# Motion of a spin 1/2 particle in shape invariant scalar and magnetic fields

## 1 Introduction

The concept of supersymmetry in quantum mechanical models was first introduced by Nicolai . A few years later Witten introduced supersymmetric quantum mechanics  as a laboratory to examine supersymmetry breaking in quantum field theoretical models. Subsequently SUSYQM has proved to be interesting on its own and has been studied by many authors from different points of view .

Over the years it has been shown  that SUSYQM plays an important role in obtaining exact solutions of quantum mechanical problems. In fact all solvable problems of quantum mechanics are either supersymmetric or can be made so. Now among the various exactly solvable potentials there is a certain class of potentials which are characterized by a property known as shape invariance . Potentials which are shape invariant satisfy certain conditions and it has been shown  that solutions of the Schrödinger equation with any shape invariant potential can be obtained in a trivial manner without solving the differential equation. In fact shape invariance is a sufficient condition for exact solvability.

In the present paper our aim is to use the formalism of SUSYQM to study one dimensional motion of a spin $`\frac{1}{2}`$ particle in the presence of a scalar potential as well as a magnetic field. It may be noted that SUSYQM has previously been used to study the motion of a particle in a magnetic field . However, in the present paper the problem is similar in nature to a coupled channel problem . To solve this problem we shall introduce a definition of shape invariance which will require not only the scalar potential but also the magnetic field to satisfy certain conditions. Using this shape invariance property we shall then obtain exact solutions of the problem of a spin $`\frac{1}{2}`$ particle moving in a scalar potential and a magnetic field. The organisation of the paper is as follows: in section 2 we describe the construction of the hamiltonian describing the motion of a spin $`\frac{1}{2}`$ particle in a scalar potential and a magnetic field; in section 3 we introduce the shape invariance conditions and use them to obtain algebraically exact solutions; finally section 4 is devoted to a conclusion.

## 2 Supersymmetric approach to the motion of a spin $`\frac{1}{2}`$ particle on the real line

In Witten’s model of SUSY quantum mechanics the Hamiltonian consists of two factorized Schrödinger operators

$$H_{}(z;\gamma )=A^\pm (z;\gamma )A^{}(z;\gamma )=\frac{d^2}{dz^2}+W^2(z;\gamma )W^{}(z;\gamma )$$
(1)   
where $`\gamma `$ denotes a set of parameters and the operators $`A^+(z;\gamma )`$ and $`A^{}(z;\gamma )`$ are given by

$$A^\pm (z;\gamma )=\frac{d}{dz}+W(z;\gamma ),$$
(2)   
where the function $`W(z;\gamma )`$ is called the superpotential.

The pair of Hamiltonians in (1) are called SUSY partner Hamiltonians and each of these Hamiltonians describe the motion of a spinless particle in one dimensional potentials $`V_\pm (z;\gamma )=W^2(z;\gamma )\pm W^{}(z;\gamma )`$. Among the various potentials $`V_\pm (z;\gamma )`$ those which satisfy the relation

$$V_+(z;\gamma )=V_{}(z;\gamma _1)+ϵ_1,$$
(3)   
where $`\gamma _1=f(\gamma )`$ is a function of $`\gamma `$ and $`ϵ_1`$ is a constant, are called shape invariant potentials . The shape invariant potentials are always exactly solvable and their solutions can be obtained purely algebraically.

We shall now generalize Witten’s model of SUSY quantum mechanics in such way that each of the Hamiltonians $`H_{}`$, $`H_+`$ will describe the motion of a spin $`\frac{1}{2}`$ particle in a magnetic field and a scalar potential. In order to do this we generalise the operators $`A^\pm `$ in the following way:

$$A^\pm (z;\gamma ,\beta )=\frac{d}{dz}+W(z;\gamma )+𝐕(z;\beta )𝐒,$$
(4)   
It may be noted that here we consider motion of the particle along $`z`$-axis and components of the spin operator $`𝐒`$ are $`S_\alpha =\sigma _\alpha /2`$ ($`\alpha =x,y,z`$), $`\sigma _\alpha `$ being the Pauli matrices. Then SUSY partner Hamiltonians can be obtained as in (1) and are given by

$$H_\pm (z;\gamma ,\beta )=\frac{d^2}{dz^2}+V_\pm (z;\gamma ,\beta )+𝐁_\pm (z;\gamma ,\beta )𝐒,$$
(5)   
where

