PHY6410 - Quantum Physics II

Problem Set 1
Todd Yee

Due: Friday, September 15, 2017

Question 1. A spin- 12 particle is prepared in a state (in the z-basis):

r
i 2
|i = |+i + |i
3 3
(A) Compute hSx i, hSy i, and hSz i. (B) Compute Sx , Sy , and Sz . (C) Show that this is consistent
with the commutator theorem.

Solution: (A) Expectation values of operators on a state |i, are found using the general equation
hQi = h|Q|i . (1-1)
Using Equation 1-1 above, we find the expectation value of Sx to be
0 1
    
h  i h  2
hSx i = h|Sx |i = i 2 = i 2 = 0 (1-2)
6 1 0 2 6 i
Similarly, for Sy , we find
 
0 i 2
  
h  i i h  2h
hSy i = h|Sy |i = i 2 = i 2 = (1-3)
6 i 0 2 6 1 3
Finally, for the expectation value of Sz , again using Equation 1-1, we find
1 0
    
h  i h  i
h
hSz i = h|Sz |i = i 2 = i 2 = (1-4)
6 0 1 2 6 2 6

(B) We can find the error in each of these values using the equation
q
Si = hSi2 i hSi i2 (1-5)

Calculating Sx2 , we find

h2 0 1 h2 1 0 h2
   
Sx2
= = = 1 = Sy2 = Sz2 (1-6)
4 1 0 4 0 1 4
Using the results from Equation 1-6 and Equation 1-2, we find
s
p h2 h
Sx = hSx2 i hSx i2 = 0= (1-7)
4 2
Using the results from Equation 1-6 and Equation 1-3, we find
s
q h2 2h2 h
Sy = hSy2 i hSy i2 = = (1-8)
4 9 6
And finally, using the results from Equation 1-6 and Equation 1-4, we find

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Problem Set 1 PHY6410 Todd Yee

s
p h2 h2 2h
Sz = hSz2 i hSz i2 = = (1-9)
4 36 3

(C) We can show that these results are consistent with the commutator theorem by using the inequality

h
Sx Sy |hSz i| (1-10)
2
Using the results displayed in Equation 1-7, Equation 1-8, and Equation 1-4, and plugging them into
Equation 1-10, we see
h h h h h2 h2

26 2 6 12 12
which does satisfy the inequality.

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Problem Set 1 PHY6410 Todd Yee

Question 2. Using the method we discussed in class, construct the spin matrices Sx , Sy , and Sz for a
spin- 32 particle. Do the resulting matrices form a basis for Hermitian matrices like the Pauli matrices do?

Solution: A spin- 32 particle has 4 different states, which can be represented as

         
3 3 3 1 3 1 3 3
|++i =  , |+i =  , |+i =  , |i =  (2-1)
32 22 2 2 2 2

Working in the z-basis, we know that Sz takes the form

h++|Sz |++i h++|Sz |+i h++|Sz |+i h++|Sz |i

h+|Sz |++i h+|Sz |+i h+|Sz |+i h+|Sz |i

Sz = h (2-2)

h+|Sz |++i h+|Sz |+i h+|Sz |+i h+|Sz |i

h|Sz |++i h|Sz |+i h|Sz |+i h|Sz |i

Since only expressions with the bra equal to the ket yield a non-zero value, we find this to be


3 0 0 0
h 0 1 0 0

Sz =
2 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 3

To find the spin matrices for Sx and Sy , we use the spin ladder operators, which take form from the
equation
S = Sx iSy (2-3)
From Equation 2-3, we see that the equation for Sx is
S+ + S
Sx = (2-4)
2
and for Sy is
S+ S
Sy = (2-5)
2i
Therefore, we must find S+ and S . To do so, we can use their effects on each of the states represented in
Equation 2-1, which are given by the equation
p
S |jmi = h j(j + 1) m(m 1) |jm 1i (2-6)
Using Equation 2-6 for S+ on each of the states in Equation 2-1, we find

S+ |++i = 0, S+ |+i = 3h |++i , S+ |+i = 2h |+i , S+ |i = 3h |+i (2-7)
Using Equation 2-6 for S on each of the states in Equation 2-1, we find

S |++i = 3h |+i , S |+i = 2h |+i , S |+i = 3h |i , S |i = 0 (2-8)
Using the results from Equations 2-7 and 2-8, we have

0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0




0 0 2 0 3 0 0 0

S+ = h , S = h (2-9)

0 0 0 3

0 2 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0

Finally, plugging the results from Equation 2-9 into Equation 2-4, we find


0 3 0 0

h 3 0 2 0

Sx =
2 0 2 0 3


0 0 3 0

3
Problem Set 1 PHY6410 Todd Yee

and

0

3 0 0

ih 3 0 2 0

Sy =
2 0 2 0
3

3

0 0 0

Observing each of the 3 results Sx , Sy , and Sz , we can see that each of these spin matrices are Hermitian.

