Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2001 / ib / Paper 3 / 20F / b / Solution

In the two-dimensional span of the first two energy eigenstates, the measured observable has matrix $S=\left(\begin{array}{cc}7& 24\\ 24& -7\end{array}\right)$. Its square is $625I$, and its trace is zero, giving eigenvalues $25,-25$. The orthogonal complement has eigenvalue zero. Thus the full spectrum is $\boxed{\{-25,0,25\}}$.

The normalized eigenstates for $-25$ and $25$ are respectivelyThe lowest measurement outcome prepares ${\chi }_{-}$ up to an irrelevant overall phase. The subsequent unitary time evolution givesBy the Born rule, the probability of measuring the lowest eigenvalue again is the squared projection onto its one-dimensional eigenspace:This is the two-level quantum return probability with $q=9/25$. At $t=0$ the probability is one; if the two energies happen to be equal it remains one for every time.