Perturbation theory Definition and 267 Threads

Homework Statement The following text on the time independent perturbation theory is given in a textbook: \hat{H} = \hat{H}_0 + \alpha \hat{H'} We expand its eigenstates \mid n \rangle in the convenient basis of \mid n \rangle^{(0)} \mid n \rangle = \sum_m c_{nm} \mid m \rangle^{(0)}...

I was wondering why perturbation theory works in quantum mechanics. My lecturer said that no one really bothered why it worked anyway, until they found it gave problems in QFT and came back to non-relativistic quantum mechanics and found why it worked in this domain. Can anybody explain?

Hello! This is my first time posting, so please correct me if I have done anything incorrectly. There's something that I don't understand about the spin-orbit interaction. First of all I know that [\hat{S} \cdot \hat{L}, \hat{L_z}] \ne 0 [\hat{S} \cdot \hat{L}, \hat{S_z}] \ne 0 so this means...

Homework Statement However incorrect the text seems to me, I suspect there's something I'm missing, since it's a renowned text: Schiff - Quantum Mechanics 3rd edition 1968. The topic is degenerate stationary perturbation theory. In this example there's only two eigenfunctions associated with...

Homework Statement We have spin-1 particle in zero magnetic field. Eigenstates and eigenvalue of operator \hat S_z is - \hbar |-1> , 0 |0> and \hbar |+1> . Calculate the first order of splitting which results from the application of a weak magnetic field in the x direction. Homework...

I've no idea if I should be posting this here or in the general forums. This is not really an exercise as much as an example. I'm not understanding something though: 1. Homework Statement Using perturbation theory, find the exact expression for the energy given by the hamiltonian...

Having just watched Prof Carl Bender's excellent 15 lecture course in mathematical physics on YouTube, the following question arose: The approach was to work in one space dimension and to solve the schrodinger equation for more general potentials than the harmonic oscillator using asymptotic...

If you have a momentum integral over the product of propagators of the form \frac{1}{k_o^2-E_k^2+i\epsilon} , why are there divergences associated with setting m=0? Factoring you get: \frac{1}{k_o^2-E_k^2+i\epsilon}=\frac{1}{(k_o-E_k+i\epsilon) (k_o+E_k-i\epsilon)} . This expression has...

If: ##\hat{H} \psi (x) = E \psi (x)## where E is the eigenvalue of the *disturbed* eigenfunction ##\psi (x)## and ##E_n## are the eigenvalues of the *undisturbed* Hamiltonian ##\hat{H_0}## and the *disturbed* Hamiltonian is of the form: ##\hat{H} = \hat{H_0} +{\epsilon} \hat{V}...

Hi. In 2-fold degenerate perturbation theory we can find appropiate "unperturbate" wavefunctions by looking for simultaneous eigenvectors (with different eigenvalues) of and H° and another Hermitian operator A that conmutes with H° and H'. Suppose we have the eingenvalues of H° are ##E_n =...

Hi, So, I am working through section 5.2 of Sakurai's book which is "Time Independent Perturbation Theory: The Degenerate Case", and I see a few equations I'm having some trouble reconciling with probably because of notation. These are equations 5.2.3, 5.2.4, 5.2.5 and 5.2.7. First, we...

In a text a exercice says that for the Hamiltonian ##H_0 = \frac{p^2}{2m}+V(x)## the eigenfunction and eigen energy are ##\phi_n, E_n##. If we add the perturbation ## \frac{\lambda}{m}p## ¿what is the new eigenfunction? The solution is ## \frac{p^2}{2m} + \frac{\lambda}{m}p+V=...

Homework Statement Part (a): Find eigenvalues of X, show general relation of X and show X commutes with KE. Part (b): Give conditions on V1, V2 and VI for X to commute with them. Part (c): Write symmetric and antisymmetric wavefunctions. Find energies JD and JE. Part (d): How are...

Homework Statement Part (a): Explain origin of each term in Hamiltonian. What does n, l, m mean? Part (b): Identify which matrix elements are non-zero Part (c): Applying small perturbation, find non-zero matrix elements Part (d): Find combinations of n=2 states and calculate change in...

Homework Statement Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution With a parity operator, Px = -x implies x has odd parity while Px = x implies x has even parity. Things that puzzle me 1. Why is ##[H_0,P] = 0## and ##H_1P = -PH_1##? Is it because ##H_1 \propto z## so ##Pz = -z##? Then...

Homework Statement Two identical spin-1/2 particles interact with Hamiltonian H0=ω0 S1.S2 where ω0>0. A time dependent perturbation is applied, H'=ω1 (S1z-S2z) θ(t) Exp[-t/τ], where ω1>0 and ω1<<ω0. What are the probabilities that a system starting in the ground state will be excited into each...

