Quantum Mechanics – Wavefunction in Polar Coordinates and Bra Ket Notation

coordinate systemshilbert-spacenotationquantum mechanicswavefunction

The wavefunction of $|\psi\rangle$ is given by the bra ket
$ \psi (x,y,z)=
\langle \vec{r}| \psi\rangle$
.

I can convert the wavefunction from Cartesian to polar and have the wavefunction as $ \psi (r,\theta,\phi)$

What bra should act on the ket $|\psi\rangle$ to give me the wavefunction as $ \psi (r,\theta,\phi)$ ?

Best Answer

It's still $\langle r|$. You are just changing the coordinates you use to represent the vectors. Of course, at this point it is confusing to represent both the vector and coordinate with the variable $r$. Sometimes you might see $|\mathbf x\rangle$ to represent the position eigenstate.

i.e. we always have

$$|\psi\rangle=\iiint|\mathbf x'\rangle\langle\mathbf x'|\psi\rangle\,\text dV'$$

In Cartesian coordinates we end up with

$$ \begin{align} \langle \mathbf x|\psi\rangle&=\iiint\langle \mathbf x|\mathbf x'\rangle\langle\mathbf x'|\psi\rangle\,\text dV'\\ &=\iiint\delta(x'-x)\delta(y'-y)\delta(z'-z)\cdot\psi(x',y',z')\,\text dx'\text dy'\text dz'\\ &=\psi(x,y,z) \end{align}$$

In polar (spherical you mean?) coordinates we end up with

$$ \begin{align} \langle \mathbf x|\psi\rangle&=\iiint\langle \mathbf x|\mathbf x'\rangle\langle\mathbf x'|\psi\rangle\,\text dV'\\ &=\iiint\frac{1}{r^2}\delta(r'-r)\delta(\cos\theta'-\cos\theta)\delta(\phi'-\phi)\cdot\psi(r',\theta',\phi')\,r^2\sin\theta'\text dr'\text d \theta'\,\text d \phi'\\ &=\psi(r,\theta, \phi) \end{align}$$