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Angular Momentum, Laplacian and Gradient in Spherical Coordinates - Izveduvanje

This document derives expressions for angular momentum in spherical coordinates. It shows: 1) How Cartesian coordinates (x,y,z) relate to spherical polar coordinates (r,θ,φ). 2) How to express the gradient, Laplacian, and components of angular momentum in terms of partial derivatives of the spherical coordinates. 3) The final expressions for the Laplacian and squared angular momentum operator in spherical coordinates.

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Elena Kusevska
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365 views3 pages

Angular Momentum, Laplacian and Gradient in Spherical Coordinates - Izveduvanje

This document derives expressions for angular momentum in spherical coordinates. It shows: 1) How Cartesian coordinates (x,y,z) relate to spherical polar coordinates (r,θ,φ). 2) How to express the gradient, Laplacian, and components of angular momentum in terms of partial derivatives of the spherical coordinates. 3) The final expressions for the Laplacian and squared angular momentum operator in spherical coordinates.

Uploaded by

Elena Kusevska
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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II

~~~tv)

vV\ ~

(kep" I C S

~~V'

N\)\}ft,d\~

6Mrl u.~~rtJ-toV\J>"
~e.A~~)

\I\h\tj

Angular Momentum in Spherical Coordinates


In this appendix, we will show how to derive the expressions of the gradient v, the Laplacian v2, and the components of the orbital angular momentum in spherical coordinates.

B.I
(r,e,cp)by

Derivation of Some General Relations

The Cartesian coordinates (x, y, z) of a vector r are related to its spherical polar coordinates
x

= r sine
= =

cos

cp,

= r sine

sincp,

= r cose

(R1)

The orthonormal Cartesian basis (x, y, z) is related to its spherical counterpart (r, e, rp) by
x r
r

sin e cos cp + e cos e cos cp -

rp sin cp

(B.2) (B.3) (B.4)

r cas e -

sin e sin cp + e cos e sin cp + rp cos cp, e sin e.

Differentiating (RI), we obtain


dx dy dz

= =
=

sine cos cpdr sin e sin cpdr


cosedr

+ r cose + r cos e

cos cpde - r sine sincp dcp sin cpde

(B.5) (B.6)

+ r cos cpdcp,

-rsinede.

(R7)

Solving these equations for dr, de and d cp, we obtain


dr de dcp

sine cos cpdx

+ sine
1

sincp dy

+ cos e dz
1
- - sin e dz, r

(B.8) (B.9) (RIO)

1.
- cos e cos cpdx r

+ - cos e sin cpdy r

= -

r sme

s~cp

dx

+ rco.scp dy. sme


633

634

B. ANGULAR MOMENTUM IN SPHERICAL COORDINATES

We can verify that (B.5) to (B.I 0) lead to

- = ax ar ar
~

ar

sinBcosrp, .. smB smrp, cosB,

aB ax aB ~

-cosrpcosB,
I'

=I'

sinrp cosB,

- = az
which, in turn, yield
a ax

ae az

= --I'

I sinB,

arp sm rp - - --.-, ax I' sm B alp cos rp - = -.-, ~ rsmB arp - = 0, az

(B.ll) (B.12) (B.13)

a ar a ae a arp --+--+-ar ax aB ax arp ax

=
a
ay

. a I a sin rp a sm B cos rp- + - cos B cos rp- - --, I' aB I' sin B aB ar a ar a ae a arp

(B.14)

--+--+-ar ay ae ay arp ay

=
a
az

. a I a cos rp a sm B sin rp- + - cos B sin rp- + --ar I' aB I' sin B arp, a a a sin -- ar + -- ae + -- arp = cosB- a - ---. B a ar az aB az arp az ar ar aB

(B.15) (B.16)

B.2

Gradient and Laplacian in Spherical Coordinates

We can show that a combination of (B.14) to (B.16) allows us to express the operator V in spherical coordinates: ~ ~a ~a \/=x-+y-+z-=r-+ ax ay and also the Laplacian operator \/2
Aa Aa BAla --+rp--- A

az

ar

I'

aB

a r sinB arp,

(B.17)

\/ =\/\/=
2 ~

.~

1'-+--+--r aB (~aar e a

r sinrp arp ~ a)

. 1'-+--+--r aB (A ar a e a

r sinB arp ~ a)

(B.18)

Now, using the relations ap aB ar arp ap 8P


ae

= 0, sinB, e, ~

ar

= 0, = -r,
A

a~ -=0, ar a~
aB

(B.19) (B.20) BAcos B

ae.
-aB

= 0,
,

ae
_

arp =rpcosB, we can show that the Laplacian operator reduces to

a~ - = -I'A' sm B
arp

(B.21)

\/ = 2

1'2 [a ( I ar

r 2 ar ) a

+ ---

smBaB ) a

sinB ae (. I a

+ ----

sin2 e arp2 I a2]

(B.22)

B.3. ANGULAR MOMENTUM IN SPHERICAL COORDINATES

635

B.3

Angular Momentum in Spherical Coordinates

The orbital angular momentum operator Z can be expressed in spherical coordinates as: (B.23)

L=RxP=(-ilir)rxV=(-ilir)rx or as

rar+;:-ae+rsinealp ~ [a ea

a]

= -ili

(B.24) (~ :e - si~e aalp ).

Using (B.24) along with (B.2) to (BA), we express the components ix, Ly, Lz within the context of the spherical coordinates. For instance, the expression for Lx can be written as follows Lx
A

= x.L=-irt
A ~

rsm
h
(A .

COSlp+

cos
eA

coslp-lpsmlp

eA.
.

. lp---.-ae sme alp (A a e a) (B.25)

ae alp = iIi (sin lp~ + cote cos lp~) Similarly, we can easily obtain
Ly

ae alp ili (- cos lp~ + cote Sinlp~) a -ili-. alp

(B.26) (B.27)

From the expressions (B.25) and (B.26) for L+


A

ix
.

and L y, we infer, that , . alp a) (B.28)

Lx
A

+ iLy = liez'P (a-ae + i cote- alp a)


A

L_
A

=L
A

- iL x
A

= lie-1'P
y
.

- i cote-

(aae

(B.29)

The expression for Z

is (B.30)

it can be easily written in terms of the spherical coordinates as

L = -Ii
.~ 2
2 [

---

sine ae (. 1 a

sme-

ae ) a

+ ---; sin2 e alp2 1 a2]

(B.3l)

this expression was derived by substituting (B.22) into (B.30). Note that, using the expression (B.30) for Z 2, we can rewrite V2 as

V2

r2 ar ( r 2 ar ) - li2r2 L 2 1 a a 1 ~

= -;;a2 r 1 ar2

- li2r2 L 2 . 1 ~

(B.32)

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