English

Observables compatible to the toroidal moment operator

Quantum Physics 2021-01-18 v1

Abstract

The quantum operator T^3\hat{T}_3, corresponding to the projection of the toroidal moment on the zz axis, admits several self-adjoint extensions, when defined on the whole R3\mathbb{R}^3 space. T^3\hat{T}_3 commutes with L^3\hat{L}_3 (the projection of the angular momentum operator on the zz axis) and they have a \textit{natural set of coordinates} (k,u,ϕ)(k,u,\phi) where ϕ\phi is the azimuthal angle. The second set of \textit{natural coordinates} is (k1,k2,u)(k_1,k_2,u), where k1=kcosϕk_1 = k\cos\phi, k2=ksinϕk_2 = k\sin\phi. In both sets, T^3=i/u\hat{T}_3 = -i\hbar\partial/\partial u, so any operator that is a function of kk and the partial derivatives with respect to the \textit{natural variables} (k,u,ϕ)(k, u, \phi) commute with T^3\hat{T}_3 and L^3\hat{L}_3. Similarly, operators that are functions of k1k_1, k2k_2, and the partial derivatives with respect to k1k_1, k2k_2, and uu commute with T^3\hat{T}_3. Therefore, we introduce here the operators p^ki/k\hat{p}_{k} \equiv -i \hbar \partial/\partial k, p^(k1)i/k1\hat{p}^{(k1)} \equiv -i \hbar \partial/\partial k_1, and p^(k2)i/k2\hat{p}^{(k2)} \equiv -i \hbar \partial/\partial k_2 and express them in the (x,y,z)(x,y,z) coordinates. One may also invert the relations and write the typical operators, like the momentum p^i\hat{\bf p} \equiv -i\hbar {\bf \nabla} or the kinetic energy H^02Δ/(2m)\hat{H}_0 \equiv -\hbar^2\Delta/(2m) in terms of the "toroidal" operators T^3\hat{T}_3, p^(k)\hat{p}^{(k)}, p^(k1)\hat{p}^{(k1)}, p^(k2)\hat{p}^{(k2)}, and, eventually, L^3\hat{L}_3. The formalism may be applied to specific physical systems, like nuclei, condensed matter systems, or metamaterials. We exemplify it by calculating the momentum operator and the free particle Hamiltonian in terms of \textit{natural coordinates} in a thin torus, where the general relations get considerably simplified.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2101.05889,
  title  = {Observables compatible to the toroidal moment operator},
  author = {Dragos-Victor Anghel and Amanda Teodora Preda},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2101.05889},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

19 pages, 4 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-23T22:11:12.186Z