$`V_\pm (z;\gamma ,\beta )=W^2(z;\gamma )\pm W^{}(z;\gamma )+V^2(z;\beta )/4,`$ (6)   
$`𝐁_\pm (z;\gamma ,\beta )=2W(z;\gamma )𝐕(z;\beta )\pm 𝐕^{}(z;\beta ).`$ (7)   
The Hamiltonians $`H_\pm `$ in (5) describe a spin $`\frac{1}{2}`$ particle moving along the $`z`$-axis in a scalar potential $`V_\pm (z;\gamma ,\beta )`$ and a magnetic field $`𝐁_\pm (z;\gamma ,\beta )`$.

The SUSY Hamiltonian reads

$$H=\left(\begin{array}{c}H_+0\\ 0H_{}\end{array}\right)=\{Q^+,Q_{}\},$$
(8)   
where the superchages $`Q^+`$ and $`Q_{}`$ have the form

$$Q^+=A^{}\sigma ^+,Q^{}=A^+\sigma ^{}.$$
(9)   
The supercharges and SUSY Hamiltonian fulfil well known $`N=2`$ SUSY algebra

$$\{Q^+,Q^{}\}=H,[Q^\pm ,H]=0,(Q^\pm )^2=0.$$
(10)   
Note that in the present case the SUSY Hamiltonian and supercharges act on four component wave function. The standard Witten model of SUSY quantum mechanics can be reproduced by setting $`𝐕=0`$.

The Hamiltonians $`H_+`$ and $`H_{}`$ have exactly the same energy levels (perhaps with the exception of the zero energy state). For the zero energy ground state the following scenarios are possible: (1) Zero energy ground state does not exist (broken SUSY) (2) Zero energy ground state exists for one of the Hamiltonians $`H_{}`$ or $`H_+`$ (exact SUSY) (3) Zero energy ground state exists for both Hamiltonians $`H_{}`$ and $`H_+`$ (exact SUSY). In a previous paper  it was shown that this last scenario can be realised when a particle moves in a rotating magnetic field and a zero scalar potential. For the standard Witten model of SUSY quantum mechanics such a situation is arises when the superpotential is a periodic function .

In present paper we shall consider the case when zero energy ground state exists for one of the Hamiltonians $`H_{}`$ or $`H_+`$, say for $`H_{}`$. In this case the eigenvalues $`E_n^\pm `$ and eigenfunctions $`\psi _n^\pm `$ of the Hamiltonians $`H_\pm `$ are related by the following SUSY transformations:

$`E_{n+1}^{}=E_n^+,E_0^{}=0,`$ (11)   
$`\psi _{n+1}^{}={\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{E_n^+}}}A^+\psi _n^+,`$ (12)   
$`\psi _n^+={\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{E_{n+1}^{}}}}A^{}\psi _{n+1}^{}.`$ (13)   
In equations (12) and (13) the operators $`A^\pm `$ are (2 x 2) matrices and the wave functions $`\psi _n^\pm `$ are 2 component wave functions. As a result equations (13) and (13) are matrix differential equations although in appearance they look similar to the standard SUSY transformations .

