Tensor Operators and Useful Rules They Obey

Ilya G. Kaplan

Pancracio Palting

Abstract It is shown that the Heisenberg Lie algebra of the nondegenerate harmonic oscillator leads to a basis {J+, J0, J−} of LASU(2). The Hamiltonian of the system is proportional to J0, and the basis elements give rise to irreducible tensors in the associative enveloping algebra of the Heisenberg Lie algebra. The construction of these irreducible tensors is studied with special attention being paid to the case in which they act upon a single vector space spanned by the harmonic oscillator basis functions. A tensor coupling rule is developed, and useful application is made of it in the calculation of general expressions for vibrational operators and their matrix elements. Throughout, the value of the additional algebraic quantum numbers (l, m) is emphasized.

André Nauts, Fabien Gatti

The angular momentum operator L̂ of a particle obeys the usual commutation rule L̂×L̂=iℏL̂. In contrast, the total angular momentum operator Ĵ of a set of particles relative to moving axes (as, for instance, when mounted on a tumbling molecule) obeys the anomalous commutation rule Ĵ×Ĵ=−iℏĴ. We give a pedagogical and mathematically nonsophisticated description of intermediate cases for which partial angular momentum operators, relative to various moving frames, obey unusual commutation relations that are neither usual nor anomalous. Insight into the origin of these unusual commutation relations provides a means of guessing the type of commutation rule that will be obeyed. In particular, it gives a way to avoid, as far as possible, the unusual commutation relations, which lead to complicated and nonsystematic expressions. Some examples from molecular physics are presented.

Edgard Elbaz

Pascal Szriftgiser, E.S. Cheb-Terrab

Pauli first noticed the hidden SO(4) symmetry for the Hydrogen atom in the early stages of quantum mechanics [1]. Departing from that symmetry, one can recover the spectrum of a spinless hydrogen atom and the degeneracy of its states without explicitly solving Schrodinger's equation [2]. In this paper, we derive that SO(4) symmetry and spectrum using a computer algebra system (CAS). While this problem is well known [3, 4], its solution involves several steps of manipulating expressions with tensorial quantum operators, simplifying them by taking into account a combination of commutator rules and Einstein's sum rule for repeated indices. Therefore, it is an excellent model to test the current status of CAS concerning this kind of quantum-and-tensor-algebra computations. Generally speaking, when capable, CAS can significantly help with manipulations that, like non-commutative tensor calculus subject to algebra rules, are tedious, time-consuming and error-prone. The presentation also shows a pattern of computer algebra operations that can be useful for systematically tackling more complicated symbolic problems of this kind.