Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2016 / ib / Paper 4 / 6B / d

Distinct eigenvalues of the self-adjoint angular momentum operator imply $⟨{\psi }_1,{\psi }_2⟩=0$. The given combination is not normalized: its squared norm is $({\cos }^2\omega t+3{\sin }^2\omega t)/4$, which is always positive. Therefore its properly normalized expectation value isIt vanishes when ${\tan }^2\omega t=1/3$. The first positive solution has $\omega t=\pi /6$, soNormalization changes the value of the expectation value away from zero, but not its zero times.