PHYSICS · Subjective · Fermi University Physics · Quantum Mechanics · Symmetry, angular momentum and spin · Symmetry, angular momentum and spin
Quantum Mechanics: From the Photon to the Hydrogen Atom, Ch Spin one-half, the Pauli matrices and two-level systems
Problem
The chapter starts the precessing spin in χ+(n)(θ)=(cos2θ,sin2θ)T, the state that reads +ℏ/2 for certain along the axis at angle θ from z in the xz plane. Using the same method as Sx's eigenvectors in this chapter, find χ−(n)(θ), the normalised eigenspinor of Sn with eigenvalue −ℏ/2, and check it is orthogonal to χ+(n)(θ). Then, for a spin started in χ−(n)(θ) in a field B=B0z^, derive ⟨Sx⟩(t), ⟨Sy⟩(t) and ⟨Sz⟩(t), and compare with the chapter's result for a spin started in χ+(n)(θ).