Angular momentum coupling

In quantum mechanics, the procedure of constructing eigenstates of total angular momentum out of eigenstates of separate angular momenta is called angular momentum coupling. For instance, the orbit and spin of a single particle can interact through spin–orbit interaction, in which case the complete physical picture must include spin-orbit coupling. Or two charged particles, each with a well-defined angular momentum, may interact by Coulomb forces, in which case coupling of the two one-particle angular momenta to a total angular momentum is a useful step in the solution of the two-particle Schrödinger equation.In both cases the separate angular momenta are no longer constants of motion, but the sum of the two angular momenta usually still is. Angular momentum coupling in atoms is of importance in atomic spectroscopy. Angular momentum coupling of electron spins is of importance in quantum chemistry. Also in the nuclear shell model angular momentum coupling is ubiquitous. In quantum mechanics, the procedure of constructing eigenstates of total angular momentum out of eigenstates of separate angular momenta is called angular momentum coupling. For instance, the orbit and spin of a single particle can interact through spin–orbit interaction, in which case the complete physical picture must include spin-orbit coupling. Or two charged particles, each with a well-defined angular momentum, may interact by Coulomb forces, in which case coupling of the two one-particle angular momenta to a total angular momentum is a useful step in the solution of the two-particle Schrödinger equation.In both cases the separate angular momenta are no longer constants of motion, but the sum of the two angular momenta usually still is. Angular momentum coupling in atoms is of importance in atomic spectroscopy. Angular momentum coupling of electron spins is of importance in quantum chemistry. Also in the nuclear shell model angular momentum coupling is ubiquitous. In astronomy, spin-orbit coupling reflects the general law of conservation of angular momentum, which holds for celestial systems as well. In simple cases, the direction of the angular momentum vector is neglected, and the spin-orbit coupling is the ratio between the frequency with which a planet or other celestial body spins about its own axis to that with which it orbits another body. This is more commonly known as orbital resonance. Often, the underlying physical effects are tidal forces. Conservation of angular momentum is the principle that the total angular momentum of a system has a constant magnitude and direction if the system is subjected to no external torque. Angular momentum is a property of a physical system that is a constant of motion (also referred to as a conserved property, time-independent and well-defined) in two situations: In both cases the angular momentum operator commutes with the Hamiltonian of the system. By Heisenberg's uncertainty relation this means that the angular momentum and the energy (eigenvalue of the Hamiltonian) can be measured at the same time. An example of the first situation is an atom whose electrons only experiences the Coulomb force of its atomic nucleus. If we ignore the electron-electron interaction (and other small interactions such as spin-orbit coupling), the orbital angular momentum l of each electron commutes with the total Hamiltonian. In this model the atomic Hamiltonian is a sum of kinetic energies of the electrons and the spherically symmetric electron-nucleus interactions. The individual electron angular momenta li commute with this Hamiltonian. That is, they are conserved properties of this approximate model of the atom. An example of the second situation is a rigid rotor moving in field-free space. A rigid rotor has a well-defined, time-independent, angular momentum. These two situations originate in classical mechanics. The third kind of conserved angular momentum, associated with spin, does not have a classical counterpart. However, all rules of angular momentum coupling apply to spin as well. In general the conservation of angular momentum implies full rotational symmetry (described by the groups SO(3) and SU(2)) and, conversely, spherical symmetry implies conservation of angular momentum. If two or more physical systems have conserved angular momenta, it can be useful to combine these momenta to a total angular momentum of the combined system—a conserved property of the total system. The building of eigenstates of the total conserved angular momentum from the angular momentum eigenstates of the individual subsystems is referred to as angular momentum coupling.