with some girl.”... “Vilma Balet? And who is Vilma Balet? Where does
she live? And how long has it been that you have been going with
her? Why is it that you have not mentioned her before? You know
what your father’s rule is. And now I shall have to tell him. He will be
angry. You must obey his rules. You are by no means old enough to
decide for yourself. You have heard him say that.”
Notwithstanding all this, Ida, though none too daring or aggressive
mentally, was being imaginatively drawn to the very gayeties and
pleasures that require courage and daring. She lived in a mental
world made up of the bright lights of Warren Avenue, of which she
caught an occasional glimpse. The numerous cars speeding by! The
movies and her favorite photographs of actors and actresses, some
of the mannerisms of whom the girls imitated at school. The voices,
the laughter of the boys and girls as they walked to and fro along the
commonplace thoroughfare with its street-cars and endless stores
side by side! And what triumphs or prospective joys they planned
and palavered over as they strolled along in their easy manner—
arms linked and bodies swaying—up the street and around the
corner and back into the main street again, gazing at their graceful
ankles and bodies in the mirrors and windows as they passed, or
casting shy glances at the boys.
But as for Ida—despite her budding sensitivity—at ten, eleven,
twelve, thirteen, fourteen—there was no escape from the severe
regimen she was compelled to follow. Breakfast at seven-thirty sharp
because the store had to be opened by her father at eight; luncheon
at twelve-thirty, on the dot to satisfy her father; dinner invariably at
six-thirty, because there were many things commercial and social
which fell upon the shoulders of William Zobel at night. And between
whiles, from four to six on weekdays and later from seven to ten at
night, as well as all day Saturdays, store duty in her father’s store.
No parties, no welcome home atmosphere for the friends of her
choice. Those she really liked were always picked to pieces by her
stepmother, and of course this somewhat influenced the opinion of
her father. It was common gossip of the neighborhood that her
parents were very strict and that they permitted her scarcely any
liberties. A trip to a movie, the choice of which was properly
supervised by her parents; an occasional ride in an automobile with
her parents, since by the time she had attained her fifteenth year he
had purchased one of the cheaper cars.
But all the time the rout of youthful life before her eyes. And in so
far as her home life and the emotional significance of her parents
were concerned, a sort of depressing grayness. For William Zobel,
with his gray-blue eyes gleaming behind gilt-rimmed glasses, was
scarcely the person to whom a girl of Ida’s temperament would be
drawn. Nor was her stepmother, with her long, narrow face, brown
eyes and black hair. Indeed, Zobel was a father who by the very
solemnity of his demeanor, as well as the soberness and
practicability of his thoughts and rules, was constantly evoking a
sense of dictatorship which was by no means conducive to
sympathetic approach. To be sure, there were greetings,
acknowledgments, respectful and careful explanations as to this, that
and the other. Occasionally they would go to a friend’s house or a
public restaurant, but there existed no understanding on the part of
either Zobel or his wife—he never having wanted a daughter of his
own and she not being particularly drawn to the child of another—of
the growing problems of adolescence that might be confronting her,
and hence none of that possible harmony and enlightenment which
might have endeared each to the other.
Instead, repression, and even fear at times, which in the course of
years took on an aspect of careful courtesy supplemented by
accurate obedience. But within herself a growing sense of her own
increasing charm, which, in her father’s eyes, if not in her
stepmother’s, seemed to be identified always with danger—either
present or prospective. Her very light and silky hair—light, grayish-
blue eyes—a rounded and intriguing figure which even the other girls
at Miss Hohstauffer’s school noticed and commented on. And in
addition a small straight nose and a full and yet small and almost
pouting mouth and rounded chin. Had she not a mirror and were
there not boys from her seventh year on who looked at her and
sought to attract her attention? Her father could see this as well as
his second wife. But she dared not loiter here and there as others
did, for those vigorous, bantering, seeking, intriguing contacts. She
must hurry home—to store or house duty or more study in such
fields as Zobel and his wife thought best for her. If it was to run
errands she was always timed to the minute.
