Past exam of the quantum, atomic and molecular physics course of the University of Oxford / 2016 / 2 / a

First make the units explicit. Use angular momentum operators in units of $\hslash$, so their squared eigenvalues are $J(J+1)$ rather than ${\hslash }^{2}J(J+1)$; the coefficient $A$ then has units of energy. The operator identitygives, at fixed $J_1,J_2$,Subtracting the expression for the adjacent allowed value $J-1$ leavesThis is the Landé interval rule. Its content is that consecutive gaps grow in proportion to the higher total-angular-momentum quantum number, with the same coefficient within an isolated coupled multiplet. A negative $A$ reverses the ordering of the levels, while positive observed transition frequencies alone measure gap magnitudes.

If the source symbols instead denote physical angular momenta with units of action, the Hamiltonian written literally as $A{\mathbf{J}}_1\cdot {\mathbf{J}}_2$ gives the gap $A{\hslash }^{2}J$. Recovering the printed form then requires absorbing ${\hslash }^2$ into the coefficient or writing $H=(A/{\hslash }^2){\mathbf{J}}_1\cdot {\mathbf{J}}_2$. The convention is essential to dimensional consistency rather than an extra dynamical assumption.