My study of Quantum Mechanics have brought me to perturbation theory. I'm here talking about the non-degenerate type. My questions relate to the math behind it, and the power series expansion that we do. H = H^0 + \lambda H' (Eq. 1) Question 1: So in equation 1 I think I understand...

After time t, the probability of monochromatic absorption of the ground state |1> to the energy state |n> is given by: |<n|1>|^2=4|U_{n1}|^2\frac{\sin^2((E_n-E_1-\hbar\omega)t/2\hbar)}{(E_n-E_1-\hbar\omega)^2} where U is the transition matrix. The claim is that as t goes to infinity, the...

Hello Everyone. I am very confused on the following questions and have a few confusions about the problem that I hope someone can clear up for me (explained later). Here is the question. Homework Statement The paramagnetic resonance of a paramagnetic ion in a crystal lattice is described...

So I know this might be a lot to read but I am having a very hard time understanding how to use the formulas in degenerate perturbation theory. Here is the problem I am on. Homework Statement A system of two spin-1/2 particles is described by the following Hamiltonian...

http://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/qm/lectures/node53.html So I was reading this and I don't understand how he goes from 658 to 661 using the completeness relation. In 661 if you use the completeness relaton can you get rid of the I n,l''>s by doing the outer product and ignoring the...

In the theory of degenerate perturbation in Sakurai’s textbook, Modern Quantum Mechanics Chapter 5, the perturbed Hamiltonian is H|l\rangle=(H_0 +\lambda V) |l\rangle =E|l\rangle which is written as 0=(E-H_0-\lambda V) |l\rangle (the formula (5.2.2)). By projecting P_1 from the left (P_1=1-P_0...

Greetings, Does anyone know of some good sources that explain classical perturbation theory, preferably using the Lagrangian formalism? The sources that I have seen more-or-less say, "write L=L_{0}+λδL, where L_{0} is an unperturbed, soluble Lagrangian, δL is the perturbation, and λ is a small...

Homework Statement Consider a particle confined in a cubical box with the sides of length L each. Obtain the general solution to the eigenvalues and the corresponding eigenfunctions. Compute the degeneracy of the first excited state. A perturbation is applied having the form H' = V from 0...

Hello all, I have boiled a very long physics problem down to the point that I need to solve the coupled equations \frac{\partial^2 x}{\partial u^2} + xf(u) + yg(u) = 0 \frac{\partial^2 y}{\partial u^2} + yf(u) - xg(u) = 0 We may assume that |f| ,|g| << 1. and that both f and g are...

Hi there. I'm dealing with this problem, which says: At time ##t=0## a constant and uniform electric field ##\vec E## oriented in the ##\vec x## direction is applied over a charged particle with charge ##+q##. This same particle is under the influence of an harmonic potential...

In this video (from 27.00 - 50.00, which you don't need to watch!) a guy shows how you can solve the general second order ode y'' + P(x)y = 0 using perturbation theory. However he points out that the domain must be finite in order for this to work, I'm wondering how you would phrase a question...

Hi, I have an equation of the form (-i \lambda \frac{d}{dr}\sigma_z+\Delta(r)\sigma_x) g =(\epsilon + \frac{\mu \hbar^2}{2mr^2}) g where \sigma refers to the Pauli matrices, g is a two component complex vector and the term on the right hand side of the equation is small compared to the other...

Hi all, I have a question about the concept of complete set when I apply the perturbation theory in two situations -Finite Hilbert Space and Infinite Hilbert Space. Consider a Hamiltonian H=H0+H', where H0 is the unperturbed Hamiltonian and H' is the perturbed Hamiltonian. Let ψ_n be the...

Hi guys, this is my first time posting, I'm studying physics at uni, in my third year and things are getting a bit tough, so basically my question is in relation to solving problem 1, (i included a picture...) I missed the class and don't really know what I'm doing. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi, I am recently reading Weinberg's Cosmology, and getting subtle on Ch5, small fluctuation. One of the subtle point is on P.225-226 (same as (F.11) -> (F.13) and (F.14) in appendix F). The equations of motion (5.1.24)-(5.1.26) are decomposed into many parts. For example, (5.1.24) is...

What does it mean for a matrix to be diagonal, especially in Quantum Mechanics, where we get to Perturbation theory (Degeneracy). I don't get it. Please if you can explain in 'simple' language.

Homework Statement On page 251 of Griffiths's quantum book, when deriving a result in first-order perturbation theory, the author makes the claim that <\psi^0|H^0\psi^1> = <H^0\psi^0|\psi^1> where H^0 is the unperturbed Hamiltonian and \psi^0 and \psi^1 are the unperturbed wavefunction and its...