## 3 Shape invariant potentials and magnetic fields

In this section we shall generalise the idea of shape invariance for obtaining exact solution of the eigenvalue problem for a spin $`\frac{1}{2}`$ particle moving in both a scalar potential as well as a magnetic field. We begin with the eigenvalue problem corresponding to the Hamiltonian $`H_{}`$ with superpotentials $`W=W(z,\gamma )`$, $`𝐕(z,\beta )`$ which depend on some parameters $`\gamma `$ and $`\beta `$. Since the zero energy ground state of this Hamiltonian is annihilated by the operator $`A^{}(z;\gamma ,\beta )`$ we have

$$A^{}(z;\gamma ,\beta )\psi _0^{}(z;\gamma ,\beta )=0.$$
(14)   
Note that in the case of standard Witten model of SUSY quantum mechanics this equation is a single first order differential equation and can be easily solved. But in the present case the operator $`A^{}`$ is a (2 x 2) matrix differential operator and therefore the above equation is a set of two first order coupled differential equations. So in general the ground state can not be obtained in terms of the superpotentials. It is similar to the situation in SUSY quaternionic quantum mechanics . We shall return to the problem of determining the ground state later. For the time being let us assume that we have a solution of equation (14).

Now let us consider the SUSY partner of $`H_{}(z;\gamma ,\beta )`$, i.e. $`H_+(z;\gamma ,\beta )`$. If we calculate the ground state of $`H_+(z;\gamma ,\beta )`$ we immediately find the first excited state of $`H_{}(z;\gamma ,\beta )`$ using the SUSY transformations (11) - (13). Now in order to calculate the ground state of $`H_+`$ let us rewrite it in the form

$$H_+(z;\gamma ,\beta )=H_{}(z;\gamma _1,\beta _1)+ϵ_1=A^+(z;\gamma _1,\beta _1)A^{}(z;\gamma _1,\beta _1)+ϵ_1,ϵ_1>0,$$
(15)   
where $`ϵ_1`$ is the factorisation energy. The operators $`A_\pm (z;\gamma _1,\beta _1)`$ corresponding to $`H_{}(z;\gamma _1,\beta _1)`$ have the same form as in (4) but with superpotentials $`W=W(z,\gamma _1)`$, $`𝐕=𝐕(z,\beta _1)`$.

We note that the wave function of the ground state of $`H_+(z;\gamma ,\beta )`$ is also the wave function of ground state of $`H_{}(z;\gamma _1,\beta _1)`$ i.e. $`\psi _0^+(z,\gamma ,\beta )=\psi _0^{}(z,\gamma _1,\beta _1)`$ and it satisfies the equation

$$A^{}(z;\gamma _1,\beta _1)\psi _0^{}(z,\gamma _1,\beta _1)=0.$$
(16)   
Using the SUSY transformations we can now obtain the energy level and corresponding wave function of the first excited state of the Hamiltonian $`H_{}(z;\gamma ,\beta )`$:

$$E_1^{}=ϵ_1,\psi _1^{}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{ϵ_1}}A^+(z,\gamma ,\beta )\psi _0^{}(z,\gamma _1,\beta _1).$$
(17)   
From (15) we can now obtain the conditions of shape invariance involving the superpotential and the magnetic field. In explicit form these conditions read

$$\begin{array}{ccc}W^2(z;\gamma )+W^{}(z;\gamma )+𝐕^2(z;\beta )/4\hfill & =& W^2(z;\gamma _1)W^{}(z;\gamma _1)\hfill \\ & & +𝐕^2(z;\beta _1)/4+ϵ_1,\hfill \end{array}$$
(18)   
$$2W(z;\gamma )𝐕(z;\beta )+𝐕^{}(z;\beta )=2W(z;\gamma _1)𝐕(z;\beta _1)𝐕_1^{}(z;\beta _1).$$
(19)   
Equation (18) is the condition for shape invariant scalar superpotential while (19) is the equation for shape invariant magnetic field. Comparing with equation (3) we find that in the present case shape invariance conditions consist of four equations rather than a single one.

