Pauli Spin Matrices

I.
The Pauli spin matrices are
S
x
=
h
2
_
0 1
1 0
_
S
y
=
h
2
_
0 i
i 0
_
S
z
=
h
2
_
1 0
0 1
_
(1)
but we will work with their unitless equivalents

x
=
_
0 1
1 0
_

y
=
_
0 i
i 0
_

z
=
_
1 0
0 1
_
(2)
where we will be using this matrix language to discuss a spin 1/2 particle.
We note the following construct:

y

y

x
=
_
0 1
1 0
__
0 i
i 0
_

_
0 i
i 0
__
0 K
1 0
_
II.

y

y

x
=
_
0 1
1 0
__
0 i
i 0
_

_
0 i
i 0
__
0 1
1 0
_
which is

y

y

x
=
_
i 0
0 i
_

_
i 0
0 i
_
which is, nally,

y

y

x
=
_
2i 0
0 2i
_
= 2i
K
III.

y

y

x
=
_
2i 0
0 2i
_
= 2i
z

l2h2:spin1.tex
Typeset by REVT
E
X
2
We can do the same again,

z

z

x
=
_
0 1
1 0
__
1 0
0 1
_

_
1 0
0 1
__
0 1
1 0
_
which is

z

z

x
=
_
0 1
1 0
_

_
0 1
1 0
_
which is, nally,

z

z

x
=
_
0 2
2 0
_
= 2i
y
Summarizing, we have
[
x
,
y
] = 2i
z
[
y
,
z
] = 2i
x
and, by cyclic permutation.
[
z
,
x
] = 2i
K
IV.
[
z
,
x
] = 2i
y
Next, we compute
2
i.e.,

2
=
2
x
+
2
y
+
2
z
=
_
0 1
1 0
__
0 1
1 0
_
+
_
0 i
i 0
__
0 i
i 0
_
+
_
1 0
0 1
__
1 0
0 1
_
(3)

2
=
2
x
+
2
y
+
2
z
=
_
1 0
0 1
_
+
_
1 0
0 1
_
+
_
1 0
0 1
_
=
_
3 0
0 K
_
V.

2
=
2
x
+
2
y
+
2
z
=
_
1 0
0 1
_
+
_
1 0
0 1
_
+
_
1 0
0 1
_
=
_
3 0
0 3
_
(4)
We need the commutator of
2
with each component of . We obtain
[
2
,
x
] =
_
3 0
0 3
__
i 0
0 i
_

_
i 0
0 i
__
3 0
0 3
_
= 0
with the same results for
y
and
z
, since
2
is diagonal. Since the three components of spin individually do not
commute, i.e., [
x
,
y
] = 0 as an example, we know that the three components of spin can not simultaneously be
measured. A choice must be made as to what we will simultaneously measure, and the traditional choice is
2
and

z
. This is analogous to the L
2
and L
z
choice made in angular momentum.
3
VI.
Choosing
2
and
z
we have

2
_
1
0
_
= 3
_
1
0
_
(with a similar result for
_
0
1
_
and

z
_
1
0
_
=
_
1 0
0 1
_
1
0
= 1
_
K
0
_
VII.

z
_
1
0
_
=
_
1 0
0 1
_
1
0
= 1
_
1
0
_
again, with a similar (the eigenvalue is then -1) result for the other component.
This implies that a matrix representative of
2
would be (in this representation)

2
=
_
3 0
0 3
_
and

z
=
_
1 0
0 1
_
with the two eigenstates:
_
1
K
_

VIII.
_
1
0
_

and
_
0
1
_

corresponding to spin up and spin down, which is sometimes designated and .
We then have

2
= 3
and

2
= 3
while

z
= 1
and

z
= K
4
IX.

z
= 1
We note in passing that

x
=
_
0 1
1 0
__
1
0
_
=
_
0
1
_
=
X.
It is appropriate to form ladder operators, just as we did with angular momentum, i.e.,

+
=
x
+
y
and

=
x

y
which in matrix form would be

+
=
_
0 1
1 0
_
+
_
0
0
_
=
_
0 2
0 0
_
Clearly

+
= K
XI.

