Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2017/ii/paper-3/33c/solution

For a multiplication operator , . Therefore the mechanical momentum satisfies
The displayed ladder operators implicitly require , so that their denominator is real and the second is the adjoint of the first. Then and
The free longitudinal motion gives a continuous spectrum in , and the transverse Landau levels have guiding-centre degeneracy of a Landau level. For arbitrary sign of , use in the energy and . The question's normalizable wavefunctions likewise assume .
For the stated symmetric-gauge wavefunction, , whose peak for is at . Thus the largest useful angular index is about , giving
The state should also be included in the usual lowest Landau level; its omission by “positive integer” changes only an order-one term. Including the radial measure shifts the most probable radius to , again only an order-one counting correction. Boundary conditions and the tails of the wavefunctions make this a large-flux estimate, not an exact finite-disc count.

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