Past exam of the quantum theory course of the University of Oxford / 2014 / 3 / a / ii / Solution

A normalized quantum state satisfies $⟨\psi ,\psi ⟩=1$. Its expectation value is $\boxed{{\mathbb{E}}_{\psi }(A)=⟨\psi ,A\psi ⟩}$. The conjugate symmetry of the inner product and self-adjointness giveso the expectation value is real. If $A\varphi =\lambda \varphi$ with $\varphi \ne 0$, normalize $\varphi$ by dividing by its norm. ThenEvery eigenvalue of a self-adjoint operator is real.