Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2002/ib/paper-3/20d/b/solution

In the ordered eigenbasis, , a Pauli matrix. The coefficient equations are and , with , . Differentiating the first gives , and its initial derivative vanishes. Thus
The population of is . To be an eigenstate of eigenvalue , the coefficient of must vanish. Its first positive zero is
The global phase does not change its eigenstate or measurement probabilities.

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