Rotations and Angular Momentum

Nandita Rudra

The angular momentum operator is closely related to rotation in space. The quantum mechanical definition of angular momentum differs from the classical definition r × p of angular momentum. This expression is not sufficiently general as it cannot yield spin angular momentum which does not have a classical counterpart without having any coordinate representation.

Bipin R. Desai

‎Louis Marchildon

Lei Zhao, Xu Qiu, Yi LIANG +2 more

By numerically solving the single-particle stationary Schrödinger equation and the Gross-Pitaevskii equation with mean-field interactions at zero temperature, the ground state properties of the rotating spin-orbital-angular-momentum coupled Bose-Einstein condensates in a harmonic trapping potential are investigated in this work. The results show that the rotation lifts the double degeneracy of the single-particle energy spectrum in the angular momentum space, and leads to the vortex state. The angular momentum of the vortex depends on the rotating frequency, the intensity of the laser beam, and the spin-orbital-angular-momentum coupling. In particular, if the rotating frequency is below a critical value, the angular momentum of the ground state vortex remains unaffected by the rotating frequency. When the rotating frequency exceeds the critical value, the angular momentum of the ground state vortex will increase with the rotating frequency increasing. By assuming that the system is confined in a ring trap, the expression of the single-particle energy spectrum in the angular momentum space can be obtained, which clarifies how the rotation frequency affects the angular momentum of the ground state. In the presence of atomic interactions, similar phenomena can also be observed in the mean-field ground state at zero temperature.

Kommanaboyana Srinivasa Rao, Vasudevan Lakshminarayanan

Gennaro Auletta, Shang-Yung Wang

In this chapter we shall treat two of the most important observables of quantum mechanical systems: angular momentum and spin. We shall argue that angular momentum is the generator of rotations. In quantummechanics, angular momentum is quantized in units of the reduced Planck constant. The quantization of angular momentum is dealt with by finding the angular momentum eigenvalues and eigenstates. We shall then apply the theory of angular momentum to study the hydrogen atom. Spin is an intrinsic angular momentum of subatomic particles and therefore corresponds to an important intrinsic degree of freedom. We shall discuss briefly how spin was discovered and many of its important properties. Finally, we shall also explore here some further subtleties of quantum theory.a When we consider quantum systems in two or three spatial dimensions, we need to take into account also the effect of rotations. In this case, we need to introduce a physical quantity called the angular momentum, that is, themomentum induced by or connected with rotations. In classical physics the angular momentum of a particle about a given origin is defined by [see Fig. 8.1]