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Journal of Mathematical Physics

Semiclassical approximations to 3j- and 6j-coefficients for quantum-mechanical coupling of angular momenta

Klaus J. Schulten, Roy Gerald Gordon

Published Oct 1, 1975• 136 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The coupling of angular momenta is studied using quantum mechanics in the limit of large quantum numbers (semiclassical limit). Uniformly valid semiclassical expressions are derived for the 3j (Wigner) coefficients coupling two angular momenta, and for the 6j (Racah) coefficients coupling three angular momenta. In three limiting cases our new expressions reduce to those conjectured by Ponzano and Regge. The derivation involves solving the recursion relations satisfied by these coefficients, by a discrete analog of the WKB method. Terms of the order of the inverse square of the quantum numbers are neglected in the derivation, so that the results should be increasingly accurate for larger angular momenta. Numerical results confirm this asymptotic convergence. Moreover, the results are of a useful accuracy even at small quantum numbers.

DOI
10.1063/1.522427

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The coupling of angular momenta is studied using quantum mechanics in the limit of large quantum numbers (semiclassical limit). Uniformly valid semiclassical expressions are derived for the 3j (Wigner) coefficients coupling two angular momenta, and for the 6j (Racah) coefficients coupling three angular momenta. In three limiting cases our new expressions reduce to those conjectured by Ponzano and Regge. The derivation involves solving the recursion relations satisfied by these coefficients, by a discrete analog of the WKB method. Terms of the order of the inverse square of the quantum numbers are neglected in the derivation, so that the results should be increasingly accurate for larger angular momenta. Numerical results confirm this asymptotic convergence. Moreover, the results are of a useful accuracy even at small quantum numbers.
Semiclassical integral representations, analogous to initial value expressions for the propagator, are presented for the Clebsch-Gordan angular momentum coupling coefficients. Two forms (L and R types) of the approximation are presented. For each form, new non-Gaussian expressions, which are specifically adapted to the nature of angular momentum variables, are proposed in place of the familiar Gaussian coherent state functions. With these non-Gaussian kernels, it is found that the present treatments are capable of accuracy similar to that obtained from a uniform Airy approximation. Although the present semiclassical approximations involve only real-valued angle variables, associated with sets of angular momenta that are related by ordinary, real, classical transformations, the treatments produce accurate results not only for classically allowed choices of quantum numbers but also for very strongly classically forbidden values.
Asymptotic Limits of the Wigner 12J12J12J-Symbol in Terms of the Ponzano-Regge Phases
There are two types of asymptotic formulas for the 12j12j12j symbol with one small and 11 large angular momenta. We have derived the first type of formula previously in [L. Yu, Phys. Rev. A84 022101 (2011)]. We will derive the second type in this paper. We find that this second asymptotic formula for the 12j12j12j symbol is expressed in terms of the vector diagram associated with two 6j6j6j symbols, namely, the vector diagram of two adjacent tetrahedra sharing a common face. As a result, two sets of Ponzano-Regge phases appear in the asymptotic formula. This work contributes another asymptotic formula of the Wigner 12j12j12j symbol to the re-coupling theory of angular momenta.
A semiclassical expression for matrix elements of an arbitrary operator with respect to the eigenstates of an integrable Hamiltonian is derived. This is essentially the Heisenberg correspondence principle, and it is shown via the Weyl correspondence that the approximation is valid through the lowest two orders in \ensuremath{\Elzxh}. The result is used to prove that an asymptotic form of the Clebsch-Gordan coefficients for two large and one small angular momenta is valid through two orders. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
We review various methods of deriving expressions for quantum-mechanical quantities in the limit when hslash is small (in comparison with the relevant classical action functions). To start with we treat one-dimensional problems and discuss the derivation of WKB connection formulae (and their reversibility), reflection coefficients, phase shifts, bound state criteria and resonance formulae, employing first the complex method in which the classical turning points are avoided, and secondly the method of comparison equations with the aid of which uniform approximations are derived, which are valid right through the turningpoint regions. The special problems associated with radial equations are also considered. Next we examine semiclassical potential scattering, both for its own sake and also as an example of the three-stage approximation method which must generally be employed when dealing with eigenfunction expansions under semiclassical conditions, when they converge very slowly. Finally, we discuss the derivation of semiclassical expressions for Green functions and energy level densities in very general cases, employing Feynman's path-integral technique and emphasizing the limitations of the results obtained. Throughout the article we stress the fact that all the expressions obtained involve quantities characterizing the families of orbits in the corresponding purely classical problems, while the analytic forms of the quantal expressions depend on the topological properties of these families. This review was completed in February 1972.
We analyze the asymptotics of the Wigner 3j3j3j-symbol as a matrix element connecting eigenfunctions of a pair of integrable systems, obtained by lifting the problem of the addition of angular momenta into the space of Schwinger's oscillators. A novel element is the appearance of compact Lagrangian manifolds that are not tori, due to the fact that the observables defining the quantum states are noncommuting. These manifolds can be quantized by generalized Bohr-Sommerfeld rules and yield all the correct quantum numbers. The geometry of the classical angular momentum vectors emerges in a clear manner. Efficient methods for computing amplitude determinants in terms of Poisson brackets are developed and illustrated.
Heisenberg's form of the correspondence principle is applied to the matrix elements of tensor operators. A correspondence limit of the Wigner-Eckart theorem is obtained. It is shown that the Clebsch-Gordan coefficient tends in this limit to the product of a reduced rotation matrix element with a simple multiplicative factor. A similar, but not identical, expression has long been known as a formal limit obtaining when two of the three angular momenta involved become large. It is characteristic of correspondence principle expressions that the initial and final quantal states must be represented by some 'mean' classical orbit, the choice of which remains ambiguous. Here recursion relations are used to arrive at the optimal choice. In this way, a correspondence principle approximation to the Clebsch-Gordan coefficient is obtained which may be used with success far from the limit to which it nominally refers. This approximation is tested numerically against both exact and semiclassical computations.