Homework Set 1

Due August 14

1. Consider the 2x2 matrices:

! ! ! !
1 0 0 1 0 −i 1 0
1= , σx = , σy = , σz = (1)
0 1 1 0 i 0 0 −1

The three matrices σx , σy , and σz are called the Pauli matrices, which can also be denoted
σ1 , σ2 , σ3 , respectively

(a) Show that

σi σj = δij + iijk σk , (2)

with i ∈ {1, 2, 3}. Here δij is understood to be multiplied by 1, we use the summation
convention (repeated indices k are summed) and ijk is the completely antisymmetric
Levi-Civita symbol.
(b) Consider a vector operator — that is, a set of operators A = (Ax , Ay , Az ), where
Ax , Ay , Ax are operators.
Given two vector operators A, B that commute with σ but not each other, use Eq. (2)
to show that

(σ · A)(σ · B) = A · B + iσ · (A × B), (3)

where

σ = σx x̂ + σy ŷ + σz ẑ, (4)

and two vector operators commute if all their components commute.

Note that in general, A · B 6= B · A, and A × B 6= −B × A

1
 (c) Let n̂ be an arbitrary unit vector and θ an arbitrary angle. Show that

exp(−iθσ · n̂) = 1 cos θ − i(σ · n̂) sin θ (5)

2. (a) Consider two operators A, B that do not commute. Show that

1 1
eA Be−A = B + [A, B] + [A, [A, B]] + [A, [A, [A, B]]] + . . . (6)
2! 3!

Hint: Replace A by λA, where λ is a parameter, and let the left-hand side be F (λ).
Find a differential equation satisfied by F (λ) and solve it. Alternatively, expand F (λ)
in a Taylor series in λ. At the end, set λ = 1.
(b) Let A(t) be an operator that depends on time. Derive the following operator identity:

∞
d eA −A X
 
1 n dA
e = LA , (7)
dt n=0
(n + 1)! dt

where

LA (X) = [A, X], L2A (X) = [A, [A, X]], ..., (8)

where X is an arbitrary operator. Also, L0A = X. Do not assume that A commutes

with dA/dt.

3. (a) If A and B are square matrices, show that

tr(AB) = tr(BA) (9)

Show that this implies the cyclic property of the trace of an arbitrary number of matrices

tr(A1 A2 . . . An ) = tr(An A1 A2 . . . An−1 ) = tr(An−1 An A1 A2 . . . An−2 ) = . . . (10)

(b) Show that trσi = 0. Then use Eq. (2) to find a simple expression for tr(σi σj )
(c) The set of four 2 × 2 matrices, (1, σ) form a basis in the space of 2 × 2 matrices. I.e.,
an arbitrary matrix M can be expressed as a linear combination of these four matrices:

2
 M = a1 + b · σ. (11)

Find simple expressions for the expansion coefficients, a and b = (b1 , b2 , b3 ). Do this by
taking traces, or by multiplying by a Pauli matrix and then taking traces. Also chow
that M is Hermitian if and only if a, b are real.
(d) Now suppose that M is nonzero in only one of the 4 components, where it has value 1.
That is, let

Mij = δir δjs (12)

For some coordinate (r,s).

Use this in Eq. (11) to find a nice expression for (σm )ij (σm )kl (summing over all indices)
in terms of Kronecker deltas.