[Quantum Mechanics - I]-[BS-Physics] – [Dirac Notation] - [By: Ijaz Talib ] - [DN - 01]

DIRAC (BRA-KET) NOTATION/ FORMALISM

[A] Basic layout of Dirac Notation

In 3D vector space, a vector needs three components (/three scalars) for its complete
description. However, since a function (such as wave/state function ) needs infinite values
(/scalars) for its complete description, so it can be regarded as an infinite-dimensional vector,
and is called as state vector. The treatment of functions as state vectors (which are elements
of infinite-dimensional vector space called as Hilbert space) brings ease and clarity in their
manipulation. It is notable that state vectors are not true vectors in real sense, they are
only abstract vectors. So they require a different designation/notation. In this regard, Dirac
suggested that
i) Ket vectors: A state vector  can be represented as  called as ket state vector or ket
vector or simply ket.
ii) Bra Vectors: To every ket vector or ket  there exists a unique bra state vector or bra
vector or simply bra denoted by  . Similarly, to every bra vector or bra  , there exists a
unique ket vector or ket  .

iii) Hilbert Space & Dual Hilbert Space: Ket vectors (or kets) are elements/members
of an infinite dimensional vector space called as Hilbert space (H) or simply ket-space. On the
other hand, bra vectors (or bras) are elements/members of an associated infinite dimensional
dual vector space called as dual Hilbert space (Hd) or dual space or simply bra-space.

[B] Different definitions in terms of Dirac Notation

1) Scalar/Inner Product:
In The scalar/inner product of two wave functions/state functions
simple (r , t ) and (r , t ) is denoted by (, ) and is given by
notation
 scalar / inner 
   ( , )   ( r , t) ( r , t)d where d  dV  d3r
 product of  &  
In Dirac The scalar/inner product of two state vectors  and  is denoted by the
notation
symbol called as bra-ket, is written as   and is given by

 scalar / inner 
 
 product of  &         ( r , t) ( r , t)d where d  dV  d3r


 

Note that
a) In general,   is a complex number.
b) Physical meaning of scalar/inner product: The scalar/inner product (   ) of two
state vectors can be interpreted in two ways. Firstly, just as in Euclidean space, the
scalar/inner product of two vectors A.B represents the projection of either vector into
the other vector, the scalar/inner product   represents the projection
 [Quantum Mechanics - I]-[BS-Physics] – [Dirac Notation] - [By: Ijaz Talib ] - [DN - 02]

of  into  . Secondly, accordingly to Born’s probabilistic interpretation, if the

state vectors are normalized then the   represents the probability of finding the
system in state  which was initially in state  before a measurement.
c) If the scalar/inner product of two state vectors vanishes, i-e if    0 then  and
 are said to be orthogonal. If two state vectors are orthogonal, then they are also
linearly independent of each other. This means, either of them cannot be expressed
as a scalar multiple of the other.
d) If    0 then  and  are not orthogonal. If two state vectors are not
orthogonal, then they are NOT linearly independent of each other (rather they
are linearly dependent). This means, either of them can be expressed as a scalar
multiple of the other in the form     where  is a scalar. (Note that in this case
 and  are proportional to each other)

2) Norm / Self-Scalar Product / Self-Inner product: The Norm/Self-Scalar

Product/Self-Inner product of a state vector is written as   . Note that
a)   is always real and positive.
b) If    1 then  is said to be normalized. The expression    1 is called as
normalization condition.
c) If    1 then  is not normalized. However, it can be normalized by multiplying
it with a constant A called as normalization constant.

