in quantum mechanics, the spin of an electron in different direction is written as a linear combination of the two orthonormal spin basis. it is known ∣ θ ϕ + ⟩ = cos ( θ / 2 ) ∣ ↑ ⟩ + sin ( θ / 2 ) e i ϕ ∣ ↓ ⟩ with θ been the inclination angle, and ϕ been the azimuthal angle. ∣ ↑ ⟩ , ∣ ↓ ⟩ are the orthonormal basis for spin.
the unit vector in the direction of θ 1 ϕ 1 in R 3 is n 1 and the unit vector in the direction of θ 2 ϕ 2 is n 2 . given the angle between the two vectors is π / 3 , what is ∣ ⟨ θ 2 ϕ 2 + ∣ θ 1 ϕ 1 + ⟩ ∣ 2 = ?
details and assumption:
∣ a ⟩ = a 1 ∣ ↑ ⟩ + a 2 ∣ ↓ ⟩ , ∣ b > = b 1 ∣ ↑ ⟩ + b 2 ∣ ↓ ⟩ ⟹ ⟨ a ∣ b ⟩ = a 1 b 1 + a 2 b 2 where z is the conjugate complex of z.
while this might seem like a physics problem, its just algebraically manipulating the innerproduct.
hint: maybe spherical coordinates aren't the best coordinates to work in for this problem.
credits: mit ocw
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it seems quite difficult,do u know if there is any book which is easy for learning qm?
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not a book, but mit ocw lecture notes are a good resource. (course 8.04-8.06). i use the book "principles of quantum mechanics" by dirac, which is a famous book, but is better as a learning supplement.
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i have a problem about the Fermat and Maupertuis principles,i will really appreciate it if u can help me with that
ok,i will have a try.
and thank u
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i tried this using spherical coordinates, it turned out to be too tedious. i decided to use cartesian coordinate because of a nice relation i saw: 2 cos ( θ / 2 ) ∣ θ ϕ + ⟩ = 2 cos 2 ( θ / 2 ) ∣ ↑ ⟩ + 2 cos ( θ / 2 ) sin ( θ / 2 ) e i ϕ ∣ ↓ ⟩ = ( 1 + c o s ( θ ) ) ∣ ↑ ⟩ + sin ( θ ) ( cos ( ϕ ) + i sin ( ϕ ) ) ∣ ↓ ⟩ = ( 1 + z ) ∣ ↑ ⟩ + ( x + i y ) ∣ ↓ ⟩ so the inner product is: 4 cos ( θ 1 / 2 ) cos ( θ 2 / 2 ) ⟨ θ 2 ϕ 2 + ∣ θ 1 ϕ 1 + ⟩ = ( 1 + z 1 ) ( 1 + z 2 ) + ( x 1 + i y 1 ) ( x 2 − i y 2 ) squaring the norm of both sides and using half angle identities 4 ( 1 + z 1 ) ( 1 + z 2 ) ∣ ⟨ θ 2 ϕ 2 + ∣ θ 1 ϕ 1 + ⟩ ∣ 2 = [ ( 1 + z 1 ) ( 1 + z 2 ) + ( x 1 + i y 1 ) ( x 2 − i y 2 ) ] [ ( 1 + z 1 ) ( 1 + z 2 ) + ( x 1 − i y 1 ) ( x 2 + i y 2 ) ] the RHS uses the fact ∣ z ∣ 2 = z z . instead of fully expanding we can use ( a + b ) ( a + b ) = a 2 + a ( b + b ) + ∣ b ∣ 2 = a 2 + 2 a R e ( b ) + ∣ b ∣ 2 with a.b been obvious substitutes. we have 4 ( 1 + z 1 ) ( 1 + z 2 ) ∣ ⟨ θ 2 ϕ 2 + ∣ θ 1 ϕ 1 + ⟩ ∣ 2 = ( 1 + z 1 ) 2 ( 1 + z 2 ) 2 + 2 ( 1 + z 1 ) ( 1 + z 2 ) R e ( ( x 1 + i y 1 ) ( x 2 − i y 2 ) ) + ( x 1 2 + y 1 2 ) ( x 2 2 + y 2 2 ) = ( 1 + z 1 ) 2 ( 1 + z 2 ) 2 + 2 ( 1 + z 1 ) ( 1 + z 2 ) ( x 1 x 2 + y 1 y 2 ) + ( 1 − z 1 2 ) ( 1 − z 2 2 ) = ( 1 + z 1 ) ( 1 + z 2 ) [ ( 1 + z 1 ) ( 1 + z 2 ) + 2 ( x 1 x 2 + y 1 y 2 ) + ( 1 − z 1 ) ( 1 − z 2 ) ] where the normality of the vector was used to find x 2 + y 2 + z 2 = 1 . cancelling the common factor we have 4 ∣ ⟨ θ 2 ϕ 2 + ∣ θ 1 ϕ 1 + ⟩ ∣ 2 = ( 1 + z 1 ) ( 1 + z 2 ) + 2 ( x 1 x 2 + y 1 y 2 ) + ( 1 − z 1 ) ( 1 − z 2 ) = 1 + z 1 + z 2 + z 1 z 2 + 2 x 1 x 2 + 2 y 1 y 2 + 1 − z 1 − z 2 + z 1 + z 2 = 2 ( 1 + x 1 x 2 + y 1 y 2 + z 1 z 2 ) ∣ < θ 2 ϕ 2 + ∣ θ 1 ϕ 1 + > ∣ 2 = 2 1 + x 1 x 2 + y 1 y 2 + z 1 z 2 = 2 1 + n 1 . n 2 the cosine of the angle between the two unit vectors( π / 3 ) is the dot product of the two unit vectors.. hence this turns into ∣ ⟨ θ 2 ϕ 2 + ∣ θ 1 ϕ 1 + ⟩ ∣ 2 = 2 1 + cos ( π / 3 ) = cos 2 ( π / 6 ) = 4 3