Saturday, March 18, 2017

angular momentum - Deriving the unitary operator U(R) associated with a rotation R using Wigner's theorem


A rotation R(ˆn,ϕ) about an arbitrary axis ˆn through an angle ϕ in the three-dimensional physical space is given by R(ˆn,ϕ)=ei(jˆn)ϕ

where j=(j1,j2,j3) is dimensionless and ji=jTi (i=1,2,3) owing to the condition RTR=1.


In quantum mechanics, by Wigner's theorem, the rotation will be represented by an unitary operator U(R). The operator U(R) is usually quoted to have the form (see Sakurai's Modern Quantum Mechanics, for example) U(R(ˆn,ϕ))=ei(Jˆn)ϕ/

where J=J (follows from UU=1.)


Is it possible to derive equation (2) from Eq. (1)? In other words, given R, how do we construct the map U(R) that acts on the Hilbert space?


I used two different symbols j and J in (1) and (2) respectively because unless we actually construct that map U:RU(R) it's not clear what j in relation (1) has to do with J in relation (2).





Attempt Since rotations form a Lie group all representations have the exponential form. Therefore, without any loss of generality, the unitary representation in the Hilbert space must have the form U(R)=eiJ(j)ˆnϕ

where J(j) is a function of j, and unitarity implies J(j)=J(j). Now it remains to find what J(j) is. One option might be to expand U(R(ˆn,δϕ))=U(1i(jˆn)δϕ) in a Taylor series? But I'm not sure how to carry it out.




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