+
= 2
and

+
= 0
as expected. Similar results for the down ladder operator follow immediately.

=
_
0 1
1 0
_

_
0
0
_
=
_
0 0
2 0
_
Clearly

=?
We need to observe a particularly strange behaviour of spin operators (and their matrix representatives.

y
+
y

x
=
_
0 1
1 0
__
0 i
i 0
_
+
_
0 i
i 0
__
0 1
1 0
_
which is
_
i 0
0 i
_
+
_
i 0
0 i
_
K
5
XII.
_
i 0
0 i
_
+
_
i 0
0 i
_
0
This is known as anti-commuatation, i.e., not only do the spin operators not commute amongst themselves, but the
anticommute! They are strange beasts.
XIII.
With 2 spin systems we enter a dierent world. Lets make a table of possible values:
spin
1
spin
2
denoted as
1/2 1/2 (1)(2)
1/2 -1/2 (1)(2)
-1/2 1/2 (1)(2)
-1/2 -1/2 (1)(2)
It makes sense to construct some kind of 4-dimensional representation for this double spin system, i.e.,
(1)(2)
_
_
_
_
_
1
0
0
0
_
_
_
_
_
(1)(2)
_
_
_
_
_
0
1
0
0
_
_
_
_
_
(1)(2)
_
_
_
_
_
0
0
1
0
_
_
_
_
_
(1)(2)
_
_
_
_
_
0
0
0
1
_
_
_
_
_
These are the unit vectors in the space of interest. Each unit vector stands for a meaningful combination of the
spins. It is sometimes shorter to drop the (1) and (2) and just agree that the left hand designator points to spin-1
and the right hand one to spin-2.
Summarizing, in all the relevant notations, we have
6
spin
1
spin
2
denoted as 4-vector
1/2 1/2 (1)(2)
_
_
_
_
_
1
0
0
0
_
_
_
_
_
1/2 -1/2 (1)(2)
_
_
_
_
_
0
1
0
0
_
_
_
_
_
-1/2 1/2 (1)(2)
_
_
_
_
_
0
0
1
0
_
_
_
_
_
-1/2 -1/2 (1)(2)
_
_
_
_
_
0
0
0
1
_
_
_
_
_
Now we need the matrix designators of the systems spin, the overall spin. To do this, we adopt the so-called vector
model for spin, i.e.,

=
1
+
2
What is the eect of on the (1)(2) state? We have

x
(1)(2) =
x
_
_
_
_
_
1
0
0
0
_
_
_
_
_
But

x
(1)(2) = (
x
1
+
x
2
)(1)(2) = (2)
x
1
(1) +(1)
x
2
)(2) =
_
(2)
_
0 1
1 0
_
1
(1)
_
+
_
(1)
_
0 1
1 0
_
2
(2)
_
or

x
(1)(2) = (
x
1
+
x
2
)(1)(2) = (2)
x
1
(1)+(1)
x
2
(2) =
_
(2)
_
0 1
1 0
_
1
_
1
0
_
1
_
+
_
(1)
_
0 1
1 0
_
2
_
1
0
_
2
_
which we might re-write as where each spin matrix operates solely on the appropriate spin function. (You may prefer
to remember that
x
, and vice versa). We then have

x
(1)(2) = (2)(1) + (1)(2) =
_
_
_
_
_
0
0
1
0
_
_
_
_
_
+
_
_
_
_
_
0
1
0
0
_
_
_
_
_
which means that the 4x4 matrix representative of
x
must have as its rst row and column:
_
_
_
_
_
0 1 1 0
1 ? ? ?
1 ? ? ?
0 ? ? ?
_
_
_
_
_
7
as this would operate on (1)(2) and generate the correct result.

