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Kets, Bras and Operators

The document discusses quantum measurement and the mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics. It notes that measurements of quantum systems using Stern-Gerlach apparatuses may not always yield a definite result. It introduces ket notation to represent quantum states as vectors and discusses how bras are defined as the dual vector to a ket. It also justifies the use of complex numbers and conjugates in the mathematical framework.

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Sudarshan Karki
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81 views

Kets, Bras and Operators

The document discusses quantum measurement and the mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics. It notes that measurements of quantum systems using Stern-Gerlach apparatuses may not always yield a definite result. It introduces ket notation to represent quantum states as vectors and discusses how bras are defined as the dual vector to a ket. It also justifies the use of complex numbers and conjugates in the mathematical framework.

Uploaded by

Sudarshan Karki
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PHYS 631

10/25/12 1:41 PM

Kets, bras and operators

Relies on our "certainty" that SG apparatus outputs one and only one of two mutually exclusive results. This can be violated, and then we can't say we made an exact measurement:

https://blackboard.uoregon.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-6576055-dt-content-rid-10165210_1/courses/201201.15595/10-11/index.html

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PHYS 631

10/25/12 1:41 PM

Here, when an atom hits the overlap region of a weak SG apparatus, we can't say we've measured the spin component of that particular atom. One can still make statistical inferences about the dominant spin component if the deposition appears "biased" toward the up or down side, for many repetitions of the experiment. This has been termed a "weak measurement" we won't consider it further for now.

Kets as vectors

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PHYS 631

10/25/12 1:41 PM

Come back to the last equation later...


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PHYS 631

10/25/12 1:41 PM

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PHYS 631

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PHYS 631

10/25/12 1:41 PM

The above two equations will be justified now:

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PHYS 631

10/25/12 1:41 PM

The above calculation is done on page 27. I'll just justify the introduction of i by analogy to circular light polarization: We're looking for optical analogs of the 50% probability with which Sz+ is observed when preparing the system either in an Sx or Sy input state. Assume that the Sz+ branch of the last SGz stage is analogous to a vertical polarization filter. To get 50% intensity through a vertical polarization filter, you can send in either linearly polarized light at 45 degree polarization angle (there are 2 orientations at that angle), or circularly polarized light rotating clockwise or counterclockwise. Each can "encode" two mutually exclusive states, as required for the analogous spin measurement. The circularly polarized light beam is described by a transverse electric field vector proportional to (1, i ). Hence the appearance of i in the analogous superposition representing Sy.

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PHYS 631

10/25/12 1:41 PM

Here's why we need to complex-conjugate scalar prefactors when forming the bra dual to a ket:

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