And yet, in spite of all these precautions, the swift telegraphy of
eyes and blood. The haunting, seeking moods of youth, which
speaks a language of its own. In the drugstore at the corner of
Warren and Tracy, but a half-block from her home, there was at one
time in her twelfth year Lawrence Sullivan, a soda clerk. He seemed
to her the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. The dark, smooth
hair lying glossed and parted above a perfect white forehead; slim,
graceful hands—or so she thought—a care and smartness in the
matter of dress which even the clothing of the scores of public school
boys passing this way seemed scarcely to match. And such a way
where girls were concerned—so smiling and at his ease. And always
a word for them as they stopped in on their way home from school.
 “Why, hello, Della! How’s Miss McGinnis to-day? I bet I know what
you’re going to have. I think pretty blonde girls must like chocolate
sundaes—they contrast with their complexions.” And then smiling
serenely while Miss McGinnis panted and smiled: “A lot you know
about what blonde girls like.”
And Ida Zobel, present on occasion by permission for a soda or a
sundae, looking on and listening most eagerly. Such a handsome
youth. All of sixteen. He would as yet pay no attention to so young a
girl as she, of course, but when she was older! Would she be as
pretty as this Miss McGinnis? Could she be as assured? How
wonderful to be attractive to such a youth! And what would he say to
her, if he said anything at all? And what would she say in return?
Many times she imitated these girls mentally and held imaginary
conversations with herself. Yes, despite this passive admiration, Mr.
Sullivan went the way of all soda-clerks, changing eventually to
another job in another neighborhood.
But in the course of time there were others who took her eye and
for a time held her mind—around whose differing charms she
erected fancies which had nothing to do with reality. One of these
was Merton Webster, the brisk, showy, vain and none too ambitious
son of a local state senator, who lived in the same block she did and
attended Watkins High School, which she was not permitted to
attend. So handsome was he—so debonair. “Hello, kid! Gee, you
look cute, all right. One of these days I’ll take you to a dance if you
want to go.” Yet, because of her years and the strict family
espionage, blushes, her head down, but a smile none the less.
And she was troubled by thoughts of him until Walter Stour, whose
father conducted a realty and insurance business only a little way
west of her father’s store, took her attention—a year later. Walter
was a tall, fair complexioned youth, with gay eyes and a big,
laughing mouth, who, occasionally with Merton Webster, Lawrence
Cross, a grocer’s son, Sven Volberg, the dry-cleaner’s son, and
some others, hung about the favorite moving-picture theatre or the
drugstore on the main corner and flirted with the girls as they passed
by. As restricted as she was still, because of her trips to and fro
between home and school and her service as a clerk in her father’s
store, she was not unfamiliar with these several figures or their
names. They came into the store occasionally and even commented
on her looks: “Oh, getting to be a pretty girl, isn’t she?” Whereupon
she would flush with excitement and nervously busy herself about
filling a customer’s order.
It was through Etelka Shomel, the daughter of a German neighbor
who was also a friend of William Zobel, that she learned much of
these boys and girls. Her father thought Etelka a safe character for
Ida to chum with, chiefly on account of her unattractiveness. But
through her, as well as their joint pilgrimages here and there, she
came to hear much gossip about the doings of these same. Walter
Stour, whom she now greatly admired, was going with a girl by the
name of Edna Strong, who was the daughter of a milk-dealer.
Stour’s father was not as stingy as some fathers. He had a good car
and occasionally let his son use it. Stour often took Edna and some
of her friends to boathouse resorts on the Little Shark River. A girl
friend of Etelka’s told her what a wonderful mimic and dancer he
was. She had been on a party with him. And, of course, Ida lent a
willing and eager ear to all this. Oh, the gayety of such a life! Its
wonders! Beauties!
And then one night, as Ida was coming around the corner to go to
her father’s store at about seven-thirty and Stour was on his favorite
corner with several other boys, he called: “I know who’s a sweet kid,
but her daddy won’t let her look at a guy. Will he?” This last aimed
directly at her as she passed, while she, knowing full well who was
meant and how true it was, hurried on all the faster. If her father had
heard that! Oh, my! But it thrilled her as she walked. “Sweet kid.”
“Sweet kid”—kept ringing in her ears.
And then at last, in her sixteenth year, Edward Hauptwanger
moved into a large house in Grey Street. His father, Jacob
Hauptwanger, was a well-to-do coal-dealer who had recently
purchased a yard on the Absecon. It was about this time that Ida
became keenly aware that her normal girlhood, with its so necessary
social contacts, was being set at naught and that she was being
completely frustrated by the stern and repressive attitude of her
father and stepmother. The wonder and pain, for instance, of spring
and summer evenings just then, when she would stand gazing at the
moon above her own commonplace home—shining down into the
narrow, commonplace garden at the back, where still were tulips,
hyacinths, honeysuckle and roses. And the stars shining above
Warren Avenue, where were the cars, the crowds, the moving-
picture theatres and restaurants which held such charm for her.
