Physics 221A

Fall 2011
Notes 15
Orbital Angular Momentum and Spherical Harmonics

1. Introduction
In Notes 13, we worked out the general theory of the representations of the angular momentum
operators J and the corresponding rotation operators. That theory did not make any assumptions
about the kind of system upon which the angular momentum and rotation operators act, for example,
whether it is a spin system or has spatial degrees of freedom, whether single particle or multiparticle,
whether nonrelativistic or relativistic, etc., because most of the theory of rotations is independent
of those details. We did work through the specific case of spin- 21 systems in detail in Notes 12. In
this set of notes we consider another important example of the theory of rotations, namely, a system
consisting of a single particle moving in three-dimensional space. We assume either that the particle
is spinless, or that the spin degrees of freedom can be ignored.
For most of these notes we make no assumptions about the Hamiltonian governing the single
particle, but the theory of rotations is most useful in the case that the particle is moving in a central
force field, that is, one for which the potential V = V (r) is a function of the radius r only. We will
discuss central force problems later.
In these notes we follow the usual custom in the physics literature of denoting the orbital
angular momentum by L instead of the general notation J used earlier. Similarly, we use the
quantum number instead of j.

2. Rotation Operators for Spatial Degrees of Freedom

The wave function for a spinless particle in three dimensions can be written
(x) = hx|i,

(1)

where |i is the state vector and |xi are the position eigenkets. The general relation of such wave
functions to the measurement postulates was laid out in Notes 4; in particular, we are assuming
that the three components of the position vector x by themselves form a complete set of commuting
observables, so that the position eigenkets |xi form a continuous basis for the Hilbert space of
physical states.
Introductory courses on quantum mechanics usually define the orbital angular momentum of
a single particle as L = xp. This formula is borrowed from classical mechanics, where xp is
the angular momentum under some circumstances. In this course, however, angular momentum is

Notes 15: Orbital Angular Momentum

defined as the generator of rotations, as explained in Notes 12 and 13. Therefore we begin with a
definition of rotation operators on our single particle system, and then derive their generators.
Let us recall that we defined translation operators by
T (a)|xi = |x + ai,

(2)

where a is a displacement vector. This is Eq. (4.21). This definition makes sense, because if the
particle is known to lie in a small region around position x, then the translated quantum state must
mean the particle is known to lie in a small region around x + a. This is just what we mean by the
active point of view in applying translations.
Similarly, let R SO(3) be a proper rotation, and define an operator U (R) by
U (R)|xi = |Rxi.

(3)

This definition is physically reasonable, because the position eigenket |xi is the state of the system
after a measurement of the position operator has yielded the value x, while |Rxi is the state after
such a measurement has given the value Rx. For example, position can be measured by passing
particle through a small hole in a screen, and if we rotate the screen so that the hole moves from x
to Rx, then it is logical to call the state produced by the rotated measuring apparatus the rotated
state.
This argument does not specify the phase of the rotated state, however, and if we were to worry
about this we would insert a phase factor on the right hand side of Eq. (3) that would depend
on both x and R. Similar concerns could also be raised when defining the translation operators.
We will ignore this possible complication as it turns out to be unnecessary in kinetic-plus-potential
problems, and we will just work with the definition (3). Problems with magnetic fields, however,
force us to think about those phase factors more carefully. This could be foreseen by the fact that a
gauge transformation, insofar as its effect on wave functions is concerned, is equivalent to a change
in the phase conventions for the position eigenkets.
The definition (3) of the rotation operators is provisional until we have demonstrated several
things. First, we note that Eq. (3) actually does specify the operator U (R), because it gives the
action of that operator on a set of basis vectors. By linearity, the action of U (R) on an arbitrary
vector is thereby specified. Next, we note that the definition implies that U (R) forms a representation
of the rotation group SO(3), that is,
U (R1 )U (R2 ) = U (R1 R2 ).

(4)

This follows directly from the definition, since

U (R1 )U (R2 )|xi = U (R1 )|R2 xi = |R1 R2 xi = U (R1 R2 )|xi.

(5)

Equation (4) also implies

U (I) = 1

(6)

Notes 15: Orbital Angular Momentum

and
U (R1 ) = U (R)1 .
Next we work out the effect of U (R) on a wave function. We start with
Z
Z
3
|i = d x |xihx|i = d3 x |xi(x),

(7)

(8)

expanding an arbitrary state |i in terms of the position eigenbasis. Next we apply U (R) to both
sides, writing
| i = U (R)|i

(9)

for the rotated state. This gives

| i =

d3 x |Rxi(x).

