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arXiv:2501.14831

Radial Uncertainty Product for Spherically Symmetric Potential in Position Space

Avoy Jana

Published Jan 23, 2025• 0 citations
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Abstract

This paper presents a detailed analysis of the radial uncertainty product for quantum systems with spherically symmetric potentials. Using the principles of quantum mechanics, the study derives the radial uncertainty relation analogous to the Cartesian form and investigates its implications for three key spherically symmetric potentials: the Hydrogen atom, the infinite spherical potential well, and the spherical harmonic oscillator, all within the non-relativistic regime. Employing the Schrodinger equation in spherical coordinates, the paper rigorously evaluates the normalized radial wave functions, expectation values, and uncertainties associated with both position and momentum. Analytical derivations and numerical computations highlight the dependence of the uncertainty product on quantum numbers and system-specific parameters.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2501.14831

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This paper presents a detailed analysis of the radial uncertainty product for quantum systems with spherically symmetric potentials. Using the principles of quantum mechanics, the study derives the radial uncertainty relation analogous to the Cartesian form and investigates its implications for three key spherically symmetric potentials: the Hydrogen atom, the infinite spherical potential well, and the spherical harmonic oscillator, all within the non-relativistic regime. Employing the Schrodinger equation in spherical coordinates, the paper rigorously evaluates the normalized radial wave functions, expectation values, and uncertainties associated with both position and momentum. Analytical derivations and numerical computations highlight the dependence of the uncertainty product on quantum numbers and system-specific parameters.
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This chapter physical properties of the hydrogen atom and its Hamiltonian function as a particle in a spherically symmetric potential having a wave function as a product of the radial function and spherical harmonic function. Hereafter, it comes to two independent wave equations: the radial equation and the angular equation. After some derivation, it is shown that the angular equation is a product of the azimuthal angle equation and polar angle equation (as discussed in the previous chapter). The azimuthal angle equation is similar to the particle in a ring problem from the previous chapter and after some derivation the polar angle equation becomes an associated Legendre equation with well-known polynomials as solutions. Next, the solution to the radial equation is presented which becomes after some derivation an associated Laguerre equation with well-known polynomials as solutions and from this result is obtained the energy equation for the hydrogen-like atom. Subsequently, it is derived the normalization constant of the radial function. Afterwards, the numerical analysis of the radial equation of the hydrogen atom along with its corresponding Fortran code is presented. Finally, the hydrogen atomic orbitals equations and plots are depicted followed by the fine structure of the hydrogen (198 words).
We show how the radial position–momentum uncertainty product can be obtained analytically for the Dirac hydrogen-like atoms. Some interesting features for this system are found. First, for the same principal quantum number n , as the azimuthal quantum number l increases, the uncertainties Δ p r and Δ r Δ p r decrease. However, the uncertainty Δ r does not always decrease, which is different from the non-relativistic hydrogen-like atoms case, where it always decreases. Second, for the same l both Δ r and Δ r Δ p r increase as n increases. Third, all uncertainties for the same n and l = n − 1 are smallest in comparison with those for the same n but . Fourth, the uncertainty Δ r Δ p r is independent of the value of charge Z in the non-relativistic case, while it is related with the value of charge Z in the relativistic case. Fifth, the relativistic corrections to the non-relativistic values of uncertainties are very small when the values of charge Z are not too big, while the relativistic corrections to them will appear explicitly for a large value of charge Z .
We show how the radial position–momentum uncertainty product can be obtained analytically for Klein–Gordon hydrogen-like atoms. Some interesting features of this quantum system are found. First, for the same principal quantum number n, when the angular momentum quantum number l increases, the uncertainties Δpr and ΔrΔpr decrease. However, Δr does not always decrease, which is different from the non-relativistic hydrogen-like atoms case, where it always decreases. Second, for same l both Δr and ΔrΔpr increase as n increases. Third, all uncertainties for same n and l = n − 1 are smallest in comparison with those for same n but l ≠ n − 1. Fourth, ΔrΔpr is independent of the value of charge Z in the non-relativistic case, while it is related to the value of charge Z in the relativistic case. Fifth, the relativistic corrections to the non-relativistic uncertainties are very small when the values of the charge Z are not too big. However, relativistic corrections to them will appear explicitly for large Z.
In quantum mechanics textbooks the momentum operator is defined in the Cartesian coordinates and rarely the form of the momentum operator in spherical polar coordinates is discussed. Consequently one always generalizes the Cartesian prescription to other coordinates and falls in a trap. In this work we introduce the difficulties one faces when the question of the momentum operator in spherical polar coordinate comes. We have tried to point out most of the elementary quantum mechanical results, related to the momentum operator, which has coordinate dependence. We explicitly calculate the momentum expectation values in various bound states and show that the expectation value really turns out to be zero, a consequence of the fact that the momentum expectation value is real. We comment briefly on the status of the angular variables in quantum mechanics and the problems related in interpreting them as dynamical variables. At the end, we calculate the Heisenberg's equation of motion for the radial component of the momentum for the Hydrogen atom.
The minimum-uncertainty coherent-states formalism is extended to higher-dimensional systems. Specifically, for spherically symmetric three-dimensional potentials the formalism looks for coherent states which are products of an angular wave function times a radial wave function. After reviewing the many studies on angular coherent states, I concentrate on the physically distinguishing radial coherent states. The radial formalism is explained in detail and contrasted with the effective one-dimensional formalism. The natural classical variables in the radial formalism are those which vary sinusoidally as $g(E, L)\ensuremath{\theta}(t)$, where $\ensuremath{\theta}(t)$ is the real azimuthal angular variable and g(E,L)g(E, L)g(E,L) is the number of oscillations between apsidal distances per classical orbit. When changed to natural quantum operators, these operators can be given as the Hermitian sums and differences of the "lll" raising and lowering operators. The formalism is applied to the three-dimensional harmonic-oscillator and Coulomb problems.