Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematical-methods-i-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2017/5/solution
Past exam of the mathematical methods I course of the University of Oxford 2017 5 Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
For a unit vector, the radial coordinate is and the spherical coordinates giveThe Pauli matrices therefore giveThe diagonal entries are real and the off-diagonal entries are complex conjugates, so . Its trace is zero and its determinant is , giving eigenvalues and . A convenient orthonormal eigenbasis isThe half-angle identities verify , and . Multiplication of either vector by any unit-modulus phase gives an equivalent normalized eigenvector. At a pole, the azimuth is undefined geometrically, but the remaining phase freedom makes the chosen expressions consistent with the same one-dimensional eigenspaces.
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