(10)

We now change variables in the integral, writing x = Rx, so that

d3 x = (det R)d3 x = d3 x,
since det R = 1. Thus we find
| i =

d3 x |xi(R1 x),

(11)

(12)

where we have dropped the prime on the dummy variable of integration.

We see that the wave function of the rotated state | i is given by


(x) = U (R) (x) = (R1 x),

(13)

where we use the notation U (R) to mean the wave function of the rotated state | i. This may
be compared to the corresponding formula in the case of translations,


T (a) (x) = (x a),
(14)

which is a 3-dimensional version of Eq. (4.23). In both Eqs (13) and (14), the transformed wave
function, evaluated at some point, is the original wave function evaluated at the inverse transformed
point. As explained in Sec. 4.3, a mnemonic for remembering this is to write x = Rx for the old
and new points x and x , respectively, and then to say, the value of the old wave function at the
old point is equal to the value of the new wave function at the new point, that is,
(x ) = (x).

(15)

This rule is necessary in the active point of view. For example, if the old wave function (x) has
a large concentration of probability around a point x0 , then the new, rotated wave function must
have a large concentration around the actively rotated point Rx0 . See Fig. 4.1 for an illustration in
the case of translations.
It is now easy to show that the operators U (R) are unitary. We simply compute the square
norm of the new wave function,
Z
Z
Z
d3 x | (x)|2 = d3 x |(R1 x)|2 = d3 x |(x)|2 ,
(16)

Notes 15: Orbital Angular Momentum

where in the last step we have performed a change of variables of integration, x = R1 x, and then
dropped the prime. We see that the norm of an arbitrary state is preserved by U (R), which is
therefore unitary.
In summary, we have found a representation of the classical rotations acting on the Hilbert space
of our quantum mechanical system by means of unitary operators. This is precisely the starting
point for the theory laid out in Notes 13. Notice by the way that the representation is single-valued,
that is, there is only one unitary operator U (R) for each R. This means that of the possible values for
the angular momentum quantum number shown in Eq. (13.31), the half-integer values cannot occur,
since they lead to double-valued representations. That is, can only take on the values {0, 1, 2, . . .}.
3. The Orbital Angular Momentum L
We define the orbital angular momentum L as the generators of our rotation operators U (R).
We can find L explicitly by working with infinitesimal rotations. Let us write such a rotation in
axis-angle form,
R(
n, ) = I +
n J,

(17)

where 1. The corresponding unitary operator is

U (
n, ) = 1

n L,
h

(18)

which is the definition of L. See Eqs. (13.2) and (13.3).

We substitute these infinitesimal rotations into Eq. (13). On the right we will need R1 , which
is given by
R(
n, )1 = I
n J,

(19)

that is, Eq. (17) with . Then Eq. (13) becomes





i
1
n L (x) = (I
n J)x = (x
nx) = (x) (
nx) ,
(20)
h

where we have expanded the right hand side out to first order in . The leading order terms cancel,
and cancels from the first order terms, which can be written as
(xp),
(
n L) = i
h(
nx) = (
nx) p = n

(21)

where we have introduced the momentum operator p which is ih when acting on wave functions
and are arbitrary, Eq. (21) implies
(x). Since n
L = xp.

(22)

Our definition (3) of the rotation operators gives a definition of angular momentum that coincides
with the usual definition of orbital angular momentum in quantum mechanics.
According to the theory presented in Notes 12 and 13, the components of L must satisfy the
commutation relations,
[Li , Lj ] = ih ijk Lk .

(23)

Notes 15: Orbital Angular Momentum

That they do so is easily verified from the definition (22) (if it were not true, there would be
something seriously wrong with the whole theory.) Next, following the theory laid out in Notes 13,
we work on constructing the standard angular momentum basis.
4. Orbital Angular Momentum Operators in Spherical Coordinates
The standard angular momentum basis is an eigenbasis of the operators (L2 , Lz ), with certain
phase and other conventions. Thus in the present case the basis vectors are wave functions indexed
by and m such that
L2 m (x) = ( + 1)h2 m (x),

(24)

Lz m (x) = mhm (x).

