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Orbital angular momentum

Victor M. Galitski, Boris Mikhailovich Karnakov, Vladimir I Kogan, Victor M. Galitski

Published Feb 28, 2013• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract This chapter analyzes issues that deal with the general properties of angular momentum; angular momentum, l = 1; the addition of angular momenta; and tensor formalism in angular momentum theory.
DOI
10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232710.003.0003

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Chapter 11 is devoted to the quantum theory of angular momentum. As in classical mechanics, working with angular momentum requires leaving the one-dimensional space, with all the complications that this entails. The importance of angular momentum resides in at least three facts: i) central problems are of particular interest; (ii) many particles have an intrinsic angular momentum (the spin); and iii) the physics of angular momentum involves features such as the so-called space quantization. The first part of the chapter deals with the orbital angular momentum and its eigenfunctions, the spherical harmonics. Its algebraic properties, embodied in the matrix representation, allow for an extension of the theory to half-integer angular momentum in terms of Pauli matrices, as well as the addition of angular momenta.
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