Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2006/ib/paper-3/7b/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ib Paper 3 7B Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
In the position representation, . The orbital angular momentum operator and its squared magnitude areFor example, with , the latter is . Operator products here act on smooth wavefunctions in a common invariant domain.
To calculate the angular momentum commutation relations, use and the vanishing position-position and momentum-momentum commutators. Expanding the products givesMultiplication by then givesFinally, the product commutator rule yieldsThe final cancellation pairs the antisymmetric Levi-Civita symbol with an expression symmetric in . Thus
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