Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2017/ib/paper-3/16b/a/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 3 16B a Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
The orbital angular momentum operators areIn particular . For smooth compactly supported functions , integration by parts produces no boundary term, and . HenceThis proves Hermiticity on the common test-function domain, and the same calculation applies on suitable decaying domains. As an unbounded operator, it is not defined on every function: the usual self-adjoint operator realization is the generator of unitary rotations about the third axis. Thus the integration statement includes its necessary domain/boundary assumptions.
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