A thorough study of regular and quasi-regular polyhedra shows that the symmetries of these polyhedra identically describe the quantization of orbital angular momentum, of spin, and of total angular momentum, a fact which permits one to assign quantum states at the vertices of these polyhedra assumed as the average particle positions. Furthermore, if the particles are fermions, their wave function is anti-symmetric and its maxima are identically the same as those of repulsive particles, e.g., on a sphere like the spherical shape of closed shells, which implies equilibrium of these particles having average positions at the aforementioned maxima. Such equilibria on a sphere are solely satisfied at the vertices of regular and quasi-regular polyhedra which can be associated with the most probable forms of shells both in Nuclear Physics and in Atomic Cluster Physics when the constituent atoms possess half integer spins. If the average sizes of the constituent particles are known, then the average sizes of the resulting shells become known as well. This association of Symmetry with Quantum Mechanics leads to many applications and excellent results.
A thorough study of regular and quasi-regular polyhedra shows that the symmetries of these polyhedra identically describe the quantization of orbital angular momentum, of spin, and of total angular momentum, a fact which permits one to assign quantum states at the vertices of these polyhedra assumed as the average particle positions. Furthermore, if the particles are fermions, their wave function is anti-symmetric and its maxima are identically the same as those of repulsive particles, e.g., on a sphere like the spherical shape of closed shells, which implies equilibrium of these particles having average positions at the aforementioned maxima. Such equilibria on a sphere are solely satisfied at the vertices of regular and quasi-regular polyhedra which can be associated with the most probable forms of shells both in Nuclear Physics and in Atomic Cluster Physics when the constituent atoms possess half integer spins. If the average sizes of the constituent particles are known, then the average sizes of the resulting shells become known as well. This association of Symmetry with Quantum Mechanics leads to many applications and excellent results.
Abstract Two concepts, of fundamental importance to quantum mechanics, will be discussed in this chapter. The first is that of symmetry. Even though the concept of symmetry is familiar in a wide range of natural sciences, the way symmetry constrains the consequences of quantum mechanics is rather subtle and, at the same time, far-reaching. The second is the symmetry property of the states under the exchange of two identical particles. Identical particles with a half-integer spin (fermions) obey the Fermi–Dirac statistics: the wave functions are totally antisymmetric under the exchange of the particles. Identical particles with an integer spin (bosons) are instead subject to the Bose–Einstein statistics. Their wave functions are totally symmetric.
It is shown that the approximation of a strong Coulomb interaction between electrons results in a new model of the atom with a spatial quantization of electrons accompanied by their quantization in energy. This model implies that electrons rotate in circular orbits centered outside the atomic nucleus and only orbit axes pass through it. The Coulomb interaction between electrons leads to a spherically symmetric distribution of their orbits on the surfaces of equipotential spheres of a spherically symmetric electrostatic field of the nucleus. The distribution is similar to “inscribing” electron orbits into faces of regular nucleus-centered polyhedra so each polyhedron corresponds to a certain electron state (s, p, d, f), and a certain set of polyhedra corresponds to a certain period of the Mendeleev Table. It is shown that a spherically symmetric distribution of electron orbits gives rise to the formation of electron pairs in which electron orbits with a common axis are located symmetrically with respect to the nucleus and the orbital magnetic moments of the electrons are oppositely directed. The physical meaning of the electron spin concept becomes clear. The spin turns out to be related to the orbital magnetic moment of an electron and reflects the fact that two electrons of a pair rotate in opposite directions relative to their common axis. So the spin is one of characteristics of the electron state in the atom associated with electron rotation in the orbit centered outside the nucleus. The atomic model gives an insight into the periodicity of changes in the atomic properties with increasing nuclear charge and the reasons for an electron double energy quantization associated with different states and periods. The model shows that the atomic structure and properties can be explained by using concepts of classical mechanics and classical electrodynamics which regard the electron as a particle.
