Write the unitary conjugation as . The identity component is unchanged, and the generalized Bloch vector transforms by
These coefficients are real, by the same trace argument as in part (a). Unitary conjugation preserves the Hilbert-Schmidt inner product, so the conjugated traceless generators form another orthonormal basis. It follows that . The unitary group is connected, , and the determinant of an orthogonal matrix is ; hence . Thus Hamiltonian evolution rotates the generalized Bloch vector by an element of .
Equivalently, in units , the Von Neumann equation gives
Cyclicity of the trace shows , so is a real skew-symmetric matrix. This is the generator form of Hamiltonian rotations of Bloch vectors, valid also for a time-dependent Quantum Hamiltonian. For , Hamiltonians generally realize only a proper subgroup of all rotations of this real space; they preserve the whole density-operator spectrum, not merely its purity of a density operator.
For a Hermitian Quantum Hamiltonian, . Consequently
Swapping changes the sign of the commutator, so . The generator is therefore real and antisymmetric. Its last column vanishes because the identity commutes with , so and the traceless block satisfies .
For constant , the Bloch vector evolves by with . Direct differentiation gives
Hence . Its determinant is continuously connected to one and cannot change between the two possible values , so . This proves that the evolution is a rotation in the special orthogonal group. A time-dependent Hermitian Quantum Hamiltonian has the same conclusion from .
These Hamiltonian rotations of Bloch vectors preserve the Euclidean norm and purity of a density operator. For , not every rotation of the ambient sphere is a physical unitary conjugation: the higher-dimensional positivity constraints and full spectrum of the density operator impose further restrictions.