Past exam of the physics A course of the University of Cambridge 2010 Paper 2 Section B B8 Solution 2026-10-20
The angular-momentum commutators giveFor example . In the displayed basis , the only nonzero upper entries of connect adjacent magnetic quantum numbers. Subtracting their column and row eigenvalues multiplies each by , proving the first matrix commutator; the lower matrix similarly gives the second. Direct multiplication giveswhose difference is . Also , confirming .
A rotation changes the quantization axis without changing the spectrum, so has eigenvalues . Its dimensionless matrix isSolving and normalizing gives the spin-one maximum-projection eigenvectorFor instance the first equation is , and the squared components sum to one. An overall phase is immaterial.
At , . The Born rule therefore predicts, in the requested order,This treats the Stern-Gerlach experiment as the stipulated ideal measurement of orbital projection. In an actual atom, other magnetic moments and spin-orbit coupling can change which angular momentum the apparatus resolves.