There was a kind of madness, an ache, in it all. Oh, for pleasure—
pleasure! To go, run, dance, play, kiss with some one—almost any
one, really, if he were only young and handsome. Was she going to
know no one—no one? And, worse, the young men of the
neighborhood calling to her as she passed: “Oh, look who’s here!
Shame her daddy won’t let her out.” “Why don’t you bob your hair,
Ida? You’d be cute.” Even though she was out of school now, she
was clerking as before and dressing as before. No short skirts,
bobbed hair, rolled-down stockings, rouge.
But with the arrival of this Edward Hauptwanger, there came a
change. For here was a youth of definite and drastic impulses—a
beau, a fighter, a fellow of infinite guile where girls of all sorts were
concerned—and, too, a youth of taste in the matter of dress and
manner—one who stood out as a kind of hero to the type of youthful
male companions with whom he chose to associate. Did he not live
in a really large, separate house on Grey Street? And were not his
father’s coal-pockets and trucks conspicuously labelled outstanding
features of the district? And, in addition, Hauptwanger, owing to the
foolish and doting favor of his mother (by no means shared by his
father), always supplied with pocket money sufficient to meet all
required expenditures of such a world as this. The shows to which
he could take his “flames”; the restaurants, downtown as well as
here. And the boat club on the Little Shark which at once became a
rendezvous of his. He had a canoe of his own, so it was said. He
was an expert swimmer and diver. He was allowed the use of his
father’s car and would often gather up his friends on a Saturday or
Sunday and go to the boat club.
More interesting still, after nearly a year’s residence here, in which
he had had time to establish himself socially after this fashion, he
had his first sight of Ida Zobel passing one evening from her home to
the store. Her youthful if repressed beauty was at its zenith. And
some remarks concerning her and her restricted life by youths who
had neither the skill nor the daring to invade it at once set him
thinking. She was beautiful, you bet! Hauptwanger, because of a
certain adventurous fighting strain in his blood, was at once intrigued
by the difficulties which thus so definitely set this girl apart. “These
old-fashioned, dictatorial Germans! And not a fellow in the
neighborhood to step up and do anything about it! Well, whaddya
know?”
And forthwith an intensive study of the situation as well as of the
sensitive, alluring Ida Zobel. And with the result that he was soon
finding himself irresistibly attracted to her. That pretty face! That
graceful, rounded figure! Those large, blue-gray, shy and evasive
eyes! Yet with yearning in them, too.
And in consequence various brazen parades past the very paint
store of Zobel, with the fair Ida within. And this despite the fact that
Zobel himself was there—morning, noon and night—bent over his
cash register or his books or doing up something for a customer. And
Ida, by reason of her repressed desires and sudden strong
consciousness of his interest in her as thus expressed, more and
more attracted to him. And he, because of this or his own interest,
coming to note the hours when she was most likely to be alone.
These were, as a rule, Wednesdays and Fridays, when because of a
singing society as well as a German social and commercial club her
father was absent from eight-thirty on. And although occasionally
assisted by her stepmother she was there alone on these nights.
And so a campaign which was to break the spell which held the
sleeping beauty. At first, however, only a smile in the direction of Ida
whenever he passed or she passed him, together with boasts to his
friends to the effect that he would “win that kid yet, wait and see.”
And then, one evening, in the absence of Zobel, a visit to the store.
She was behind the counter and between the business of waiting on
customers was dreaming as usual of the life outside. For during the
past few weeks she had become most sharply conscious of the
smiling interest of Hauptwanger. His straight, lithe body—his quick,
aggressive manner—his assertive, seeking eyes! Oh, my! Like the
others who had gone before him and who had attracted her
emotional interest, he was exactly of that fastidious, self-assured and
self-admiring type toward which one so shy as herself would yearn.
No hesitancy on his part. Even for this occasion he had scarcely
troubled to think of a story. What difference? Any old story would do.
He wanted to see some paints. They might be going to repaint the
house soon—and in the meantime he could engage her in
conversation, and if the “old man” came back, well, he would talk
paints to him.
