 Spin measurement

For a spin one-half system, an ideal projective measurement along a unit vector $\mathbf{n}$ measures ${\sigma }_{\mathbf{n}}=\mathbf{n}\cdot \mathbf{\sigma }$. Its eigenvalues are $\pm 1$, corresponding to physical spin angular momentum components $\pm \hslash /2$, and its orthogonal projections are ${\Pi }_{\pm }=(I\pm {\sigma }_{\mathbf{n}})/2$. For density matrix $\rho =(I+\mathbf{r}\cdot \mathbf{\sigma })/2$, the Born rule and the Pauli matrix multiplication law give the displayed probabilities. Thus a spin measurement along one direction tests only that component of the Bloch vector; measurements along three independent directions determine the entire density matrix.