The key to finding these wave functions is to first find the stretched states, that is, the states with
m = (the maximum value of m for a given ). States for other values of m can then be generated
by applying lowering operators. The stretched wave functions satisfy Eqs. (24) with m = .
The operator L2 is, however, somewhat difficult to work with. It turns out to be easier to specify
the stretched state as the eigenstate of Lz with eigenvalue h which is annihilated by the raising
operator. See Eq. (13.26). Thus the stretched state satisfies
Lz (x) = h (x),

(25)

L+ (x) = 0.

(26)

These equations are most conveniently solved in spherical coordinates.

Writing out the three components of L as differential operators in rectangular coordinates,
we can apply the chain rule to transform them to spherical coordinates. The transformation is
straightforward but requires some algebra. The results are





= ih sin
,
z
cot cos
Lx = i
h y
z
y






= ih cos
,
x
cot sin
Ly = i
h z
x
z




y
Lz = i
h x
= ih .
y
x

(27)

The component Lz is particularly simple in spherical coordinates, and it is not hard to see why: Lz
is the generator of rotations about the z-axis, and is the azimuthal angle. The usual spherical
coordinate system singles out the z-axis for special treatment, which is why the operators Lx and
Ly are more complicated.
Next we compute the raising and lowering operators,


L = Lx iLy = ih ei i
,
cot

(28)

Notes 15: Orbital Angular Momentum

and the Casimir operator L2 ,

L2 =

h 1 



1 2 i
1
sin
+
.
L+ L + L L+ + L2z = h2
2
sin

sin2 2

(29)

At this point we notice the relation of L2 to the Laplacian operator,

|p|2 =
h2 2 = h2

1  2  L2
r
+ 2 .
r2 r
r
r

(30)

We will come back to this formula later, but for now we are more interested in angular momentum
than kinetic energy.
A striking feature about the operators L in spherical components is that the radial differential
operator /r does not occur in them (hence it does not occur in any function of L, either, such
as L2 , L , or the rotation operators exp(i
n L/h)). The geometrical reason is that rotations
in physical space change the direction of vectors, but not their magnitude; therefore the motion of
the tip of a given vector takes place on the surface of a sphere. This is also true of infinitesimal
rotations, which connect nearby points of the same r value but different and values. Therefore
the components of L, in terms of which infinitesimal rotations are expressed, do not involve any
differentiation with respect to r.
5. The Hilbert Space of Wave Functions on a Sphere
Because of this fact, we can think of the angular momentum operators as acting on functions
f (, ) defined on the sphere, rather than on functions (x) = (r, , ) defined in the full 3dimensional space. The radius of the sphere is unimportant (since when using it we are only
interested the angular dependence), so we can take it to be a sphere of unit radius. This is often a
useful point of view, and we will now make a small digression for notation for functions defined on
the unit sphere.
We denote a point on the unit sphere either by (, ) or by r, indicating a unit vector based at
the origin whose tip lies on the unit sphere. For example, we will write f (, ) = f (r). We will adopt
a Dirac bra-ket notation for functions on the unit sphere, for example, making the association,
f (, ) = f (r) |f i.
We define the scalar product of two such functions by
Z
hf |gi = d f (, ) g(, ),

(31)

(32)

where d = sin d d. This makes the space of normalizable wave functions on the unit sphere
into a Hilbert space. We define a -function on the unit sphere by
0 0 (, ) =

( 0 )( 0 )
,
sin

(33)

Notes 15: Orbital Angular Momentum

which is a function concentrated at the point (0 , 0 ). Then

Z
d 0 0 (, )f (, ) = f (0 , 0 ),

(34)

for any function f . We associate this -function with a ket by

0 0 (, ) |r0 i,

(35)

f (, ) = f (r) = hr|f i.

(36)

where (0 , 0 ) = r0 . Then we have

6. The Standard Angular Momentum Basis for Orbital Angular Momentum

We return to Eqs. (25) and (26) for the stretched wave function (r, , ), which we express
in spherical coordinates. First, the Lz equation (25) can be written,
i
h

(r, , )
= h (r, , ),

(37)

which has the general solution

(r, , ) = F (r, )ei ,

(38)

where F (r, ) is an arbitrary function. By the theory of Notes 13 we know that must be a
nonnegative integer or half-integer, but in fact Eq. (38) shows that must be an integer since
otherwise the wave function would not be single-valued. Wave functions in quantum mechanics
are single-valued functions of position because (x) is just the expansion of the state |i with respect
to the position eigenbasis, and the basis kets |xi are single-valued. This is the same conclusion we
reached earlier at the end of Sec. 2. Thus we have determined the -dependence of the function
(r, , ).
To get the -dependence, we call on the L+ -equation (26), using Eq. (28) for L+ in spherical
coordinates. Applying this to the form (38) for , the -derivatives can be carried out, whereupon
we find


i cot F (r, )ei = 0,
(39)
i
hei i

or, cancelling various factors,

F (r, )
= cot F (r, ).
(40)

This has the solution,

F (r, ) = u(r) sin ,

(41)

where u(r) is an arbitrary function of r, or

(r, , ) = u(r) sin ei .

