Introduction to the graphical theory of angular momentum. Case studies (Q1040892)

The theory of angular momentum constitutes one of the essential tools for a complete comprehension of phenomena in atomic, nuclear or solid state physics, as well as a first insight into the use of group theoretical methods and the description of symmetries. General graphical methods in angular momentum theory emerged around 1960 in the Vilnius school [\textit{A. P. Yutsis, I. B. Levinson} and \textit{V. V. Vanagas}, Mathematical apparatus of the theory of angular momentum. Jerusalem: Isr. Program for Scientific Translations (1962; Zbl 0111.42704)], being enlarged and adapted by many authors to various specifical physical problems, usually related to atomic spectroscopy (see e.g. [\textit{E. El-Baz} and \textit{E. Castel}, Graphical methods of spin algebras in atomic, nuclear, and particle physics, Marcel Dekker, New York (1972)]). The present book presents a concise and solid introduction to the graphical methods in the theory of angular momentum. Instead of presenting a formal development of the theory, the authors introduce progressively the material, illustrated by a large amount of worked examples that point out the properties of the diagrams and indicate how to manipulate them in order to extract the main (physical) information of the solution. With a total of 276 diagrams in 219 pages, it is obvious that the detailed explanation of the diagrams is one of the main objectives of the authors. Each of the diagrams is completed with an explanatory caption that summarizes its main features. The step by step discussion introduces the reader consistently into the subject, from the elementary diagrams in the first chapters to the quite complex and sophisticated diagrams in the last chapters, especially those making reference to an actual problem in atomic physics. In this sense, this book is more a manual to master the graphical theory than a standard textbook on the subject. In the opinion of the reviewer, this book provides an excellent opportunity to self-study and exploration in angular momentum theory that goes beyond the standard books on the topic. It should however be observed that there are slight formal differences between the graphical method as developed in this book with respect to other authors (like e.g. [\textit{D. A. Varshalovich}, \textit{A. N. Moskalev} and \textit{V. K. Khersonskiĭ}, Quantum theory of angular momentum. Irreducible tensors, spherical harmonics, vector coupling coefficients, \(3nj\)-symbols. Singapore etc.: World Scientific Publishing (1988; Zbl 0725.00003)]). The comparison is however not difficult, and the reader will have no problems to detect these details. The book is divided into ten chapters and two appendices that review some standard material and notation. The first chapter presents the historical background of the theory of angular momentum and its successive developments, from the formal algebraic theory [seminal work by Condon and Shortley and Racah] to the tabulations and introduction of graphical methods in the late 1950's. The authors also describe the reasons for having written the book, and summarize its contents briefly. A special emphasis is given to the physical applications of the procedure, enumerating the most influential works on graphical methods. Chapter two gives the basic definitions and properties of \(3j\)-, \(6j\)- and \(9j\)-symbols. It is important to stress that the authors make a conceptual distinction between what is called \(3jm\) [\(3j\) in the literature] and \(3nj\) symbols. While the first are defined by three angular momenta and their corresponding projections, the latter indicates the number 3n of angular momentum variables. In all subsequent chapters, this notational distinction will be apparent from the context in which each example is worked out. With chapter 3 the formal development of the graphical method begins. Basic notions as nodes and angular momentum lines are introduced and used to represent \(3jm\)-symbols by a node and three attached angular momentum lines. The direction of the lines provides information on the sign of the corresponding projection. Five types of closed diagrams with no external lines are introduced, since they correspond to factor appearing frequently in applications of the method. In chapter 4, the problem of identities satisfied by \(3jm\)-symbols is discussed, specifically, the closure and orthogonality relations. This part is formally important, since it provides a first insight into the equivalence of the graphical method and the algebra of \(3jm\)-symbols. Chapters 5 and 6 are devoted to the well-known \(6j\)- and \(9j\)-symbols, and their symmetry properties are briefly discussed. All the properties and conventions of the chapters 3--6 are summarized in chapter 7, where the general rules for manipulating diagrams are exhibited. It also shows how the particular cases treated before can be generalized naturally. Eleven rules concerning multiplication, summation and separation of diagrams are analyzed, with special emphasis on the separation properties. It should be observed that reversal of separation provides a criterion of joining two diagrams. Chapters 8 and 9, being among the most extensive of the book, develop the examples on closed and open diagrams, respectively. The main purpose of the eighth chapter is to study the summation over one angular momentum in various \(3nj\)-symbols. Various [known] problems of increasing complexity are studied in detail, showing how the formal difficulties of a pure algebraic treatment can be surmounted by means of an elegant graphical ansatz. In addition, two types of \(12j\)-symbols are distinguished. The case of open diagrams, often obtained by separation of closed ones, is discussed in chapter 9. The close relation with the Wigner-Eckart theorem [to be found in appendix A3] is illustrated. The main objective of this paragraph is to discuss the sum of three or more \(3jm\)-symbols. This leads to a new formula for the simple product of two \(3jm\)-symbols related to the orthogonality relations of \(9j\)-symbols. This shows clearly that the graphical method can provide new expressions and results that could hardly be obtained by the traditional algebraic procedure, or that would be too cumbersome to be deduced. The final chapter presents a genuine application of the graphical method developed to the theory of X-ray scattering. Necessary theoretical background on the problem is given in the appendices. In the problem analyzed, open and closed diagrams are combined for first time. The most relevant result in this section is the proof that the product of matrix elements can be replaced by a single matrix element corresponding to an equivalent atomic tensor operator. The high number of diagrams in this chapter (42) shows each transformation in detail, illustrating in very effective way the three chosen cases. The [intentionally short] list of references presents some of the most relevant works on the general theory of angular momentum and its applications. However, within the historical context of graphical methods, I miss the paper by \textit{R. J. Ord-Smith} [Phys. Rev., II. Ser. 94, 1227 (1954; Zbl 0059.21801)] presenting a first approach to graphical representations (this paper is however cited in reference [27]). One curious point is that the classical book by \textit{D. M. Brink} and \textit{G. R. Satchler} [Angular momentum. Oxford: Clarendon Press (1962; Zbl 0137.45403)] is cited twice, namely in its second and third editions of 1968 and 1994, respectively. In addition, besides the classical reference of \textit{M. Rotenberg, R. Bivins, N. Metropolis} and \textit{J. K. Wooten} [The 3-j and 6-j Symbols. Technology Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1959)] presenting extensive tabulations, I would also add a perhaps less known reference on the same topic, but that complements the previous reference: [Ya. I. Vizbarai'te, I. I. Glembotskiĭ, R. I. Karaziya, T. D. Strockite, V. I. Uldukite, Tablitsy 9-j koeffitsientov dlya tselykh znacheniĭ parametrov s odnim parametrom ravnym edinitse, Akad. Nauk SSSR, Moskva (1968)]. In conclusion, the authors show in conclusive way that their approach to the graphical theory of angular momentum can be a powerful alternative tool to inspect physical systems, where the cumbersome algebraic method can be avoided or its application is extremely difficult. It should by no means be understood that the graphical method developed in this book does not require a serious study to become proficient in applying it. It is non-trivial and requires detailed inspection of the rules and types of operations. Its advantage with respect to the traditional algebraic approach is that it represents a highly interesting complement to the theory, which can be further used to discover or derive new relations undetected until now.