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The fact that the Pauli matrices, along with the identity matrix I, form an orthogonal basis for the Hilbert space of all 2 × 2 complex Hermitian matrices means that we can express any Hermitian matrix M as = + where c is a complex number, and a is a 3-component, complex vector.
In quantum mechanics, eigenspinors are thought of as basis vectors representing the general spin state of a particle. Strictly speaking, they are not vectors at all, but in fact spinors. For a single spin 1/2 particle, they can be defined as the eigenvectors of the Pauli matrices.
Given a unit vector in 3 dimensions, for example (a, b, c), one takes a dot product with the Pauli spin matrices to obtain a spin matrix for spin in the direction of the unit vector. The eigenvectors of that spin matrix are the spinors for spin-1/2 oriented in the direction given by the vector. Example: u = (0.8, -0.6, 0) is a unit vector ...
The operator S u has eigenvalues of ± ħ / 2 , just like the usual spin matrices. This method of finding the operator for spin in an arbitrary direction generalizes to higher spin states, one takes the dot product of the direction with a vector of the three operators for the three x-, y-, z-axis directions.
When spinors are used to describe the quantum states, the three spin operators (S x, S y, S z,) can be described by 2 × 2 matrices called the Pauli matrices whose eigenvalues are ± ħ / 2 . For example, the spin projection operator S z affects a measurement of the spin in the z direction.
Atoms can have different overall spin, which determines whether they are fermions or bosons: for example, helium-3 has spin 1/2 and is therefore a fermion, whereas helium-4 has spin 0 and is a boson. [ 2 ] : 123–125 The Pauli exclusion principle underpins many properties of everyday matter, from its large-scale stability to the chemical ...
Alternatively, the 's represent the square roots of the eigenvalues of the non-Hermitian matrix ~. [2] Note that each λ i {\displaystyle \lambda _{i}} is a non-negative real number. From the concurrence, the entanglement of formation can be calculated.
It is named after Wolfgang Pauli and Józef Lubański. [1] It describes the spin states of moving particles. [2] It is the generator of the little group of the Poincaré group, that is the maximal subgroup (with four generators) leaving the eigenvalues of the four-momentum vector P μ invariant. [3]