(42)

Notes 15: Orbital Angular Momentum

These are the stretched wave functions.

We see that the simultaneous eigenfunctions of L2 and Lz are indeed degenerate, since any radial
function u(r) may appear in Eq. (42). In order to resolve these degeneracies, we may introduce an
arbitrarily chosen basis {un (r)} of radial wave functions, and write
n (r, , ) = un (r) sin ei .

(43)

The index n we use here serves the same purpose as the index used in Notes 13; it labels an
arbitrarily chosen orthonormal basis in the stretched eigenspace. We see that the multiplicity of the
integral values of on the Hilbert space of wave function (x) is infinity.
Another approach is simply to throw away the radial variables, and work on the unit sphere.
On the Hilbert space of wave functions f (, ) on the unit sphere, the simultaneous stretched eigenfunction of L2 and Lz is
f (, ) = sin ei ,

(44)

and it is nondegenerate. Therefore, on this Hilbert space, the multiplicity N is zero for half-integral
, and unity for integral . When we normalize f using the rule
Z
hf |f i = d |f |2 = 1,
(45)
we find
r
(1) (2 + 1)!
sin ei ,
(46)
Y (, ) =
2 !
4
where we have identified the normalized f with the stretched spherical harmonic Y , and where
we have introduced the conventional phase factor (1) . Recall that in the general theory developed
in Notes 13, the phase of the stretched state |jji was left arbitrary.
To obtain the states corresponding to other values of m, we can apply lowering operators and
using induction. We use Eq. (13.36), making the replacements, j , J L . By induction one
can show that
 L m
im
eim h
d

sin ei =
sin2 ,
(47)
m
h

sin d(cos )
and altogether we find

(1)
Ym (, ) =
2 !

im
2 + 1 ( + m)! eim h
d
sin2 .
m
4 ( m)! sin d(cos )

(48)

This formula is valid for all m in the range, m +.

Equation (48) can be expressed in terms of Legendre polynomials and associated Legendre
functions. First we consider the case m = 0, and call on the Rodriguez formula for the Legendre
polynomial P (x) (see Abramowitz and Stegun, Eq. (8.6.18)),
P (x) =

(1) d
(1 x2 ) ,
2 ! dx

(49)

Notes 15: Orbital Angular Momentum

where we set
x = cos .

(50)

Then Eq. (48) becomes

Y0 (, ) =

2 + 1
P (cos ).
4

(51)

The choice of the phase factor (1) in Eq. (46) was designed to make Y0 real and positive at the
north pole (cos = 1); this follows from
P (1) = 1.

(52)

Now let us consider the case m 0. We can construct the Ym for this case by applying raising
operators to the state Y0 . Using induction on Eq. (13.37a), we obtain
s
( m)!  L+ m
|mi =
|0i.
( + m)! h

(53)

(This formula only works for integer angular momentum, since the value m = 0 is possible only in
this case.) Next we use induction to obtain
h
im
 L m
d
+
P (cos ) = (1)m sinm eim
P (cos )
h

d(cos )
= (1)m eim Pm (cos ),

(54)

where we have introduced the associated Legendre function, defined by

Pm (x) = (1 x2 )m/2

dm P (x)
.
dxm

(55)

(See Abramowitz and Stegun, Eq. (8.6.6), and beware of the difference between their function Pnm
and Pnm , see the section on notation on p. 332.) Altogether, for m 0 we have
s
2 + 1 ( m)! im
m
Ym (, ) = (1)
e
Pm (cos ).
4 ( + m)!

(56)

For the case m < 0, we go back to Eq. (48), we set m = |m|, and we use Eqs. (49) and (55).
The result is
Y,|m| (, ) =

2 + 1 ( |m|)! i|m|
e
P,|m| (cos ),
4 ( + |m|)!

(57)

which is equivalent to
Y,m (, ) = (1)m Ym (, ) ,

(58)

valid for any value of m.

In summary, the standard angular momentum basis for the space of wave functions f (, ) defined on the unit sphere consists of the Ym s. The irreducible subspaces are the (2 + 1)-dimensional
spaces of wave functions spanned by the Ym s for fixed with m = , . . . , +. There is precisely

10

Notes 15: Orbital Angular Momentum

one such subspace for each integer value of in the Hilbert space of wave functions on the sphere. For
the Hilbert space of wave functions on three-dimensional space, there is an infinite set of irreducible
subspaces for each integer value of , that is, the spaces of wave functions spanned by un (r)Ym (, )
for fixed n and .
Notice that the theory of the Ym s is completely founded on the general theory of raising and
lowering operators as laid out in Notes 13, and that even the phase conventions are the standard
ones presented in those notes. Only the phase (1) of the stretched state in Eq. (46) goes beyond
the conventions established in those Notes.
7. Rotating Ym s
There are several interesting and useful results that follow from applying rotation operators to
the Ym s. It is often important to rotate the Ym s, because by the very definition of the spherical
coordinates (, ), a privileged role has been assigned to the z-axis. In addition, the z-axis has been
selected out again for a privileged role by the standard convention of working with eigenfunctions of
L2 and Lz . In many problems it is necessary to refer calculations to another axis, something that
can be done with rotation operators.
First let us write the ket |mi to stand for the function Ym (, ), regarded as a function defined
on the unit sphere, so that
Ym (r) = hr|mi.

(59)
2

Since we have determined that Ym is the nondegenerate eigenfunction of L and Lz on the unit
sphere, we do not need any extra quantum numbers in |mi. We now apply a rotation operator
specified by R to a Ym and use Eq. (13). We have
X




U (R)Ym (r) = Ym R1 r = hr|U (R)|mi =
hr|m ihm |U (R)|mi,

(60)

where in effect we rotate the Ym in two ways, once by rotating the argument in three-dimensional

space, and the other time by rotating it as a basis function in its irreducible subspace of Hilbert
space. The matrix element in the final expression is a D matrix, so we obtain
X

U (R)Ym (r) = Ym (R1 r) =

(61)
Ym (r) Dm
m (R).
m

This may be recognized as a special case of Eq. (13.79).

Equation (61) gives Ym at one point on the sphere as a linear combination of other Ym s, for
the same value of but all values of m, at another point on the sphere. The fact that the linear
combination does not involve other values of is due to the irreducibility of the subspace spanned
by the Ym s for fixed but variable m.
Equation (61) can be used to express the values of the Ym s at a point of interest in terms of
the their values at the north pole (a convenient reference point). To put this in convenient form, we
, and replace R by R1 . Then we write r = Rz, so
change notation in Eq. (61), and replace r by z

Notes 15: Orbital Angular Momentum

11

that R is interpreted as a rotation that maps the z-axis into some direction r of interest. Then we
obtain,
Ym (r) =

1
).
Ym (z) Dm
m (R

(62)

If we write r = (, ) for the direction of interest, then a rotation that maps the z-axis into this
direction is easily given in Euler angle form,
R(, , 0)z = r,

(63)

that is, with = and = , because the first two Euler angles were designed to specify the
direction of the rotated
z-axis. Also, the value of Ym at the north pole is especially simple, because
all the associated Legendre functions Pm (cos ) vanish at = 0 unless m = 0, and in that case we
have P (1) = 1. Therefore
r
2 + 1
m0 .
(64)
Ym (z) =
4
Finally, we can use Eq. (13.64) to rewrite the matrix D(R1 ), and Eq. (62) becomes,

Ym (, ) =

2 + 1
Dm0 (, , 0).
4

(65)

In this way we have found a useful connection between the Ym s and the D-matrices.

