Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-quantum-atomic-and-molecular-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2016/2/c/solution

Within a fixed isolated electronic multiplet, the electronic field at the nucleus is a vector operator. Rotational symmetry and the Wigner-Eckart theorem imply that its projection into this multiplet is proportional to :
Its detailed orbital, spin-dipolar and contact contributions are included in the reduced coefficient . Consequently the projected magnetic-dipole hyperfine interaction becomes
in the same dimensionless angular-momentum convention as a. The proportionality is a statement about matrix elements within the chosen electronic manifold, not an identity for the electron field operator on the entire atomic Hilbert space.
Define . In zero external field the quantum states obtained by addition of angular momentum are labelled , where specifies the electron configuration and other fixed labels. The good quantum numbers include , with and . In a description using LS coupling the fixed electronic labels can also include . The energies depend on but not :
This neglects coupling to other electronic manifolds, electric-quadrupole hyperfine interactions and the Zeeman effect from external fields. Those additions can shift the intervals or change which quantum numbers remain useful.

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