And so, on this particularly warm and enticing night in May, he
walked briskly in, a new gray suit, light tan fedora hat and tan shoes
and tie completing an ensemble which won the admiration of the
neighborhood. “Oh, hello. Pretty tough to have to work inside on a
night like this, ain’t it?” (A most irresistible smile going with this.) “I
want to see some paints—the colors of ’em, I mean. The old man is
thinking of repainting the house.”
And at once Ida, excited and flushing to the roots of her hair,
turning to look for a color card—as much to conceal her flushing face
as anything else. And yet intrigued as much as she was affrighted.
The daring of him! Suppose her father should return—or her
stepmother enter? Still, wasn’t he as much of a customer as any one
else—although she well knew by his manner that it was not paint
that had brought him. For over the way, as she herself could and did
see, were three of his admiring companions ranged in a row to watch
him, the while he leaned genially and familiarly against the counter
and continued: “Gee, I’ve seen you often enough, going back and
forth between your school and this store and your home. I’ve been
around here nearly a year now, but I’ve never seen you around much
with the rest of the girls. Too bad! Otherwise we mighta met. I’ve met
all the rest of ’em so far,” and at the same time by troubling to touch
his tie he managed to bring into action one hand on which was an
opal ring, his wrist smartly framed in a striped pink cuff. “I heard your
father wouldn’t even let you go to Warren High. Pretty strict, eh?”
And he beamed into the blue-gray eyes of the budding girl before
him, noted the rounded pink cheeks, the full mouth, the silky hair, the
while she trembled and thrilled.
 “Yes, he is pretty strict.”
“Still, you can’t just go nowhere all the time, can you?” And by now
the color card, taken into his own hand, was lying flat on the counter.
“You gotta have a little fun once in a while, eh? If I’da thought you’da
stood for it, I’da introduced myself before this. My father has the big
coal-dock down here on the river. He knows your father, I’m sure. I
gotta car, or at least my dad has, and that’s as good as mine. Do you
think your father’d letcha take a run out in the country some
Saturday or Sunday—down to Little Shark River, say, or Peck’s
Beach? Lots of the fellows and girls from around here go down
there.”
By now it was obvious that Hauptwanger was achieving a
conquest of sorts and his companions over the way were
abandoning their advantageous position, no longer hopefully
interested by the possibility of defeat. But the nervous Ida, intrigued
though terrified, was thinking how wonderful it was to at last interest
so handsome a youth as this. Even though her father might not
approve, still might not all that be overcome by such a gallant as
this? But her hair was not bobbed, her skirts not short, her lips not
rouged. Could it really be that he was attracted by her physical
charms? His dark brown and yet hard and eager eyes—his
handsome hands. The smart way in which he dressed. She was
becoming conscious of her severely plain blue dress with white
trimmings, her unmodish slippers and stockings. At the same time
she found herself most definitely replying: “Oh, now, I couldn’t ever
do anything like that, you know. You see, my father doesn’t know
you. He wouldn’t let me go with any one he doesn’t know or to whom
I haven’t been properly introduced. You know how it is.”
“Well, couldn’t I introduce myself then? My father knows your
father, I’m sure. I could just tell him that I want to call on you, couldn’t
I? I’m not afraid of him, and there’s sure no harm in that, is there?”
“Well, that might be all right, only he’s very strict—and he might
not want me to go, anyhow.”
“Oh, pshaw! But you would like to go, wouldn’t you? Or to a picture
show? He couldn’t kick against that, could he?”
 He looked her in the eye, smiling, and in doing so drew the lids of
his own eyes together in a sensuous, intriguing way which he had
found effective with others. And in the budding Ida were born
impulses of which she had no consciousness and over which she
had no control. She merely looked at him weakly. The wonder of
him! The beauty of love! Her desire toward him! And so finding heart
to say: “No, maybe not. I don’t know. You see I’ve never had a beau
yet.”
She looked at him in such a way as to convince him of his
conquest. “Easy! A cinch!” was his thought. “Nothing to it at all.” He
would see Zobel and get his permission or meet her clandestinely.
Gee, a father like that had no right to keep his daughter from having
any fun at all. These narrow, hard-boiled German parents—they
ought to be shown—awakened—made to come to life.