x
=
_
_
_
_
_
0 1 1 0
1 ? ? ?
1 ? ? ?
0 ? ? ?
_
_
_
_
_

_
_
_
_
_
1
0
0
0
_
_
_
_
_
=
_
_
_
_
_
0
0
1
0
_
_
_
_
_
+
_
_
_
_
_
0
1
0
0
_
_
_
_
_
Remember, < i|
x
|j > must be evaluated 16 times in our case (less if we recognize the symmetries).
We need to work through all the four basis vectors to obtain the complete representation of

. We have

x
=
_
_
_
_
_
0 1 1 0
1 0 0 1
1 0 0 1
0 1 1 0
_
_
_
_
_
One can understand each term by writing, as an example,
< 2|
x
|1 >= (0, 1, 0, 0)
x

_
_
_
_
_
1
0
0
0
_
_
_
_
_
which would be
< 2|
x
|1 >= (1)(2)
x
((1)(2))
which is
< 2|
x
|1 >= (1)(2) ((1)(2) + (1)(2)) = 1
Similarly we obtain

y
=
_
_
_
_
_
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
_
_
_
_
_
and, nally,

z
=
_
_
_
_
_
2 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 2
_
_
_
_
_
It is interesting to form



, i.e.,

2
=
2
x
+
2
y
+
2
z
=
_
_
_
_
_
0 1 1 0
1 0 0 1
1 0 0 1
0 1 1 0
_
_
_
_
_
2
+
_
_
_
_
_
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
_
_
_
_
_
2
+
_
_
_
_
_
2 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 2
_
_
_
_
_
2
which is

2
=
_
_
_
_
_
2 0 0 2
0 2 2 0
0 2 2 0
2 0 0 2
_
_
_
_
_
+
_
_
_
_
_
2 0 0 2
0 2 2 0
0 2 2 0
2 0 0 2
_
_
_
_
_
+
_
_
_
_
_
4 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 4
_
_
_
_
_
8
which is, nally

2
=
_
_
_
_
_
8 0 0 0
0 4 4 0
0 4 4 0
0 0 0 8
_
_
_
_
_
This last result is called block diagonal, and consists of a juxtaposition of a 1x1 matrix, followed by a 2x2 followed
by another 1x1 matrix. This property shows its ugly/beautiful head again often, especially in group theory.
It is apparent that (1)(2) is an eigenfunction of
2
, i.e.,

2
=
_
_
_
_
_
8 0 0 0
0 4 4 0
0 4 4 0
0 0 0 8
_
_
_
_
_

_
_
_
_
_
1
0
0
0
_
_
_
_
_
= 8
_
_
_
_
_
1
0
0
0
_
_
_
_
_
and simultaneously, (1)(2) is an eigenfunction of
z
:
_
_
_
_
_
2 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 2
_
_
_
_
_

_
_
_
_
_
1
0
0
0
_
_
_
_
_
= 2
_
_
_
_
_
1
0
0
0
_
_
_
_
_
This means that (1)(2) is an observable state of the system ( as is (1)(2)). Notice further that neither (1)(2)
nor (1)(2) is an eigenfunction of either
2
or
z
. Instead, linear combinations of these two states are appropriate,
i.e.,

2
((1)(2) + (1)(1)) =
_
_
_
_
_
8 0 0 0
0 4 4 0
0 4 4 0
0 0 0 8
_
_
_
_
_

_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
0
1
0
0
_
_
_
_
_
+
_
_
_
_
_
0
0
1
0
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
=
_
_
_
_
_
0
1
1
0
_
_
_
_
_
_

_
=
_
_
_
_
_
8 0 0 0
0 4 4 0
0 4 4 0
0 0 0 8
_
_
_
_
_

_
_
_
_
_
0
1
1
0
_
_
_
_
_
(5)
where the bracketing has to be studied to see that we are adding the two column vectors before multiplying from the
left with the spin operator. The result is
_
_
_
_
_
0
8
8
0
_
_
_
_
_
= 8
_
_
_
_
_
0
1
1
0
_
_
_
_
_
which shows that the functions (1)(2) + (2)(1) are eigenfunctions of
2
as expected.
The other linear combination, (1)(2) (1)(2) works in the same manner.

