Past exam of the short options paper of the physics Prelims of the University of Oxford / 2021 / S03 / 3 / b

Replacing $L$ by the angular momentum operator gives the Hamiltonian operatorThe time-dependent Schrödinger equation is thereforeFor a stationary state, separate variables as $\Psi (\varphi ,t)=\psi (\varphi )T(t)$. Dividing by the product separates a function of $t$ from one of $\varphi$:Thus $T=e^{-iEt/\hslash }$ up to a constant, and the time-independent Schrödinger equation is $-{\hslash }^2{\psi }^{\prime \prime }/(2I)=E\psi$.

Diagonalize the commuting angular momentum operator at the same time: $-i\hslash {\psi }^{\prime }=\ell \psi$ has solutions $A{e}^{i\ell \varphi /\hslash }$. A single-valued wavefunction requires $e^{2\pi i\ell /\hslash }=1$, hence $\ell =n\hslash$ with $n\in \mathbb{Z}$. Normalizing with the angular probability measure $d\varphi$ givesThese form an orthonormal basis under ${\int }_0^{2\pi }{\psi }_m^{\ast }{\psi }_{n}d\varphi ={\delta }_{mn}$. The periodic boundary conditions apply to both the wavefunction and its first derivative, ensuring the physical self-adjoint Hamiltonian operator. For probability per arc length $ds=rd\varphi$, the normalization instead reads ${\psi }_n=e^{in\varphi }/\sqrt{2\pi r}$; the two conventions describe the same probabilities. General states are superpositions of these energy eigenstates.