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QM1 2 PDF

1. The document contains exercises from a quantum mechanics homework assignment. It considers operators in a 2D vector space and their eigenvalues/eigenvectors. It also examines projection operators and normalized state vectors. 2. It proves an identity relating the exponential of an operator to the identity and operator terms, using Taylor expansions. 3. It calculates matrices representing projection operators onto given states and verifies they are Hermitian.

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Gabino Corona
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545 views

QM1 2 PDF

1. The document contains exercises from a quantum mechanics homework assignment. It considers operators in a 2D vector space and their eigenvalues/eigenvectors. It also examines projection operators and normalized state vectors. 2. It proves an identity relating the exponential of an operator to the identity and operator terms, using Taylor expansions. 3. It calculates matrices representing projection operators onto given states and verifies they are Hermitian.

Uploaded by

Gabino Corona
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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QM 2 Homework

Sebastian Requena
Fall 2011
1 Cohen-Tannoudji H
II
Exercise 2
In a two dimensional vector space, consider the operator whose matrix, in an
orthonormal basis {|1 , |2}, is written:

y
=

0 i
i 0

(1)
a) Is
y
Hermitian? Calculate its eigenvalues and eigenvectors, (Give their nor-
malized expansion in terms of the {|1 , |2} basis.)
It is easy to see that
y
is in fact hermitian.

y
=

0 i
i 0

0 i
i 0

=
y
(2)
The eigenvalues are found by,
det

0 i
i 0

=
2
1 = ( 1)( + 1) = 0 (3)
The eigenvalues are 1 and -1. Now to nd the eigenvectors. For = 1,

0 1 i
i 0 1

v
1
v
2

0
0

(4)
The normalized vector satisfying this equation.
1

i
1

=
i

2
|1 +
1

2
|2 (5)
Similarly for = 1, the eigenvector is,
1

i
1

=
i

2
|1 +
1

2
|2 (6)
b) Calculate the matrices which represent the projectors onto these eigen vec-
tors. Then verify that they satisfy the orthogonality and closure relations.
1
To nd the Projectors, I take the outer product of the eigenvectors.
|
1

1
| =
1
2

i
1

i 1

=
1
2

1 i
i 1

(7)
|
1

1
| =
1
2

i
1

i 1

=
1
2

1 i
i 1

(8)
Test for orthogonality,
|
1

1
|
1

1
| =
1
4

1 i
i 1

1 i
i 1

0 0
0 0

(9)
Check for closure,
|
1

1
| + |
1

1
| =
1
2

1 i
i 1

1
2

1 i
i 1

1 0
0 1

(10)
2 Cohen-Tannoudji H
II
Exercise 3
The state space of a certain physical system is three-dimensional. Let {|u
1
, |u
2
, |u
3
}
be an orthonormal basis of this space. Th kets |
0
and |
1
are dened by:
|
0
=
1

2
|u
1
+
i
2
|u
1
+
1
2
|u
3
(11)
|
1
=
1

3
|u
1
+
i

3
|u
3
(12)
a) Are these kets normalized?

0
|
0
=
1
2
+
1
4
1
4
= 1 (13)

1
|
1
=
1
3
+
1
3
=
2
3
(14)
Therefore, |
0
is normalized and |
1
is not.
b) Calculate the matrices
0
and
1
representing the projection operators onto
the state |
0
and onto the state |
1
. Verify these matrices are Hermitian.
|
0

0
| =

2
i
2
1
2

2

i
2
1
2

1
2

i
2

2
1
2

2
i
2

2
1
4
i
4
1
2

2

i
4
1
4

(15)
Check if this is Hermitian, Yep.
(|
0

0
|)

1
2

i
2

2
1
2

2
i
2

2
1
4
i
4
1
2

2

i
4
1
4

= |
0

0
| (16)
2
Similarly for |
1
,
|
1

1
| =

3
0
i

3
0
i

1
3
0
i
3
0 0 0
i

3
0
1
3

(17)
It is also Hermitian.
(|
1

1
|)

1
3
0
i
3
0 0 0
i

3
0
1
3

= |
1

1
| (18)
3 Cohen-Tannoudji H
II
Exercise 6
The matrix
x
is dened by:

x
=

0 1
1 0

(19)
Prove the relation:
e
i
x
= Icos() + i
x
sin() (20)
Where I is the 2x2 identity matrix.
Its clear that this is using Eulers Identity. To derive Eulers Identity use
the Taylor expansion of left side of equation 19.
e
i
x
=

1
n!
(i
x
)
n
(21)
We can split this apart to be two summations.
e
i
x
=

1
2n!
(i
x
)
2n
+

1
(2n + 1)!
(i
x
)
2n+1
(22)
Since the matrix
x
is idempotent we can assign even and odd forms.
e
i
x
= I

(1)
n
1
2n!
()
2n
+ i
x

(1)
n
1
(2n + 1)!
()
2n+1
(23)
These are simply the Taylor expansions for sine and cosine.
e
i
x
= Icos() + i
x
sin() (24)
3

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