Hydrogen Atom in homogeneous magnetic vector potential

VVS
Messages
85
Reaction score
0
Hey!

I did an quantum mechanical analysis of a Hydrogen Atom in a homogeneous magnetic vector potential (I know that it might be impossible to create this kind of field) out of curiousity. I showed it to some professors of mine, but they all said that they don't have time. So I decided to post it online here for checkup.

Here is the analysis View attachment Hydrogen_in_Vector_Potentialv2.pdf

And here is a short appendix about the evaluation of the derivatives of Spherical Harmonics.
https://www.physicsforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=67418&d=1394285330

I would really appreciate it if you guys could have a look at the analysis and point out mistakes if there are any.

thanking you in advance
VVS
 
Physics news on Phys.org
What is the result?

I would be surprised to see any deviation from the regular hydrogen atom, as homogeneous vector potentials should be covered by gauge invariance.
 
Hey mfb!
I get a very weird result. Using perturbation theory you get imaginary corrections terms for the energy eigenvalues. That is as far as I know possible. But it basically means that the wave function decays to zero. But I am more concerned with the rate at which it decays, which according to the equations is VERY VERY FAST.
Something must be wrong.
VVS
 
But it basically means that the wave function decays to zero.
Or your perturbation theory does not give proper results.

Something must be wrong.
Indeed, as the result is clear: there is no deviation. The wavefunction might get phase changes, but the energy eigenvalues stay the same.
 
I am not satisfied with that answer. Go through the calculations before you make any judgement or show me a different proof.
 
I found a way to get the result without any calculations. Isn't that much more elegant?
 
Here's a second calculation: if A is constant, B = 0. If B is zero, there's no Zeeman effect, so you get the same energy levels as a hydrogen atom in vacuum.
 
  • Like
Likes 1 person
Back
Top