Here, is a spherical harmonic function which is dependent on the angular variables and . The spherical harmonic can be written as: where are the associated Legendre polynomials, and is a normalization constant. For the given function , we have .
Step 1: Apply the operator to the eigenfunction
We are tasked with finding the eigenvalue of the operator acting on the eigenfunction . Since the operator involves the derivative with respect to , the action of the operator on the angular part of the wavefunction is of primary interest.
Step 2: Effect of the derivative operator
The derivative operator acting on the spherical harmonic gives a factor of , the magnetic quantum number. Specifically, for , we have .
Step 3: Apply the sine operator
Now we apply the sine operator. The sine operator is a simple function that will act on the result of the derivative. Thus, we get the following result:
Conclusion: Eigenvalue of the operator
From the above result, we see that the operator acting on the eigenfunction gives the eigenvalue . Thus, the eigenvalue is: