Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 ib Paper 2 18F b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Every orbital angular momentum operator annihilates a radial function: substituting makes the two terms cancel. It also annihilates . Thus the radial factor can be carried through the angular operators. Since is independent of , for every value of .
Direct differentiation givesConsequently and . For a nonzero admissible radial factor, comparison with forces and . Therefore the simultaneous eigenfunction occurs atIt is the axially symmetric quadratic orbital eigenfunction, with quantum numbers , and angular dependence proportional to the spherical harmonic . The subtraction of removes its rotationally invariant scalar component.