PHY 444.

Quantum Mechanics Bra-Ket Manipulation

Dr. R. L. Herman Fall 2018

Matrix Representations - Changing Bases

1 State Vectors

The main goal is to represent states and operators in different basis. We first use brute force methods
for relating basis vectors in one representation in terms of another one. Then we will show the equivalent
transformations using matrix operations.

1.1 Inserting the Identity Operator

We begin by using the identity operator in the Sz -basis,

I = |+zi h+z| + |−zi h−z| , (1)

to derive matrix representations.

We first note that in the Sz -basis the basis states in the Sx and Sy -bases are given by In order to relate

|+xi = √12 (|+zi + |−zii) , h+x| = √12 (h+z| + h−z|i) ,

|−xi = √12 (|+zi − |−zii) , h−x| = √12 (h+z| − h−z|i) ,
|+yi = √12 (|+zi + i|−zii) , h+y| = √12 (h+z| − ih−z|i) ,
|−yi = √12 (|+zi − i|−zii) , h−y| = √12 (h+z| + ih−z|i) .

|+xi in the Sz and Sy bases, we seek a relation between the column representations
       
h+z|+xi 1 1 h+y|+xi ?
=√ and = .
h−z|+xi 2 1 z
h−y|+xi ? x

We first consider the amplitude h+y|+xi . Inserting the Sz -basis identity operator (1), we obtain

h+y|+xi = h+y| I |+xi

= h+y| (|+zi h+z| + |−zi h−z|) |+xi
= h+y|+zi h+z|+xi + h+y|−zi h−z|+xi . (2)

Similarly, we have

h−y|+xi = h−y|+zi h+z|+xi + h−y|−zi h−z|+xi . (3)

 Recalling that the goal is to relate |+xi in the Sy and Sz bases, we compute

1 1
h+z|+xi = √ , h+y|+zi = √
2 2
1 i
h+z|−xi = √ , h+y|−zi = − √
2 2
1 1
h−z|+xi = √ , h−y|+zi = √ ,
2 2
1 i
h−z|−xi = − √ , h−y|−zi = √ .
2 2

Therefore, we have

h+y|+xi = h+y|+zi h+z|+xi + h+y|−zi h−z|+xi

1 1 i 1
= √ √ −√ √
2 2 2 2
1−i
= , (4)
2
h−y|+xi = h−y|+zi h+z|+xi + h−y|−zi h−z|+xi
1 1 i 1
= √ √ +√ √
2 2 2 2
1+i
= . (5)
2

So, the matrix representation of |+xi in the Sy -basis is given by

   
h+y|+xi 1 1−i
|+xi −→ = .
Sy h−y|+xi 2 1+i

1.2 A Matrix Approach

A more elegant approach is to write the equations

h+y|+xi = h+y|+zi h+z|+xi + h+y|−zi h−z|+xi .

h−y|+xi = h−y|+zi h+z|+xi + h−y|−zi h−z|+xi .

in matrix form.     
h+y|+xi h+y|+zi h+y|−zi h+z|+xi
= (6)
h−y|+xi h−y|+zi h−y|−zi h−z|+xi
Evaluating the matrices on the right side of the equation, we obtain
      
h+y|+xi 1 1 −i 1 1 1−i
= = .
h−y|+xi 2 1 i 1 2 1+i

2
 Similarly, the matrix representation of |−xi in the Sy basis is given by
    
h+y|−xi h+y|+zi h+y|−zi h+z|−xi
=
h−y|−xi h−y|+zi h−y|−zi h−z|−xi
   
1 1 −i 1 1
= √ √
2 1 i 2 −1
 
1 1+i
= .
2 1−i

Therefore, we have found that representations of |±xi, or any state |ψi, in the Sy and Sz bases are given by
the transformation
|ψiy = R† |ψiz
whose matrix representation is  
†1 1 −i
S =√ .
2 1 i
We represent such a representation in the new basis as
    
h+y|ψi h+y|+zi h+y|−zi h+z|ψi
|ψi −→ = . (7)
Sy h−y|ψi h−y|+zi h−y|−zi h−z|ψi

Now consider the matrix

 †  
1 1 −i 1 1 1
S= √ =√ .
2 1 i 2 i −i

Note that the columns of S are the representations of |±yi in the Sz basis:
 
1 1 1
|+yi = √ (|+zi + i|−zii) −→ √ ,
2 Sz 2 i
 
1 1 1
|−yi = √ (|+zi − i|−zii) , −→ √ ,
2 Sz 2 −i

Similarly, the rows of S† are the representations of h±y| in the Sz basis.

1 1
h+y| = √ (h+z| − ih−z|i) −→ √ (1, −i) ,
2 Sz 2
1 1
h−y| = √ (h+z| + ih−z|i) −→ √ (1, i) .
2 Sz 2

Example Change |+yi from the Sz to Sx basis.

We know that
1
|+xi = √ (|+zi + |−zii) ,
2
1
|−xi = √ (|+zi − |−zii) ,
2

3
Then, we write  
1 1 1
S= √ .
2 1 −1
Therefore,  
1 1 1
S† = √ .
2 1 −1

Then,      
1 1 1 1 1 1 1+i
|+yi −→ √ √ = .
Sx 2 1 −1 2 i 2 1−i

2 Operators in New Bases

We can use rotations to represent operators, Â, in the Sy basis. In general, we compute matrix elements of
the matrix representation of the operator, y hφ|Â|ψiy , by using the identity

I = R̂R̂† = R̂† R̂
and the change of representations of states. Namely, we have
|ψiy = R̂† |ψiz , |ψiz = R̂ |ψiy ,

to obtain a general expression for matrix elements of  :

†
y hφ|Â|ψiy = y hφ|R̂R̂ ÂR̂† R̂|ψiy
†
= z hφ|R ÂR̂|ψiz (8)
This means that
 −→ S† AS where  −→ A. (9)
Sy Sz

In other words, we compute S† AS in the Sz -basis to obtain the representation of  in the Sy -basis.

Example Represent Jˆz in the Sy -basis.

We know that Jˆz is diagonal in the Sz -basis. So,

 
~ 1 0
Jˆz −→ Jz = .
Sz 2 0 −1

No, we compute the matrix representation of Jˆz in the Sy -basis using the similarity transformation,
S† Jz S,
     
ˆ † 1 1 −i ~ 1 0 1 1 1
Jz −→ S Jz S = √ √
Sy 2 1 i 2 0 −1 2 i −i
  
~ 1 −i 1 1
=
4 1 i −i i
 
~ 0 1
= .
2 1 0