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Problem Set 1 PHY6410 Todd Yee

Question 3. (A) Working in the z-basis, find the eigenstates of Sx for a spin- 21 particle. (B) Repeat for
Sy .

Solution: (A) To determine the eigenstates of a spin- 12 particle, we first must determine the eigenvalues
using the characteristic equation. For Sx , we have
Sx |i = |i (Sx 1) |i = 0 (3-1)
Using the secular determinant of this equation, we have

 h 

 h 2 =0=
h

2  2
which are the expected eigenvalues for all spin operators in the z-basis. Again using the characteristic
equation from Equation 3-1 and operating on + , we have
    
0 1 a a
Sx |+ i = |+ i = b=a (3-2)
1 0 b b
Using this result from Equation 3-2, we have that
 

 (x)
E 1 1
+ =
2 1
Using the result from Equation 3-1 and using Sx to operate on , we find
    
0 1 a a
Sx | i = | i = b = a (3-3)
1 0 b b
With the result from Equation 3-3, we have
 

 (x)
E 1 1
 =
2 1
Therefore, we have
   

 (x)
E 
 (x)
E 
 (x)
E 1 1 1 1
= + +  = +
2 1 2 1


(B) Since the eigenvalues of the Sy are also h2 , we can use the characteristic equation from Equation 3-1
to again find the eigenvectors. Operating on the + state in the z-basis, we find
    
0 i a a
Sy |+ i = |+ i = b = ia (3-4)
i 0 b b
Thus, using the result from Equation 3-4, we find
 

 (y)
E 1 1
+ =
2 i
This time using Equation 3-2, operating on , we find
    
0 i a a
Sy | i = | i = b = ia (3-5)
i 0 b b
From the result in Equation 3-5, we have
 

 (y)
E 1 1
 =
2 i

Therefore, we find the eigenvector of Sy in the z-basis is

   

 (y)
E 
 (y)
E 
 (y)
E 1 1 1 1
= + +  = +
i i

2 2

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Problem Set 1 PHY6410 Todd Yee

Question 4. The operator

R(j) = eiSy /h
rotates a state counterclockwise about the y-axis by an angle . (A) Show that for a spin- 12 particle, this
operator can be written as
R(j) = cos(/2) iy sin(/2)
(n)
(B) Apply this to the state |+i and show that you get the state + we derived in class with = 0; that
is: rotated in the x-z plane. This is a more formal (and much more easily generalized) method for finding
the eigenstates of Sn .

Solution: (A) Starting with

R(j) = eiSy /h (4-1)
we can write the exponential from Equation 4-1 out as a sum, using Sy = h/2 y where we find

X (iSy /h)n X (1)n ( y /2)2n X (1)n ( y /2)2n+1
eiSy /h = = i (4-2)
n=0
n! n=0
(2n)! n=0
(2n + 1)!

Using the results y 2n = 1 and y 2n+1 = y , Equation 4-2 becomes

(1)n ( y /2)2n (1)n ( y /2)2n+1 (1)n (/2)2n (1)n (/2)2n+1
=1
X X X X
i i y
n=0
(2n)! n=0
(2n + 1)! n=0
(2n)! n=0
(2n + 1)!

where we can see that the first sum is cos(/2) and the second sum is sin(/2). Therefore,

eiSy /h = cos(/2) iy sin(/2) (4-3)

Q.E.D.

(B) Applying this operator to the state |+i, we see

      

1 cos(/2) 0 sin(/2) 1
R |+i = cos(/2) iy sin(/2) = + (4-4)
0 0 sin(/2) 0 0

where we have used the Pauli matrix for y . Evaluating this the rest of the way, we find
 
cos(/2)

R |+i = = n+ 

sin(/2) =0

as  
cos(/2)
n+ =
ei sin(/2)