8. The Addition Theorem for Spherical Harmonics

We can use this to derive another nice result. Consider the following function defined on the
unit sphere:
f (, ) = f (r) = P (cos ) = P (r z) =

4
Y0 (r),
2 + 1

(66)

where P is the usual Legendre polynomial and r = (, ) is some direction of interest. Now let us
rotate this function by some rotation specified by R. We have


U (R)f (r) = f (R1 r) = P (R1 r z) = P (r Rz),

(67)

where in the final step we use the fact that R1 = Rt to transfer the rotation matrix from r to z in
the scalar product. Now we choose the matrix R to have the Euler angle form R( , , 0), so that
r = ( , ) = R
z, where r is another direction of interest (in addition to r). Then Eqs. (66) and
(67) become
P (r r ) =

4
Y0 (R1 r) =
2 + 1

4 X

Ym (r) Dm0
( , , 0),
2 + 1 m

(68)

12

Notes 15: Orbital Angular Momentum

where we use Eq. (61) to expand the rotated Ym . Finally, we use Eq. (65) to write the result purely
in terms of Ym s, and we have
P (r r ) =

4 X
( , ),
Ym (, ) Ym
2 + 1 m

(69)

which is the (very useful) addition theorem for the spherical harmonics.
9. Orbital Angular Momentum in Multiparticle Systems
Consider now a system of n spinless particles moving in three-dimensional space. The basis
kets are |x1 , . . . , xn i, and the wave functions are (x1 , . . . , xn ) = hx1 , . . . , xn |i. The obvious
generalization of the definition Eq. (3) of the rotation operators U (R) is
U (R)|x1 , . . . , xn i = |Rx1 , . . . , Rxn i,

(70)

(R)(x1 , . . . , xn ) = (R1 x1 , . . . , R1 xn ),

(71)

or, in wave function language,

as in Eq. (13). By considering infinitesimal rotations it is easy to work out the generator of rotations;
it is
L=

n
X
i=1

Li =

n
X

xi pi .

(72)

i=1

The orbital angular momentum for the entire system is the sum of the orbital angular momenta for
the individual particles.
It may be of interest to rotate some of the particles and not others. For example, the operator
that rotates only particle i while leaving the others alone is
 i

Ui (
n, ) = exp
(73)
n Li .
h
Such operators are useful when the system is invariant under rotations of the individual particles
(for example, in the central field approximation in atomic physics).

The standard angular momentum basis for a multiparticle system is best constructed by means
of coupling of angular momenta, a topic considered later.

Problems
1. Consider wave functions f (, ) on the unit sphere, as in Sec. 5. Using the differential operators
in Sec. 4, find the simultaneous eigenfunction of L2 and Lz with eigenvalues 2h2 and h, respectively
(that is, the case = 1). Normalize this wave function but leave leave a phase factor that will

Notes 15: Orbital Angular Momentum

13

be determined later. Now apply L twice to this state fill out the standard basis vectors in an
irreducible subspace. The wave functions are proportional to Y1m for m = 1, 0, 1. By requiring Y10
to be real and positive at the north pole, determine the phase. Compare your answers to a table of
Ym s.
2. Some problems concerning orbital angular momentum in the momentum representation.
(a) Consider a spinless particle moving in three-dimensional space. It was shown Sec. 6 that the
standard angular momentum basis consists of wavefunctions of the form un (r)Ym (, ), where
un (r) is an arbitrary basis of radial wave functions. The wave functions being referred to here are
configuration space wave functions, (x) or (r, , ). Consider the wave functions (p) in the
momentum representation. Let (p, , ) be spherical coordinates in momentum space, that is,
px = p sin cos ,
py = p sin sin ,

(74)

pz = p cos .
Find the form of the wavefunctions that make up the standard angular momentum basis in momentum space.
(b) Let (x) be a wave function in three dimensions, and let (x) be the rotated wave function corresponding to rotation matrix R SO(3). Use Eq. (13) and the usual expression for the momentum
space wave function,
Z
d3 x
(p) =
eipx/h (x),
(75)
(2h)3/2
to find a relation between (p) and (p).
(c) A useful formula in scattering theory is the expansion of a plane wave in terms of free particle
solutions of definite angular momentum. It is

X
ikx
e
=
ei/2 (2 + 1)j (kr)P (cos ),
(76)
=0

where is the angle between x and k, where j is a spherical Bessel function, and where P is a
Legendre polynomial.

Suppose (x) = u(r)Ym (, ). Show that (p) = v(p)Ym (, ), and find a one-dimensional
integral transform connecting the radial functions u(r) and v(p).
3. A problem on the addition theorem for spherical harmonics.
(a) Suppose unitary operators U (R) on some Hilbert space satisfy the representation property,
Eq. (12.4). By taking matrix elements with respect to a standard angular momentum basis |jmi,
translate that condition into an equivalent condition in terms of D-matrices.
(b) Show that the addition theorem for spherical harmonics, Eq. (69), is a special case of the
preceding result.