Not sure if anyone has any experience with chiral perturbation theory, but I'm trying to see what all of the vertices are for interactions with a single Z boson. I've looked at the lagrangian up to order p^4 so far, and it seems that the Z only interacts with charged pions/kaons. I'm using...

Homework Statement Homework Equations E_{1}=<ψ_{1}|V(r)|ψ_{1}> The Attempt at a Solution That is equal to the integral ∫ψVψd^3r So I'll just perform the integral, correct ? But r is not constant here right? So, I' ll keep it inside the integral? How should I continue? Please...

If I have V(x)=\frac{1}{2}m\omega^{2}x^{2} (1+ \frac{x^{2}}{L^{2}}) How do I start to solve for the hamiltonian Ho, the ground state wave function ?? Calculate for the energy of the quantum ground state using first order perturbation theory?

Hey, I'm struggling to understand a number of things to do with this derivation of the scattering amplitude using time dependent perturbation theory for spinless particles. We assume we have some perturbation 'V' such that : \left ( \frac{\partial^2 }{\partial t^2}-\triangledown ^2 +...

Homework Statement If E1≠E2≠E3, what are the new energy levels according to the second-order perturbation theory? Homework Equations H' = α(0 1 0) (1 0 1) (0 1 0) ψ1= (1) (0) (0) ψ2= (0)...

I just want to make sure that I am doing some things correctly. I'll be using http://www.physics.umd.edu/courses/Phys741/xji/chapter5.pdf from about 5.64 on. The kinetic term : \frac{f^2}{4} Tr[D_{\mu} \Sigma D^{\mu} \Sigma^{\dagger}] Now if I want to expand this out, as \Sigma =e^{i...

in the infinite well with small potential shown in the attachment. I calculated the total energy by using the time independent Schrodinger equation and adding the correction energy to the equation of the slope k=(Vo/L)x. E=h^2/8mL^2 +∫ ψkψ dx ψ=√(2/L) sin⁡(∏/L x) when integrating ∫...

in the infinite well with small potential shown in the attachment. I calculated the total energy by using the time independent Schrodinger equation and adding the correction energy to the equation of the slope k=(Vo/L)x. E=h^2/8mL^2 +∫ ψkψ dx ψ=√(2/L) sin⁡(∏/L x) when integrating ∫...

Question: obtain 2-term expansions for the roots of x^3+x^2-w=0 , 0<w<<1. I assumed an expansion of the form x=a+bw+... and from this obtained a=-1, b=1 as one solution. How do I work out the form of the other 2 expansions? Thanks.

Homework Statement The deuteron ground state is made up of l = 0 and l = 2 states; a)Show this mixture cannot be an eigenstate of a central potential Hamiltonian b)Using first-order time independent perturbation theory, argue the potential must contain a term proportional to some combination of...

I'm rather stuck on this problem. I seem to be having issues with the simplest things on this when trying to get started. Homework Statement There is a particle with spin-1/2 and the Hamiltonian H_0 = \omega_0 S_z. The system is perturbed by: H_1 = \omega_1 S_x e^{\frac{-t}{\tau}}...

Ok so I have a classic particle in a box problem. If a particle in a box, the states of which are given by: ψ = (√2/L) * sin(nπx/L) where n=1,2,3... is perturbed by a potential v(x) = γx , how do I calculate the energy shift of the ground state in first order perturbation I'm guessing that...

Hi all, On p.327 in my second edition of Peskin and Schroeder, I have an expression for the one loop correction to the 4-point amplitude of phi^4 theory: i\mathcal{M}=-i\lambda - \frac{i \lambda^2}{32 \pi^2}\text{[Complicated integral]} Mathematica can do the integral for me, and all that...

I apologize that this is rather specific, but hopefully enough people have used Goldstein. I have a basic grasp of action-angle variables, and I'm going through the time-independent perturbation theory section in Goldstein (12.4). In this section we seek a transformation from the unperturbed...

Homework Statement How does the energy change (negative, positive or no change) in the HOMO-LUMO transition of a conjugated polyene where there are 5 double bonds when a nitrogen is substituted in the center of the chain? The substitution lowers the potential energy in the center of the box...

the spin orbit coupling removes the degeneracy but not completely, should we still use the degenerate perturbation theory. is it because of relativistic corrections? Thanks!

The following comes from Landau's Statistical Physics, chapter 32. Using a Hamiltonian \hat{H} = \hat{H}_0 + \hat{V} we get the following expression for the energy levels of a perturbed system, up to second order: E_n = E_0^{(0)} + V_{nn} + \sideset{}{'}{\sum}_m \frac{\lvert...