The Zeeman Effect

PHYS 303 Assignment

Siobhan Morris
201203401

The Zeeman effect describes the splitting of a spectral line into several
components in the presence of a magnetic field. When an atom is placed in this uniform
external magnetic field, the energy levels of the atom are shifted often described as a
perturbation. This splitting or shifting is attributed to the interaction between the
magnetic field applied and the magnetic dipole moment associated with the orbital
angular momentum. As the difference between the levels of these spectral lines is a
function of the magnetic field, the Zeeman effect can be used to measure magnetic fields
in a number of applications. It is also widely used in nuclear magnetic resonance
spectroscopy, electron spin resonance spectroscopy, and magnetic resonance imaging.
But what exactly is happening that allows this effect to transpire? In a magnetic
field, the angular momentum quantum state can undergo a displacement from
degeneracy. The p orbital, for example, has three possible angular momentum quantum
states that are degenerate (of the same energy) under normal conditions. Now, each
angular momentum quantum state has a magnetic dipole moment associated with it, so
the magnetic field will actually separate the three states into three different energy levels
this is what gives rise to the three spectral lines of slightly different energy.
Lets break it down in terms of the theory. The external magnetic field b will
exert a torque on a magnetic dipole and the magnetic potential energy which results in:

U(q ) = -m b
The magnetic dipole moment associated with the orbital angular momentum is
given by:

morbital =

-e
L
2me

If we consider the magnetic field in the z-direction, we then have:

U=

e
e
Lz B = ml
B
2m
2m

Now we take into account the quantization of angular momentum (where

L = l(l +1)

and Lz = ml ), and we can obtain equally spaced energy levels displaced

from the zero field level by:

DE = ml

mB =

e
B = ml m B B
2m

e
= 9.27 10-24 J / T = 5.78 10 -5 eV / T
2me

This displacement of the energy levels which we see here is what gives us the uniformly
spaced splitting of the spectral lines.
A specific case of the Zeeman effect, labeled the anomalous Zeeman effect,
must also be discussed at this time. In certain cases, the magnetic field also interacts with
the electron spin magnetic moment. The effect is referred to as the anomalous Zeeman
effect where this factor of electron spin contributes.
In general, the Zeeman effect can be described by the following equation, in
which both orbital and spin moments are involved:

DE =

e
(L + 2S) B = gL m B m j B
2m

Here S and L are vectors both precessing around the magnetic field, and gl is a
factor known as the Lande g factor, which allows for the resultant splittings of the
spectral lines to be expressed in terms of the z-component of the total angular
momentum, m j .
To return to the anomalous Zeeman effect, we must discuss the lines observed by
experimentalists. While in some atoms the effect showed the expected equally spaced
triplet, in other atoms the applied magnetic field split the lines in four or more lines, and
some triplets showed wider spacings than predicted. The explanation of these deviant
patterns led to the inclusion of electron spin in the total angular momentum. So, what has
been traditionally called the anomalous Zeeman effect was simply the normal Zeeman
effect with electron spin included.