And so, within two days brazenly presenting himself to Zobel in his
store in order to test whether he could not induce him to accept him
as presumably at least a candidate for his daughter’s favor.
Supposing the affair did not prove as appealing as he thought, he
could drop the contact, couldn’t he? Hadn’t he dropped others?
Zobel knew of his father, of course. And while listening to
Hauptwanger’s brisk and confident explanation he was quite
consciously evaluating the smart suit, new tan shoes and gathering,
all in all, a favorable impression.
“You say you spoke to her already?”
“I asked her if I might call on her, yes, sir.”
“Uh-uh! When was this?”
“Just two days ago. In the evening here.”
“Uh-uh!”
At the same time a certain nervous, critical attitude toward
everything, which had produced many fine lines about the eyes and
above the nose of Mr. Zobel, again taking hold of him: “Well, well—
this is something I will have to talk over with my daughter. I must see
about this. I am very careful of my daughter and who she goes with,
you know.” Nevertheless, he was thinking of the many coal trucks
delivering coal in the neighborhood, the German name of this youth
and his probable German and hence conservative upbringing. “I will
let you know about it later. You come in some other time.”
And so later a conference with his daughter, resulting finally in the
conclusion that it might be advisable for her to have at least one
male contact. For she was sixteen years old and up to the present
time he had been pretty strict with her. Perhaps she was over the
worst period. At any rate, most other girls of her age were permitted
to go out some. At least one beau of the right kind might be
essential, and somehow he liked this youth who had approached him
in this frank, fearless manner.
And so, for the time being, a call permitted once or twice a week,
with Hauptwanger from the first dreaming most daring and
aggressive dreams. And after a time, having conducted himself most
circumspectly, it followed that an evening at one of the neighborhood
picture houses was suggested and achieved. And once this was
accomplished it became a regularity for him to spend either
Wednesday or Friday evening with Ida, it depending on her work in
the store. Later, his courage and skill never deserting him, a
suggestion to Mr. Zobel that he permit Ida to go out with him on a
Saturday afternoon to visit Peck’s Beach nine miles below the city,
on the Little Shark. It was very nice there, and a popular Saturday
and Sunday resort for most of the residents of this area. After a time,
having by degrees gained the complete confidence of Zobel, he was
granted permission to take Ida to one or another of the theatres
downtown, or to a restaurant, or to the house of a boy friend who
had a sister and who lived in the next block.
Despite his stern, infiltrating supervision, Zobel could not prevent
the progressive familiarities based on youth, desire, romance. For
with Edward Hauptwanger, to contact was to intrigue and eventually
demand and compel. And so by degrees hand pressures, stolen or
enforced kisses. Yet, none the less, Ida, still fully dominated by the
mood and conviction of her father, persisting in a nervous
evasiveness which was all too trying to her lover.
 “Ah, you don’t know my father. No, I couldn’t do that. No, I can’t
stay out so late. Oh, no—I wouldn’t dare go there—I wouldn’t dare
to. I don’t know what he would do to me.”
This, or such as this, to all of his overtures which hinted at later
hours, a trip to that mysterious and fascinating boat club on the Little
Shark twenty-five miles out, where, as he so glibly explained, were to
be enjoyed dancing, swimming, boating, music, feasting. But as Ida
who had never done any of these things soon discovered for herself,
this would require an unheard-of period of time—from noon until
midnight—or later Saturday, whereas her father had fixed the hour of
eleven-thirty for her return to the parental roof.
“Ah, don’t you want to have any fun at all? Gee! He don’t want you
to do a thing and you let him get away with it. Look at all the other
girls and fellows around here. There’s not one that’s as scary as you
are. Besides, what harm is there? Supposing we don’t get back on
time? Couldn’t we say the car broke down? He couldn’t say anything
to that. Besides, no one punches a time clock any more.” But Ida
nervous and still resisting, and Hauptwanger, because of this very
resistance, determined to win her to his mood and to outwit her
father at the same time.
And then the lure of summer nights—Corybantic—dithyrambic—
with kisses, kisses, kisses—under the shadow of the trees in King
Lake Park, or in one of the little boats of its lake which nosed the
roots of those same trees on the shore. And with the sensitive and
sensual, and yet restricted and inexperienced Ida, growing more and
more lost in the spell which youth, summer, love, had generated. The
beauty of the face of this, her grand cavalier! His clothes, his brisk,
athletic energy and daring! And with him perpetually twittering of this
and that, here and there, that if she only truly loved him and had the
nerve, what wouldn’t they do? All the pleasures of the world before
them, really. And then at last, on this same lake—with her lying in his
arms—himself attempting familiarities which scarcely seemed
possible in her dreams before this, and which caused her to jump up
and demand to be put ashore, the while he merely laughed.
