Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2022/ii/paper-3/33a/a/solution

In position representation,
which differentiates only with respect to and . Multiplication by therefore commutes with it:
Taking the matrix element of this commutator between angular-momentum eigenstates gives
Thus the matrix element can be nonzero only when
This is the magnetic part of the electric-dipole selection rules for hydrogen.

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