2
((1)(2) (1)(1)) =
_
_
_
_
_
8 0 0 0
0 4 4 0
0 4 4 0
0 0 0 8
_
_
_
_
_

_
_
_
_
_
0
1
1
0
_
_
_
_
_
= zero
_
_
_
_
_
0
1
1
0
_
_
_
_
_
and

z
((1)(2) (1)(2)) =
_
_
_
_
_
2 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 2
_
_
_
_
_

_
_
_
_
_
0
1
1
0
_
_
_
_
_
= zero
_
_
_
_
_
0
1
1
0
_
_
_
_
_
9
This single state stands out from the other three, i.e., it is the singlet state, while the other three are components of
the triplet state. The singlet state corresponds to an overall spin of zero, while the triplet state corresponds to an
overall spin of 1.
XIV.
Consider the Equation
_
_
_
_
_
8 0 0 0
0 4 4 0
0 4 4 0
0 0 0 8
_
_
_
_
_

_
_
_
_
_
c
1
c
2
c
3
c
4
_
_
_
_
_
=
_
_
_
_
_
c
1
c
2
c
3
c
4
_
_
_
_
_
Where we seek the set {c
i
}, the eignvectors of this operator (and we seek the associated eigenvalues .
Traditionally, we re-write this equation as
_
_
_
_
_
8 0 0 0
0 4 4 0
0 4 4 0
0 0 0 8
_
_
_
_
_

_
_
_
_
_
c
1
c
2
c
3
c
4
_
_
_
_
_
= 0
and use Cramers rule to argue that the determinant associated with this matrix must be zero so that the solutions
are unique. We then have

8 0 0 0
0 4 4 0
0 4 4 0
0 0 0 8

= 0
which expands into the quartic equation
(8 )

4 4 0
4 4 0
0 0 8

= 0
or
(8 )
2

4 4
4 4

= 0
which is, nally,
_
(4 )
2
= 4
which yields two more roots, one = 8 and the other = 0. As if we didnt know that!
XV.
The eigenvectors for this problem are
_
_
_
_
_
1
0
0
0
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
0
1

2
0
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
0
1

2
1

2
0
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
0
0
0
1
_
_
_
_
_
10
in normalized form. Juxtaposing these four eigenvectors we obtain a matrix, T, of the form
T =
_
_
_
_
_
1 0 0 0
0
1

2
1

2
0
0
1

2
1

2
0
0 0 0 1
_
_
_
_
_
and, spinning (pun, pun, pun) around the main diagonal, we have
T

=
_
_
_
_
_
1 0 0 0
0
1

2

1

2
0
0
1

2
1

2
0
0 0 0 1
_
_
_
_
_
such that that the construct T

S
2
op
T is
T

S
2
op
T =
_
_
_
_
_
1 0 0 0
0
1

2

1

2
0
0
1

2
1

2
0
0 0 0 1
_
_
_
_
_

_
_
_
_
_
8 0 0 0
0 4 4 0
0 4 4 0
0 0 0 8
_
_
_
_
_

_
_
_
_
_
1 0 0 0
0
1

2
1

2
0
0
1

2
1

2
0
0 0 0 1
_
_
_
_
_
which is
T

S
2
op
T =
_
_
_
_
_
1 0 0 0
0
1

2

1

2
0
0
1

2
1

2
0
0 0 0 1
_
_
_
_
_

_
_
_
_
_
8 0 0 0
0 0
8

2
0
0 0
8

2
0
0 0 0 8
_
_
_
_
_
which becomes
T

S
2
op
T =
_
_
_
_
_
8 0 0 0
0 8 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 8
_
_
_
_
_
The conjoined eigenvectors constructed to make the matrix T, create a matrix which, when operating on the S
2
op
matrix representative of S
2
in the manner indicated, diagonalizes it. The composite operations are known as a
similarity transformation.