In general it is very difficult to solve these equations for superpotentials (magnetic fields) when an arbitrary magnetic field (superpotential) is prescribed. However when we consider some specific superpotential and magnetic field solutions of equations (18) and (19) can still be obtained. To this end let us choose V in the form

$$𝐕=g(z)𝐚+\beta 𝐛,$$
(20)   
where $`𝐚`$ and $`𝐛`$ are perpendicular unit vectors i.e, $`\mathrm{𝐚𝐛}=0`$. Then equation (18) reads

$$W^2(z;\gamma )+W^{}(z;\gamma )+\beta ^2/4=W^2(z;\gamma _1)W^{}(z;\gamma _1)+\beta _1^2/4+ϵ_1.$$
(21)   
and the vector equation (19) splits into two scalar equations

$`2W(z;\gamma )g(z)+g^{}(z)=2W(z;\gamma _1)g(z)g^{}(z),`$ (22)   
$`W(z;\gamma )\beta =W(z;\gamma _1)\beta _1.`$ (23)   
Then from (22) we obtain

$$g(z)=\lambda e^{^z(W(z;\gamma _1)W(z;\gamma ))},$$
(24)   
where $`\lambda `$ is some constant. Here it is important to note that since $`g(z)`$ does not depend on the parameters $`\gamma `$ the difference between the new and the old superpotential $`(W(z;\gamma _1)W(z;\gamma ))`$ also does not depend on these parameters.

In order to satisfy equation (23) we now choose

$$W=\gamma f(z),$$
(25)   
which leads to the following relation between the parameters

$$\gamma \beta =\gamma _1\beta _1.$$
(26)   
Note that only superpotentials of the form (25) ensures that the difference $`(W(z;\gamma _1)W(z;\gamma ))`$ is independent of the parameter $`\gamma `$. Thus the superpotentials (20) and (25) lead to shape invariant scalar potential and magnetic field and so the corresponding eigenvalue problem can be solved exactly.

To find the exact solutions we now continue the shape invariant construction recursively and obtain the energy levels and the corresponding wave functions of $`H_{}`$ in the following form

$`E_n^{}={\displaystyle \underset{i=0}{\overset{n}{}}}ϵ_i,ϵ_0=0,`$ (27)   
$`\psi _n^{}(z;\gamma ,\beta )=`$   
$`C_n^{}A^+(z;\gamma ,\beta )\mathrm{}A^+(z;\gamma _{n2},\beta _{n2})A^+(z;\gamma _{n1},\beta _{n1})\psi _0^{}(z;\gamma _n,\beta _n),`$ (28)   
where $`C_n^{}`$ are normalization constants, $`\psi _0^{}(z;\gamma _n,\beta _n)`$ is the zero energy eigenfunction of $`H_{}(z;\gamma _n,\beta _n)`$ which satisfies the equation $`A^{}(z;\gamma _n,\beta _n)\psi _0^{}(z;\gamma _n,\beta _n)=0`$, $`A^\pm (z;\gamma _n,\beta _n)`$ and $`H_{}(z;\gamma _n,\beta _n)`$ are of the form (4) and (5) respectively with superpotentials $`W(z;\gamma _n)`$, $`𝐕(z;\beta _n)`$. In our notations $`\gamma _0=\gamma `$ and $`\beta _0=\beta `$.

In explicit form the equation determining $`\psi _0^{}(z,\gamma _n,\beta _n)`$ reads

$$\left(\frac{d}{dz}+\gamma _nf(z)+(g(z)𝐚+\beta _n𝐛)𝐒\right)\psi _0^{}(z,\gamma _n,\beta _n)=0.$$
(29)   
The superpotential $`\gamma _nf(z)`$ can be eliminated from this equation by using the following transformation

$$\psi _0^{}(z,\gamma _n,\beta _n)=\varphi (z,\beta _n)e^{{\scriptscriptstyle \gamma _nf(z)}},$$
(30)   
where $`\varphi `$ is a two component function which satisfies the equation

$$\left(\frac{d}{dz}+(g(z)𝐚+\beta _n𝐛)𝐒\right)\varphi (z,\beta _n)=0.$$
(31)   
Let us now choose $`𝐚`$ parallel to z-axis, $`𝐛`$ parallel to x-axis. Then equation (31) which is a set of two first order coupled differential equations can be rewritten in the form

