Why is the spin of the electron half? Updated 2025-07-16
More interestingly, how is that implied by the Stern-Gerlach experiment?
physics.stackexchange.com/questions/266359/when-we-say-electron-spin-is-1-2-what-exactly-does-it-mean-1-2-of-what/266371#266371 suggests that half could either mean:
- at limit of large
lfor the Schrödinger equation solution for the hydrogen atom the difference between each angular momentum is twice that of the eletron's spin. Not very satisfactory. - it comes directly out of the Dirac equation. This is satisfactory. :-)
Stern-Gerlach experiment Updated 2025-07-16
Originally done with (neutral) silver atoms in 1921, but even clearer theoretically was the hydrogen reproduction in 1927 by T. E. Phipps and J. B. Taylor.
The hydrogen experiment was apparently harder to do and the result is less visible, TODO why: physics.stackexchange.com/questions/33021/why-silver-atoms-were-used-in-stern-gerlach-experiment
The Stern-Gerlach Experiment by Educational Services, Inc (1967)
Source. Featuring MIT Professor Jerrold R. Zacharias. Amazing experimental setup demonstration, he takes apart much of the experiment to show what's going on. Spintronics Updated 2025-07-16
Introduction to Spintronics by Aurélien Manchon (2020)
Source. The Spin on Electronics by Stuart Parkin
. Source. 2013. Representations of Updated 2025-07-16
Proper time Updated 2025-07-16
Pierre and Marie Curie University Updated 2025-07-16
Solutions of the Schrodinger equation for two electrons Updated 2025-07-16
This is closely linked to the Pauli exclusion principle.
What does a particle even mean, right? Especially in quantum field theory, where two electrons are just vibrations of a single electron field.
Another issue is that if we consider magnetism, things only make sense if we add special relativity, since Maxwell's equations require special relativity, so a non approximate solution for this will necessarily require full quantum electrodynamics.
As mentioned at lecture 1 youtube.com/watch?video=H3AFzbrqH68&t=555, relativistic quantum mechanical theories like the Dirac equation and Klein-Gordon equation make no sense for a "single particle": they must imply that particles can pop in out of existence.
Bibliography:
- www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og13-bSF9kA&list=PLDfPUNusx1Eo60qx3Od2KLUL4b7VDPo9F "Advanced quantum theory" by Tobias J. Osborne says that the course will essentially cover multi-particle quantum mechanics!
- physics.stackexchange.com/questions/54854/equivalence-between-qft-and-many-particle-qm "Equivalence between QFT and many-particle QM"
- Course: Quantum Many-Body Physics in Condensed Matter by Luis Gregorio Dias (2020) from course: Quantum Many-Body Physics in Condensed Matter by Luis Gregorio Dias (2020) give a good introduction to non-interacting particles
Orbital approximation Updated 2025-07-16
Schrödinger equation solution for the helium atom Updated 2025-07-16
No closed form solution, but good approximation that can be calculated by hand with the Hartree-Fock method, see hartree-Fock method for the helium atom.
Bibliography:
Hartree-Fock method Updated 2025-07-16
Term symbols for carbon ground state Updated 2025-07-16
Carbon has electronic structure 1s2 2s2 2p2.
For term symbols we only care about unfilled layers, because in every filled layer the total z angular momentum is 0, as one electron necessarily cancels out each other:
- magnetic quantum number varies from -l to +l, each with z angular momentum to and so each cancels the other out
- spin quantum number is either + or minus half, and so each pair of electron cancels the other out
So in this case, we only care about the 2 electrons in 2p2. Let's list out all possible ways in which the 2p2 electrons can be.
There are 3 p orbitals, with three different magnetic quantum numbers, each representing a different possible z quantum angular momentum.
We are going to distribute 2 electrons with 2 different spins across them. All the possible distributions that don't violate the Pauli exclusion principle are:
m_l +1 0 -1 m_L m_S
u_ u_ __ 1 1
u_ __ u_ 0 1
__ u_ u_ -1 1
d_ d_ __ 1 -1
d_ __ d_ 0 -1
__ d_ d_ -1 -1
u_ d_ __ 1 0
d_ u_ __ 1 0
u_ __ d_ 0 0
d_ __ u_ 0 0
__ u_ d_ -1 0
__ d_ u_ -1 0
ud __ __ 2 0
__ ud __ 0 0
__ __ ud -2 0where:
m_lis , the magnetic quantum number of each electron. Remember that this gives a orbital (non-spin) quantum angular momentum of to each such electronm_Lwith a capital L is the sum of the of each electronm_Swith a capital S is the sum of the spin angular momentum of each electron
For example, on the first line:we have:and so the sum of them has angular momentum . So the value of is 1, we just omit the .
m_l +1 0 -1 m_L m_S
u_ u_ __ 1 1- one electron with , and so angular momentum
- one electron with , and so angular momentum 0
TODO now I don't understand the logic behind the next steps... I understand how to mechanically do them, but what do they mean? Can you determine the term symbol for individual microstates at all? Or do you have to group them to get the answer? Since there are multiple choices in some steps, it appears that you can't assign a specific term symbol to an individual microstate. And it has something to do with the Slater determinant. The previous lecture mentions it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_8n1TS-8Y0 more precisely youtu.be/7_8n1TS-8Y0?t=2268 about carbon.
youtu.be/DAgEmLWpYjs?t=2675 mentions that is not allowed because it would imply , which would be a state
uu __ __ which violates the Pauli exclusion principle, and so was not listed on our list of 15 states.He then goes for and mentions:and so that corresponds to states on our list:Note that for some we had a two choices, so we just pick any one of them and tick them off off from the table, which now looks like:
ud __ __ 2 0
u_ d_ __ 1 0
u_ __ d_ 0 0
__ u_ d_ -1 0
__ __ ud -2 0 +1 0 -1 m_L m_S
u_ u_ __ 1 1
u_ __ u_ 0 1
__ u_ u_ -1 1
d_ d_ __ 1 -1
d_ __ d_ 0 -1
__ d_ d_ -1 -1
d_ u_ __ 1 0
d_ __ u_ 0 0
__ d_ u_ -1 0
__ ud __ 0 0Then for the choices are:so we have 9 possibilities for both together. We again verify that 9 such states are left matching those criteria, and tick them off, and so on.
Schrödinger equation solution for molecule Updated 2025-07-16
Model of the solar system Updated 2025-07-16
Sun Updated 2025-07-16
Planet in the Solar System Updated 2025-07-16
Affirmative action Updated 2025-07-16
Ciro Santilli is against all affirmative action, except for one: giving amazing free eduction to the poor.
Notably, Ciro is against university entry quotas.
Equal opportunity Updated 2025-07-16
Meritocracy Updated 2025-07-16
Wealth distribution in the United States Updated 2025-07-16
www.cbpp.org/wealth-concentration-has-been-rising-toward-early-20th-century-levels-2 shows historical for top 1% and 0.5% from 1920 to 2010.
TODO why is it so hard to find a proper cumulative distribution function-like curve? OMG. This appears to be also called a Lorenz curve.
Wealth Inequality in America by politizane
. Source. There are unlisted articles, also show them or only show them.
