Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-quantum-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2016/1/solution

Insert hydrogen energy eigenstates on either side of the commutator. Because is Hermitian and has eigenvalue ,
Thus
This is a necessary electric-dipole selection rule, not a sufficient condition for a nonzero matrix element. For example, by parity even though . The angular factor additionally requires : multiplication of a spherical harmonic by gives only harmonics with the same and adjacent . The commutator alone establishes only the magnetic quantum number restriction; radial integrals and the remaining electric-dipole selection rules for hydrogen must still be considered.

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