 “Oh, what had he done that was so terrible? Say, did she really
care for him? Didn’t she? Then, why so uppish? Why cry? Oh, gee,
this was a scream, this was. Oh, all right, if that was the way she
was going to feel about it.” And once ashore, walking briskly off in
the gayest and most self-sufficient manner while she, alone and
tortured by her sudden ejection from paradise, slipped home and into
her room, there to bury her face in her pillow and to whisper to it and
herself of the danger—almost the horror—that had befallen her. Yet
in her eyes and mind the while the perfect Hauptwanger. And in her
heart his face, hands, hair. His daring. His kisses. And so brooding
even here and now as to the wisdom of her course—her anger—and
in a dreary and hopeless mood even, dragging herself to her father’s
store the next day, merely to wait and dream that he was not as evil
as he had seemed—that he could not have seriously contemplated
the familiarities that he had attempted; that he had been merely
obsessed, bewitched, as she herself had been.
Oh, love, love! Edward! Edward! Edward! Oh, he would not, could
not remain away. She must see him—give him a chance to explain.
She must make him understand that it was not want of love but fear
of life—her father, everything, everybody—that kept her so sensitive,
aloof, remote.
And Hauptwanger himself, for all of his bravado and craft, now
nervous lest he had been too hasty. For, after all, what a beauty! The
lure! He couldn’t let her go this way. It was a little too delicious and
wonderful to have her so infatuated—and with a little more attention,
who knew? And so conspicuously placing himself where she must
pass on her way home in the evening, at the corner of Warren and
High—yet with no sign on his part of seeing her. And Ida, with
yearning and white-faced misery, seeing him as she passed.
Monday night! Tuesday night! And worse, to see him pass the store
early Wednesday evening without so much as turning his head. And
then the next day a note handed the negro errand boy of her father’s
store to be given to him later, about seven, at the corner where he
would most surely be.
And then later, with the same Edward taking it most casually and
grandly and reading it. So she had been compelled to write him, had
she? Oh, these dames! Yet with a definite thrill from the contents for
all of that, for it read: “Oh, Edward, darling, you can’t be so cruel to
me. How can you? I love you so. You didn’t mean what you said. Tell
me you didn’t. I didn’t. Oh, please come to the house at eight. I want
to see you.”
And Edward Hauptwanger, quite triumphant now, saying to the
messenger before four cronies who knew of his present pursuit of
Ida: “Oh, that’s all right. Just tell her I’ll be over after a while.” And
then as eight o’clock neared, ambling off in the direction of the Zobel
home. And as he left one of his companions remarking: “Say,
whaddya know? He’s got that Zobel girl on the run now. She’s writing
him notes now. Didn’t ya see the coon bring it up? Don’t it beat hell?”
And the others as enviously, amazedly and contemptuously
inquiring: “Whaddya know?”
And so, under June trees in King Lake Park, once more another
conference. “Oh, darling, how could you treat me so, how could you?
Oh, my dear, dear darling.” And he replying—“Oh, sure, sure, it was
all right, only what do you think I’m made of? Say, have a heart, I’m
human, ain’t I? I’ve got some feelings same as anybody else. Ain’t I
crazy about you and ain’t you crazy about me? Well, then—besides
—well, say....” A long pharisaical and deluding argument as one
might guess, with all the miseries and difficulties of restrained and
evaded desire most artfully suggested—yet with no harm meant, of
course. Oh, no.
But again, on her part, the old foolish, terrorized love plea. And the
firm assurance on his part that if anything went wrong—why, of
course. But why worry about that now? Gee, she was the only girl he
knew who worried about anything like that. And finally a rendezvous
at Little Shark River, with his father’s car as the conveyance. And
later others and others. And she—because of her weak, fearsome
yielding in the first instance—and then her terrorized contemplation
of possible consequences in the second—clinging to him in all too
eager and hence cloying fashion. She was his now—all his. Oh, he
would never, never desert her, now, would he?