$`a^{}\varphi _1(z,\beta _n)={\displaystyle \frac{\beta _n}{2}}\varphi _2(z,\beta _n),`$ (32)   
$`a^+\varphi _2(z,\beta _n)={\displaystyle \frac{\beta _n}{2}}\varphi _1(z,\beta _n),`$ (33)   
where the operators $`a^\pm `$ are given by

$$a^\pm =\frac{d}{dz}+g(z)/2.$$
(34)   
The above set of first order coupled equations can easily be transformed into second order equations for $`\varphi _1`$ and $`\varphi _2`$ and are given by

$`a^+a^{}\varphi _1(z,\beta _n)=h_{}\varphi _1={\displaystyle \frac{\beta _n^2}{4}}\varphi _1(z,\beta _n),`$ (35)   
$`a^{}a^+\varphi _2(z,\beta _n)=h_+\varphi _2={\displaystyle \frac{\beta _n^2}{4}}\varphi _2(z,\beta _n).`$ (36)   
It is interesting to note that equations (35) and (36) have the form of eigenvalue equations corresponding to $`H_\pm `$ of one dimensional SUSY quantum mechanics (see equation (1)) with superpotential $`g(z)/2`$ and $`\beta _n^2/4`$ can be treated as energy which is negative in the present case. The solutions of equations (35) and (36) need not necessarily be square integrable functions. However nonsquare integrable solutions of (35) and (36) can still be used to obtain physical solutions of the original eigenvalue equation (see equation (30)).

### 3.1 Examples

Case 1: The simplest superpotential which we can choose is $`W=\gamma z`$. But in this case from (21) it follows that $`\gamma _1=\gamma `$ and we find from (24) that $`g=const`$. As a result we obtain a magnetic field which does not change its direction. Therefore this case can be reduced to the standard Witten model of SUSY quantum mechanics.

Case 2: Let us now consider the following superpotential:

$$W=\gamma \mathrm{tanh}(z),\gamma >0.$$
(37)   
Then iterating the shape invariant condition (21) $`n`$ times we obtain

$`ϵ_n=\gamma _{n1}^2\gamma _n^2+(\beta _{n1}^2\beta _n^2)/4,`$ (38)   
$`\gamma _{n1}(\gamma _{n1}1)=\gamma _n(\gamma _n+1).`$ (39)   
Equation (39) have two solutions with respect to $`\gamma _n`$. But only one of them is acceptable from the point of view of square integrability of the wave function and this is given by

$$\gamma _n=\gamma _{n1}1=\gamma n.$$
(40)   
Now iterating the relation (26) $`n`$ times we obtain

$$\beta _n=\frac{\gamma _{n1}}{\gamma _n}\beta _{n1}=\frac{\gamma }{\gamma _n}\beta $$
(41)   
To determine $`g(z)`$ we use (24) and obtain

$$g(z)=\frac{\lambda }{\mathrm{cosh}(z)}.$$
(42)   
From (42) it is seen that the function $`g(z)`$ indeed does not depend on the parameters appearing in the superpotential. Now using $`W(z;\gamma )`$ and $`g(z)`$ we can calculate the scalar potential and the magnetic field in which the spin $`\frac{1}{2}`$ particle is moving:

$`V_\pm ={\displaystyle \frac{\lambda ^2/4\gamma (\gamma 1)}{\mathrm{cosh}^2(z)}}+\gamma ^2+\beta ^2,`$ (43)   
$`𝐁_\pm ={\displaystyle \frac{\lambda ^2}{2}}(2\gamma 1){\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{tanh}(z)}{\mathrm{cosh}(z)}}𝐚+2\gamma \beta \mathrm{tanh}(z)𝐛.`$ (44)   
Now let us study the eigenvalue equations (35) and (36). To determine whether the spectrum is finite or infinite it is now necessary to establish the maximum value of $`n`$. In the present case equation (35) reads