Normalized   A   where

1
A  normalization constant  

d) If two states  and  are individually normalized (i-e, f    1 and    1 )
as well as are mutually orthogonal (i-e,    0 ) then they are said to be
orthonormal states.
e) The norm/self-scalar product/self-inner product of a state vector will be zero only if
the state vector itself is zero/null vector. Hence if
  O  null vector / zero vector then    0

3) The state vectors are independent of the basis in which they are
presented/expanded: A vector in a 3-Dl Euclidean vector space remains unaffected
whether it is represented in Cartesian coordinate system, spherical polar coordinate system or
cylindrical polar coordinate system. In other words, it is independent of the basis in which it is
represented.
In the same way, a state vector  (and hence the physical/dynamical state of the microscopic
system) is independent of the basis in which it is represented/expanded. For example, state
vectors and the related formulation can be represented in position/coordinate space or in
momentum space. The information revealed by  is quite the same in both cases

a) Representation in position space/coordinate space/configuration

space: If we want to know the probability of finding the particle in some particular
region at a given time, it is better to represent the state vector as a function of special
position coordinate and time i-e,   ( r , t)  r, t  . The scalar product of two
state vectors in position space /coordinate space is given as
 [Quantum Mechanics - I]-[BS-Physics] – [Dirac Notation] - [By: Ijaz Talib ] - [DN - 03]

    (r , t) (r , t)d where d  dV  d3r

How to get operators in position space/coordinate/configuration
Space: A dynamical variable (A) is first expressed as A  f(r , p, t) and then the
corresponding operator is obtained by making the following substitutions.
r  r , p  -i  , t  t to get the operator   f (r ,-i  , t)

b) Representation in momentum space: If we want to know the 3-Dl

momentum of the particle, it is better to represent the state vector as a function of
momentum and time i-e,   ( p , t)  p , t  .
How to get operators in momentum space: A dynamical variable (A) is first
expressed as A  f(r , p, t) and then the corresponding operator is obtained by making the
following substitutions.
r  i p , p  p, t  t to get the operator   f (i p , p , t)

Note: The particle is always assumed to be spinless and structureless (i-e with no internal
degrees of freedom) unless otherwise stated. The abovementioned methods cannot,
however, be used to get operator for spin. This is because spin is purely a quantum
mechanical concept/property which has no classical analogue.

04) Representation of eigenvalue problem in Dirac Notation: When an

operator  operates on a state vector  (simply called as state), and reproduces the state
vector along with some constant a,    a  then  is called as eigenfunction of  , a is
called as eigenvalue of  , and the equation    a  is called as eigenvalue equation.
[The solution of eigenvalue equation of an operator gives us its eigenfunctions and
eigenvalues. Schrodinger wave equation is also an eigenvalue equation].

05) Representation of superposition principle in Dirac Notation: If

1 , 2 , 3 , ... ... ... ... ... N be the possible states (i-e, solutions of SWE) of a quantum
mechanical system, then a combined/net state (  ) obtained by linear
combination/superposition of these states (

  c1  1  c2  2  c3  3 , ... ... ... ... ... c N  N   c i  i , where c1 , c2 , c3 , ... ... ... ... ... cN are
i 1

complex/real constants) is also a possible state of the system (i-e, possible solution of
the SWE).
Mathematically, when an operator  is made to operate on different states (/state
functions), it produces different eigenvalues i-e
  1  a 1  1 ,   2  a 2  2 ,   3  a3  3 , … … … … …   N  a N  N
(Or in general, Â  i  a i  i where i  1, 2, 3, ... ... ..., N )

This means when an observable (a) is measured, its value will be found to be different in
different states (e.g, a1 in state 1 , a2 in state 2 , and so on )

Dominant state in the combined state: At any instant, a quantum mechanical

system may be in any of the finite allowed states. This means, there is certain probability of
each individual state. Now
 [Quantum Mechanics - I]-[BS-Physics] – [Dirac Notation] - [By: Ijaz Talib ] - [DN - 04]

 probabilit y of finding   probabilit y of getting the 

   ci 2   2
 the system in state   and  eigenvalue a correspond ing to to    c i
 i   i i 

