CYK\2022\PH204\Tutorial 2 Quantum Mechanics

Operators

1. Prove the following identities:

(a) [A, B + C] = [A, B] + [A, C].

(b) [A, BC] = [A, B] C + B [A, C].
(c) [A, [B, C]] + [B, [C, A]] + [C, [A, B]] = 0.
h   i
df
(d) f X̂ , P̂ = i~ dx , where f is operator function of X̂.

2. For any operator A, show that A + A† , i A − A† and AA† are hermitian operators.

3. An operator A is positive if (u, Au) is non-negative real for all u and is called positive definite if (u, Au)
is positive real number.

(a) Show that a positive operator is Hermitian.

(b) Show that for any operator A, A† A is positive.

4. Prove:
1 1
eA Be−A = B + [A, B] +[A, [A, B]] + [A, [A, [A, B]]] + · · ·
2! 3!
and if A and B commute with their commutator then
1
eA eB = eA+B+ 2 [A,B] .

5. Let the diagonal representation of a hermitian operator A be

X
A= ai |ii hi| .
i

Let f be a complex function of a complex argument. The f (A) is defined as

X
f (A) = f (ai ) |ii hi| .
i

Find the square root and logarithm of the operator

 
4 3
3 4

6. Prove that,

(a) if A is Hermitian and α is a real number, then exp (−iαA) is unitary operator.
(b) i log (A) is Hermitian if A is a unitary operator (Use spectral decomposition).

Pauli Matrices

7. Show that for Pauli matrices

X
[σi , σj ] = 2i ijk σk
k
{σi , σj } = 2δij I
σi2 = I

8. Let n̂ be some real, three dimensional unit vector and θ a real number. Prove that

1
 (a) (n̂ · ~σ )2 = I, where I is identity matrix.
(b) exp [iθn̂ · ~σ ] = cos (θ) I + i sin (θ) n̂ · ~σ .
(c) Show that the eigenvalues of n̂ · ~σ are ±1 .
(d) Show that the projection operators onto corresponding eigenspaces are given by
1
P± = (I ± n̂ · ~σ ) .
2
 
1
(e) If the quantum state is |0i = then what is the probability of finding +1 as a result of n̂ · ~σ
0
measurement?

Postulates

9. Let a time dependent observable be represented by a hermitian operator Ω̂(t). If the system is in state
Ψ(t), show that * +
d D E i Dh iE ∂ Ω̂
Ω̂ = Ĥ, Ω̂ +
dt ~ ∂t

where Ĥ is the hamiltonian operator. [Hint: If f (t) and g(t) are any two states, then prove that
   
d d d
hf (t), g(t)i = f (t), g(t) + f (t), g(t)
dt dt dt

using the properties of inner product and

d hf (t + ∆t), g(t + ∆t)i − hf (t), g(t)i

hf (t), g(t)i = lim .
dt ∆t→0 ∆t

10. If the hamiltonian operator of a system is given by Ĥ = P̂ 2 /2m + V (X̂), then prove the Ehrenfest’s
theorem:
d D E 1 D E
X̂ = P̂
dt m
d D E D 0
E
P̂ = −V (X̂)
dt
where V 0 is derivative of V wrt x. [Use the result of previous problem.]

11. Consider a quantum system consisting of a particle in a conservative force field. The energy spectrum
is {E1 , E2 , . . .} with corresponding normalized stationary states {φ1 , φ2 , . . .}. Let x0 be an eigenvalue
of the position operator with eigenvector ξx0 . Let α1 = hξx0 , φ1 i and α2 = hξx0 , φ2 i. Let Ψ(t) denote
the state of the system at time t. Express, in terms of α1 , α2 and eigenenergies, the answers to the
following questions:

(a) If Ψ(0) = φ1 , what is the probability density of finding the particle at x0 at time t?
(b) If Ψ(0) = φ2 , what is the probability density of finding the particle at x0 at time t?
√
(c) If Ψ(0) = (φ1 + φ2 ) / 2, what is the probability density of finding the particle at x0 at time t?
What is the maximum probability density? And minimum?

12. Here is an example of time dependent Hamiltonian: An electron in an oscillating electric field is
described by a Hamiltonian operator

P̂ 2
− (eE0 cos ωt) x
Ĥ =
2m
D E D E
where E0 is the amplitude of the electric field. Calculate d X̂ /dt, and d P̂ /dt.

2
 13. A spin system is a state √15 (|0i + 2 |1i) . Suppose a σx meaurement is performed and then σz measure-
ment is performed. What is the average value of σz measurement?

Uncertainty Principle
D E
14. The potential energy of a harmonic oscillator is given by V (x) = mω 2 x2 /2. Assuming that X̂ =
D E
P̂ = 0, find the lower limit to the expectation value of the Hamiltonian operator. [Hint: Use the
uncertainty principle.]

15. The first excited state of the harmonic oscillator is given by

 1/2
2α 2 x2 /2
ψ1 (x) = √ (αx) e−α .
π

Find ∆X and ∆P and check uncertainty principle.

16. A spin system is in the state |0i. Find uncertainty in measurement of σx and σy . Is the product of
uncertainties consistent with uncertainty principle?

Two-level Systems
   
1 0
17. The state space of a system be C2 . Let |0i = and |1i = . Consider a Hamiltonian given by
0 1

H = i~ω (|0i h1| − |1i h0|)

(a) Is H Hermitian? Write it in terms of Pauli matrices

(b) Find eigenvalues, eigenvectors and spectral decomposition of H.
(c) Find the evolution operator
U (t) = exp (−iHt/~)

(d) A NOT operator N is defined as

N |0i → |1i , N |1i → |0i .

If U (t) is to used as a NOT operator, what must be value of t?

18. The hamiltonian of a qubit is given by

H (t) = ασx cos (ωt)

(a) Find the unitary evolution operator U (t) for this system. [Be careful. In this case, U is not equal
to e−iHt/~ ]
(b) The rotation operation (90 degrees about x axis) on a qubit is defined as
 
1 1 −i
M=√ .
2 −i 1

Find the earliest time t0 at which U (t0 ) can be used as this rotation operator (M ).

     
0 1 0 −i 1 0
Pauli Matrices: σx = , σy = and σz = and ~σ = îσx + ĵσy + k̂σz
1 0 i 0 0 −1