NATURAL SCIENCES TRIPOS Part II

Wednesday 28 May 2003 1.30 to 4.30

EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL PHYSICS (1)
Attempt the whole of Section A, two questions from Section B and
two questions from Section C.
Answers from Section A should be tied up in a single bundle, with the
letter A written clearly on the cover sheet. Answers to each
question from Sections B and C should be tied up separately with the
number of the question written clearly on the cover sheet.
Sections A and B will each carry approximately a quarter of the total
marks. The approximate number of marks allocated to each part
of a question in Section C is indicated in the right margin. The
paper contains 5 sides and is accompanied by a book giving values of
constants and containing mathematical formulae which you may
quote without proof.
You may not start to read the questions
printed on the subsequent pages of this
question paper until instructed that you
may do so by the Invigilator.
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SECTION A
Answers should be concise, and relevant formulae may be assumed
without proof. All questions carry an equal amount of credit.
A1 Three non-interacting spin-
1
2
fermions are placed in a cubic box. What is the
degeneracy of the ground state?
A2 A Hamiltonian H
0
has eigenstates |1 and |2 with respective eigenvalues E
1
and E
2
. A perturbation potential V is applied. Supposing that the matrix
elements 1| V |1 = 2| V |2 = 0 and 1| V |2 = 2| V |1 = W, what are the
eigenvalues of the Hamiltonian H = H
0
+ V ?
A3 A gamma-ray photon of energy E
1
interacts with another photon of energy
E
2
travelling at right angles to it. Show that an electron-positron pair can be
formed provided that E
1
E
2
> 2(m
e
c
2
)
2
.
A4 Illustrate by means of an example what is meant by a gauge choice in
electrodynamics.
A5 Estimate the increase in entropy of the universe when a litre of boiling water
is poured into an ice-cold lake.
[The specic heat of water is 4.2 kJ K
1
kg
1
.]
A6 How are rainbows formed?
SECTION B
B7 Write an essay on the electronic structure of atoms. Your answer should
include discussions of shell structure, relativistic eects, spin-orbit coupling,
Hunds rules, j-j coupling and the hyperne interaction.
B8 Write brief notes on two of the following:
(a) the variational method in quantum mechanics;
(b) Raman spectroscopy;
(c) the Stark eect.
B9 Write an essay on the generation of electromagnetic radiation from
accelerating charges. You should include in your discussion an explanation of the
radiation mechanism, the characteristics of the radiation produced, and describe
how the radiation is modied if the charge is moving relativistically.
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B10 Write brief notes on two of the following:
(a) the Aharonov-Bohm eect;
(b) the radiation resistance of an antenna;
(c) the relativistic transformation of electric and magnetic elds.
SECTION C
C11 Show that the Hamiltonian for a free particle of charge q and mass m in a
magnetic eld of ux density B = (0, 0, B) can be written in the form

H =

p
2
2m

qB
2m

L
z
+
q
2
B
2
8m
_
x
2
+ y
2
_
provided that the magnetic vector potential is written in a gauge such that
A =
1
2
(By, Bx, 0) . [12]
By using the formula for the temporal evolution of the expectation of an operator

O:
d
dt
_

O
_
=
i
h
_
[

H,

O]
_
,
obtain expressions for
d
dt

r and
d
dt

p.
[7]
Derive an expression for
d
2
dt
2

r and show that this expression is consistent

with the classical equation of motion of the particle under the Lorentz force. [6]
C12 Explain what is meant by the term electric dipole transition. [3]
Write down an expression for the matrix element D corresponding to the
electric dipole transition between the states in atomic hydrogen with quantum
numbers n = 2, l = 1, m
l
= 1 and n = 1, l = 0, m
l
= 0. [3]
By considering the part of the matrix element,
_
d exp(im
f
) r exp(im
i
) ,
where the subscripts i and f refer to initial and nal states, calculate which of the
Cartesian components D
x
, D
y
and D
z
of D are non-zero. Determine the phase
relation between the non-zero components. [4]
What will be the polarisation state of the photon emitted when this
transition takes place? [2]
Using the wavefunctions given below, calculate D for the n = 2, l = 1,
m
l
= 1 to n = 1, l = 0, m
l
= 0 transition in atomic hydrogen. [5]
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(TURN OVER for continuation of question C12
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Given that the time-averaged rate of emission of power for an oscillating
electric dipole is
R =

4
3
0
c
3
|D|
2
,
where is the angular frequency of the radiation emitted in the transition,
evaluate R for the transition between the states specied above and hence estimate
the lifetime of the n = 2, l = 1, m
l
= 1 state. [8]
[You may quote the forms for the wavefunctions
R
10
(r) = 2
_
1
a
0
_
3/2
e
r/a
0
R
21
(r) =
_
1
3
_
1
2a
0
_
3/2
r
a
0
e
r/2a
0
,
the spherical harmonics
Y
00
=
_
1
4
Y
1,1
=
_
3
8
sin e
i
,
and the standard integral
_

0
dr r
4
exp(3r/2a
0
) = 256a
5
0
/81. The value of a
0
is
52.9 pm and the Rydberg constant is 13.6 eV.]
C13 Write down the Lorentz transformation between a stationary frame S and
another frame S

moving at velocity v in the x direction. [3]

A particle moving along the x-axis at velocity v has a rest-frame acceleration
a. Show that
dv
d
= a
2
, where is the particles proper time. Hence show that a
particle accelerating uniformly from rest at (t = 0, x = 0) in S has a velocity
v = c tanh(a/c) and follows the spacetime trajectory
t =
c
a
sinh(a/c), x =
c
2
a
(cosh(a/c) 1).
[5]
Suppose that a spacecraft is equipped with a photon drive that operates by
combining matter and anti-matter and using the energy released to make a
collimated beam of electromagnetic radiation. If the initial mass of the spacecraft
is M
i
show that, when it has reached a velocity v, the mass is given by
M = M
i
_
c v
c + v
_
1/2
.
[6]
The spacecraft is to travel to and come to rest at a stellar system 100 light
years from the Earth at a speed such that the time taken to get there (as recorded
by the travellers) is 10 years. Assuming that the time taken to accelerate and
decelerate can be neglected, give an estimate of the fraction of the spacecrafts
mass that must be anti-matter. [6]
After take-o it is decided to increase the travellers comfort by limiting
acceleration to a = 10 m s
2
, but to retain the same cruising speed. How much
extra time will the travellers say they spend on the journey? [5]
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C14 Outline the derivation of the radiated elds from an oscillating electric
dipole. You should describe the angular power pattern, the polarisation
characteristics and the relation of H to E. [9]
The electric and magnetic components of the radiation eld from an
oscillating magnetic dipole of moment m aligned along the z-axis and placed at the
origin are given in spherical coordinates by
E = (E
r
, E

, E

) =
_
0, 0,
[ m] sin
4
0
c
3
r
_
B = (B
r
, B

, B

) =
_
0,

0
[ m] sin
4c
2
r
, 0
_
Use these expressions to show that the radiated power is
W =

0
m
2

6c
3 [5]
A small circular loop of radius a carries a steady current I. It is spun at
angular frequency about a diameter. Find an expression for the power ux
density at large distances from the loop as a function of angle from the axis of
rotation. Describe how the polarisation of the electric and magnetic elds varies
with . [8]
Where does the radiated energy come from? [3]
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