This implies, the larger the coefficient c i of an individual state  i in the combined/net state,
the larger the probability of finding the system in that state  i and larger the probability of
getting its corresponding eigenvalue ( a i ) in a measurement. Hence the dominant state in the
combined state/net state   c1 1  c2 2  c3 3 , ... ... ... ... ... cN  N is the state  r
whose coefficient c r is largest.
Finally it is notable that the total probability of getting a 1 or a 2 or a 3 ,... ... ... a N is equal to the
sum of their individual probabilities, and is equal to unity. So
N

c
2 2 2 2 2
c1  c2  c3  ... ... ...  c N  1 or i 1
i 1

[C] Properties of Kets, Bras and Bra-kets

01) Effect of ket and bra on a complex scalar: If a is a complex scalar, then
i) When a ket vector or ket is multiplied by a real or complex number, we get
another ket vector or ket. a   a
Similarly, when a bra vector or bra is multiplied by a real or complex
number, we get another bra vector or bra. a  a * 

ii)  a  a   and a   a *  

iii) 1  2  3  1  2  1 3

02) One-to-one correspondence between kets and respective bras: There is

one-to-one correspondence between kets and their respective bras.
This means   
So that a  b   a *   b* 
(where a and b are complex numbers)
03) Order in scalar/inner product of two state vectors is important: The
scalar/inner product of two ordinary vectors is commutative ( A  B  B  A , i-e order does
not matter). However, the scalar/inner product of two state vectors is non-commutative
(order matters). This means
 scalar/inner product  scalar/inner product
   
 of  and    of  and  
   
  
In fact,

   Where * represents complex conjugate.

Proof:
     ( r , t) ( r , t)d
 
where d  dV  d3r
  ( r , t)   ( r , t)d b/c  ( r , t)
 
 ( r , t)
    ( r , t) ( r , t) d
  Proved
 [Quantum Mechanics - I]-[BS-Physics] – [Dirac Notation] - [By: Ijaz Talib ] - [DN - 05]

Special case: If  and  are real functions (i-e, they do not involve iota ), then their
scalar/inner product becomes commutative (i-e independent of order)
i-e    (only if  and  are real functions)
This is because if  and  are real functions then
 ( r , t)  ( r , t)

and  ( r , t)  ( r , t) .


04) Some additional properties of scalar/inner product:

05) Schwarz Inequality: For any two state vectors (often called as states)  and 
of the Hilbert space (H), the relation defined by
2
    is called as Schwarz inequality. Note that
2
a) If  and  are linearly independent, then        .
b) If  and  are linearly dependent (i-e,   a  ) then the Schwarz relation
2
becomes an equality (i-e      )
c) Schwarz inequality is analogous to the following relation in Euclidean 3D space
2 2 2
A.B  A B
06) Triangle Inequality: For any two state vectors (simply called as states)  and 
of the Hilbert space (H), the relation defined by
     
Is called as triangle inequality. Note that
a) If  and  are linearly independent, then       .
b) If  and  are linearly dependent (i-e,   a  ) as well as the proportionality scaler
a is real and positive then the triangle inequality becomes an equality (i-e
      )
c) Triangle inequality is counterpart of (i-e analogous to) the following relation in Euclidean
3D space AB  A  B

[D] Advantages of Dirac Notation/Formalism

01) If a quantum mechanical system involves (i) complex potential profile, (ii) external
perturbation, or (iii) coupling with other systems, the wave mechanics language leads to
bulky formulas. However, Dirac notation makes the formulation simple and delicate.
02) Feynman path integral approach becomes easier to deal with if represented in Dirac notation.
03) In some problems (such as harmonic oscillator and spherically symmetric potential) Dirac
notation reveals the underlying physics in an easier way.
04) Wave mechanics language is conceptually incapable to deal with the quantum mechanical
degrees of freedom (such as spin, lepton number and quark flavors). However Dirac
notation is capable to deal with quantum mechanical degrees of freedom (such as spin,
lepton number and quark flavors).
05) Dirac bra-ket formalism is more general than Schrodinger’s wave mechanics and
Heisenberg’s matrix mechanics, and proves them equivalent as well.