Midterm 415

Thursday, February 10, 2011

1 [50 points] Consider the following Hamiltonian for a single particle in a 2D anisotropic (i.e., the oscillation
frequencies are different in the x and y directions) harmonic oscillator potential

Ĥ = h̄ω(a+ +
x ax + 1/2) + 3h̄ω(ay ay + 1/2).

(a) [5 points] What are the eigenenergies of this Hamiltonian, expressed in terms of quantum
numbers nx , ny (i.e., the energies of the states |nx , ny i)? [Yes, a very simple question!]

(b) [25 points] Suppose we have two identical noninteracting spin-zero bosons in this potential,
and we know their total energy is E = 7h̄ω.

(i) In how many different states can these two bosons be? [If you find > 5, try again!]

(ii) If we measure the energy of one of the two bosons, what values could we find, and
with what probabilities?

(c) [20 points] Suppose we put a macroscopic number N ≈ 1023 of identical noninteracting
spin-1/2 fermions in this potential (at zero temperature). Determine the Fermi energy. Hint:
you could draw a graph with nx along the x axis and ny along the y axis, draw points
corresponding to states, and figure out what area the N fermions occupy.

2 [25 points] Problem 5.13 (page 218) of the textbook gives three “Hund’s rules” for determining which
states the electrons of a given atom occupy so as to minimize their energy. Explain the reasons
behind each rule, i.e., explain how/why each rule minimizes the energy of the electrons.

3 [25 points] Consider a particle with mass m in the 1D harmonic oscillator (along the x axis) with frequency
ω. Suppose we add a perturbation Ĥ 0 to the Hamiltonian of the form

Ĥ 0 = κx̂2 ,

with κ “sufficiently small.”

(a) [10 points] Using perturbation theory, calculate the first-order energy shift of the ground
state. Hint: you could use the fact that the expectation values of kinetic and potential energies
are equal for the harmonic oscillator in any energy eigenstate.

(b) [15 points]

(i) Verify your answer to part (a) by finding the exact ground-state energy of the total
Hamiltonian, and Taylor expanding it using an appropriate (small) dimensionless parameter.

(ii) Make more precise what κ “sufficiently small” means: when exactly would perturba-
tion theory break down?