Spin, s in quantum theory can assume only half odd integer or integer values. For a given s, there exist n=2s+1 states ∣s,m⟩, m=s,s−1,........,−s. A statistical assembly of particles (like a beam or target employed in experiments in physics) with the lowest value of spin s=21 can be described in terms of probabilities pm assigned to the two states m=±21. A generalization of this concept to higher spins s>21 leads only to a particularly simple category of statistical assemblies known as `Oriented systems'. To provide a comprehensive description of all realizable categories of statistical assemblies in experiments, it is advantageous to employ the generators of the Lie group SU(n). The probability domain then gets identified to the interior of regular polyhedra in ℜn−1, where the centre corresponds to an unpolarized assembly and the vertices represent `pure' states. All the other interior points correspond to `mixed' states. The higher spin system has embedded within itself a set of s(2s+1) independent axes, which are determinable empirically. Only when all these axes turn out to be collinear, the simple category of `Oriented systems' is realized, where probabilities pm are assigned to the states ∣s,m⟩. The simplest case of higher spin s=1 provides an illustrative example, where additional features of `aligned' and more general `non oriented' categories are displayed.
Using the method of canonical group quantization, we construct the angular momentum operators associated to configuration spaces with the topology of (i) a sphere and (ii) a projective plane. In the first case, the angular momentum operators derived this way are the quantum version of Poincaré's vector, i.e., the physically correct angular momentum operators for an electron coupled to the field of a magnetic monopole. In the second case, the operators one obtains represent the angular momentum operators of a system of two indistinguishable spin zero quantum particles in three spatial dimensions. The relevance of the proposed formalism for the progress in our understanding of the spin–statistics connection in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics is discussed. Introduction The connection between the spin of quantum particles and the statistics they obey is a remarkable example of a simply stated physical fact without the recognition of which many physical phenomena (ranging from the stability of matter and the electronic configuration of atoms to Bose–Einstein condensation and superconductivity) would not have an explanation. Nevertheless, the simplicity of the assertion “integer spin particles obey Bose statistics, and half-integer spin particles obey Fermi statistics” stands in bold contrast to its intricate physical origin. Indeed, Pauli's proof of the spin–statistics theorem [Pau40] (improving on earlier work by Fierz [Fie39]), showed that the spin–statistics connection was deeply rooted in relativistic quantum field theory. The path to a rigorous proof of this theorem (from the mathematical point of view) was a long one and involved the efforts of many people (see, e.g., the book by Duck and Sudarshan [DS98b]).
Quantization of spin and orbital angular momenta in standard quantum mechanics is rooted in the fundamental rotational symmetry of space in conjunction with the results of experiments on atomic and subatomic particles conducted with the Stern-Gerlach apparatus. We explain some of the most important features of spin and orbital angular momenta as inescapable consequences of elementary Stern-Gerlach experiments viewed in light of the rotational symmetry of space. The rotation operator is first derived for spin-½ particles, then extended to spin-1 particles by treating the case of a hydrogen atom in its ground state, where the spin of the proton combines with that of the electron to create a spin-1 triplet state. Along the way, we examine the evolution of a particle’s spin state under an applied magnetic field, where the interaction energy arises from the existence of a magnetic dipole moment for each particle in proportion to its spin angular momentum. Whereas a constant magnetic field B0 causes the particle’s magnetic moment to gyrate around the direction of B0, it will be seen that the presence of a small oscillating magnetic field perpendicular to B0 brings about the so-called Rabi oscillations, which involve periodic flippings of the particle’s spin orientation. In the case of a hydrogen atom in its ground state, the interaction between the magnetic dipole moments of the proton and the electron splits the ground state between a lower energy singlet having a net angular momentum of zero (spin-0 state), and a higher energy triplet having a total angular momentum of ħ (spin-1 state). This hyperfine splitting is the source of the well-known 21-cm line observed in the spectrum of the hydrogen atom, which arises from transitions between the atom’s singlet and triplet states. In the final section, we put forward an argument (originally made by Richard Feynman) that ties the rotational symmetry of space to the conservation of angular momentum in quantum mechanics. The argument is, in fact, quite general, enabling one to deduce other conservation laws from various inherent symmetries of quantum mechanical systems.
The theory of angular momentum performance a significant position in the classical and quantum mechanical study of physical properties, such as studies into nuclear, atomic, and molecular processes, as well as other quantum problems, including spherical symmetry. In this analysis, angular momentum operators are described in multiple ways, based on the angular momentum operator's commutator, matrix, and geometric representation, The eigenvalue and eigenvector were also known for operatorsJ ̂_±,J ⃑ ̂^2, J ̂_x,J ̂_y and J ̂_zwithin the |j,┤ ├ m⟩ basis. Furthermore, in quantum mechanics, angular momentum is called quantized variable, meaning that it comes in discrete quantities. In contrast to the macroscopic system case where a continuous variable is angular momentum.