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rabbit44
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Homework Statement
A system's wavefunction is proportional to sin^2p. What are the possible results of measurements of Lz and L^2? Give the probabilities of each possible outcome.
I'm using p for theta and q for phi.
Homework Equations
The Attempt at a Solution
So I believe that the value of L^2 is 6 (as l is 2), and the possible values of Lz are -2 and +2. But I can't find the probabilities. I tried:
|psi> = a|2,2> + b|2,-2>
where the kets are |l,m> and the spherical harmonice are Y(l,m)
<2,2|psi> = int dpdq <2,2|p,q><p,q|psi>
<2,2|psi> = int dpdq Y(2,2)* [aY(2,2) + bY(2,-2)]
And then inserted the spherical harmonic expressions in, but I just get a=a, so I guess this isn't the way.
I also thought about using the ladder operators, applying L+|psi> = 2a|2, -1> but I don't think this is helpful.
Any help wouldbe much appreciated!
EDIT: Another thing I tried was saying Lz|l,m>=m|l,m>. So I thought if I had a matrix representation of Lz, I could maybe have
Lz (a*, b*) = 2(a*, -b*)
Where ( , ) is a column matrix. But I don't know the matrix representation of Lz or what basis it should be in. Please help!
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