$$\left(\frac{d}{dz}+\frac{\lambda }{2\mathrm{cosh}(z)}\right)\left(\frac{d}{dz}+\frac{\lambda }{2\mathrm{cosh}(z)}\right)\varphi _1(z,\beta _n)=\frac{\beta _n^2}{4}\varphi _1(z,\beta _n).$$
(45)   
The asymptotic behaviour of the solutions of equation (45) at $`|z|\mathrm{}`$ is given by

$$\varphi _1(z,\beta _n)=\mathrm{const}e^{\pm \beta _nz/2}.$$
(46)   
Using (32) for second component we obtain

$$\varphi _2(z,\beta _n)=\mathrm{const}e^{\pm \beta _nz/2}.$$
(47)   
From (46) and (47) it is seen that the solutions are not square integrable. Now to determine the asymptotic behaviour of $`\psi _0(z,\gamma _n,\beta _n)`$ we use (46) and (47) in (30) and obtain

$$\psi _0^{}(z,\gamma _n,\beta _n)=\mathrm{const}\left(\begin{array}{c}1\\ 1\end{array}\right)\frac{e^{\pm \beta _nz/2}}{\mathrm{cosh}^{\gamma _n}(z)}.$$
(48)   
Then from the condition of square integrability of $`\psi _0^{}(z,\gamma _n,\beta _n)`$ we get

$$\gamma _n>|\beta _n|/2.$$
(49)   
Thus it follows from (49) that

$$n<\gamma \sqrt{\gamma |\beta |/2}.$$
(50)   
Energy levels of the Hamiltonian $`H_{}(z;\gamma ,\beta )`$ are then given by

$$E_n^{}=\gamma ^2(\gamma n)^2+\frac{\beta ^2}{4}\left(1\frac{\gamma ^2}{(\gamma n)^2}\right).$$
(51)   
From (48) it follows that there are two independent square integrable solutions of equation (29) and as a result the ground state of $`H_{}(z;\beta _n,\gamma _n)`$ is twofold degenerate. Now from (28) and (29) it can be shown that each energy level $`E_n^{}`$ is doubly degenerate.

We now proceed to determine the eigenfunctions of $`H_{}(z;\beta _n,\gamma _n)`$ in explicit form. In order to do this we need to have the general solutions of equation (45). To solve this equation we first transform it to the equation for hypergeometric functions. Let us introduce a new variable $`x=\mathrm{sinh}(z)`$. Then equation (45) becomes

$$\left[(1+x^2)\frac{d^2}{dx^2}x\frac{d}{dx}+\frac{\lambda ^2}{4}\frac{1}{1+x^2}+\frac{\lambda }{2}\frac{x}{1+x^2}\right]\varphi _1=\frac{\beta _n^2}{4}\varphi _1.$$
(52)   
We now introduce a new function $`f`$ defined by the relation

$$\varphi _1=fe^{\frac{\lambda }{2}\mathrm{arctan}(x)}$$
(53)   
and use a new variable $`\xi =(1ix)/2`$ to obtain from equation (45)

$$\left[(1\xi )\xi \frac{d^2}{d\xi ^2}+\left(\frac{1}{2}i\frac{\lambda }{2}\xi \right)\frac{d}{d\xi }\right]f=\frac{\beta _n^2}{4}f.$$
(54)   
This equation has two linearly independent solutions:

$`f^{(1)}=F(a,b;c;\xi ),`$ (55)   
$`f^{(2)}=\xi ^{1c}(1\xi )^{cab}F(1a,1b;2c;\xi ),`$ (56)   
where F(a ,b ;c ;x) is the hypergeometric function and $`a=\beta _n/2`$, $`b=\beta _n/2`$, $`c=1/2i\lambda /2`$.

Then using (28) we obtain in explicit form two eigenfunctions which correspond to the same energy level given by (51). As a result we conclude once more that energy levels of $`H_{}(z;\beta ,\gamma )`$ are twofold degenerate.

