Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-quantum-theory-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2021/3/a/ii/solution

For , the adjoint operator relation and the given product identity imply
A vector of zero norm is zero, so . Part (i) gives
The commutator also gives , while . Applying the other product identity to this unnormalized vector,
Therefore
These are the two angular momentum ladder endpoints of a spin one-half pair. In particular, has unit norm, and because .

New to topics? Read the docs here!