Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2006/ii/paper-2/32a/solution

With and , the matrix of is . Multiplication by and gives eigenvalues and , using the double-angle identities.
The one-particle transformation is the matrix , with determinant one. The antisymmetric tensor transforms by this determinant under , so the singlet is unchanged. The total kills it. Its invariance under these rotations implies that total also kills it for every , so total kills it. The spin commutator then gives total acting as zero. Therefore and it has total spin zero.
Rotating only particle B produces
The measurement probabilities are therefore
Each arrow represents the corresponding value . The sequential measurements commute because they act on different particles. The two parallel outcomes leave triplet states with total spin one and . Each antiparallel product state is a superposition of the spin-zero singlet and the spin-one zero-projection triplet, and is not an eigenstate. Outcomes of zero probability at a special angle do not actually occur.

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