Now let us analyze the reason for this double degeneracy of the energy levels of $`H_{}(z;\gamma ,\beta )`$. Note however that this double degeneracy is not related to the SUSY of original Hamiltonian which consists of two partner Hamiltonians $`H_{}(z;\gamma ,\beta )`$ and $`H_+(z;\gamma ,\beta )`$. The degeneracy of $`H_{}(z;\gamma ,\beta )`$ is related to the spin degrees of freedom of the Hamiltonian and also with the existence of an additional integral of motion $`T=I\sigma _y`$ in the case when $`W(z)=W(z)`$, where $`I`$ is parity operator and acts according to $`If(z)=f(z)`$. Also $`T^2=1`$ and thus this operator has two eigenvalue $`\pm 1`$. We also note that the operator of complex conjugation $`R`$, acting according to $`Rf=f^{}`$, commutes with $`A^\pm (z;\gamma _i,\beta _n)`$ in the case when $`𝐚`$ is parallel z axis and $`𝐛`$ is parallel x axis. These operators satisfy the (anti)commutation relations

$`TA^\pm (z;\beta _n,\gamma _n)+A^\pm (z;\beta _n,\gamma _n)T=0,`$ (57)   
$`TR+RT=0,`$ (58)   
$`RA^\pm (z;\beta _n,\gamma _n)A^\pm (z;\gamma _n,\beta _n)R=0`$ (59)   
Furthermore the operators $`R`$ and $`T`$ commute with the Hamiltonian $`H_{}(z;\gamma _n,\beta _n)`$

$$[T,H_{}(z;\gamma _n,\beta _n)]=[R,H_{}(z;\gamma _n,\beta _n)]=0.$$
(60)   
Let us now demonstrate using the above algebra that zero energy level for $`H_{}(z;\gamma _n,\beta _n)`$ is doubly degenerated. To show this let us suppose that we have at least one zero energy ground state. As a result of the commutation relation (60) this state can be chosen also as eigenfunction of the operator $`T`$. Thus the zero energy ground state satisfies the equations

$`T\psi _\lambda =\lambda \psi _\lambda ,`$ (61)   
$`A^{}\psi _\lambda =0,`$ (62)   
where $`\lambda `$ take one of the values $`1`$ or $`1`$. Then from (58) and (61) it follows that $`R\psi _\lambda =\psi _\lambda `$ Now operating $`R`$ from the left on (62) and using (59) we obtain

$$A^{}R\psi _\lambda =A^{}\psi _\lambda =0.$$
(63)   
Thus $`\psi _\lambda `$ together with $`\psi _\lambda `$ are wave functions of the zero energy ground state. We can conclude that zero energy level of the Hamiltonian $`H_{}(z;\gamma _i,\beta _i)`$ is doubly degenerate. Since the $`n`$th excited state of the Hamiltonian $`H_{}(z;\gamma ,\beta )`$ is related by (28) to the ground state of the Hamiltonian $`H_{}(z;\beta _n,\gamma _n)`$ we conclude that all the energy levels of the Hamiltonian $`H_{}(z;\gamma ,\beta )`$ are doubly degenerate. Finally we note that as a consequence of the relation (11) the zero energy ground level of the full Hamiltonian (8) is doubly degenerate while the excited levels are fourfold degenerate.

## 4 Conclusions

In the present paper we extend the definition of shape invariance to obtain exact solutions of the eigenvalue problem relating to the motion of a spin $`\frac{1}{2}`$ particle moving in scalar potential and a magnetic field. The shape invariance conditions are more complicated than in the standard case. It is because instead of one equation for the superpotential $`W`$ in standard case we have four equations coupling the superpotential with the components of the vector function $`𝐕`$. It has been shown that if we choose a superpotential and a magnetic field satisfying the above mentioned shape invariance condition we can obtain exact analytical solutions of the eigenvalue problem. The spectrum of the full Hamiltonian is fourfold degenerate while those of the component Hamiltonians are doubly degenerate. We have also analysed the reasons of this double degeneracy and it has been shown to be due existence of additional integrals of motion rather than SUSY. We feel it would be of interest to find other superpotentials and magnetic fields which are shape invariant and are thus exactly soluble.