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Bra-ket notation
In quantum mechanics, Bra-ket notation is a standard notation for describing quantum states, composed of angle
brackets and vertical bars. It can also be used to denote abstract vectors and linear functionals in mathematics. It is so
called because the inner product (or dot product) of two states is denoted by a bra|c|ket;
,
consisting of a left part, , called the bra ( /br/), and a right part, , called the ket ( /kt/). The
[1]
notation was introduced in 1939 by Paul Dirac and is also known as Dirac notation, though the notation has
precursors in Grassmann's use of the notation for his inner products nearly 100 years previously.[2]
Bra-ket notation is widespread in quantum mechanics: almost every phenomenon that is explained using quantum
mechanicsincluding a large portion of modern physics is usually explained with the help of bra-ket notation.
The expression is typically interpreted as the probability amplitude for the state to collapse into the state
.
Vector spaces
respectively, where ex, ey, ez denotes the cartesian basis vectors (all are orthogonal unit vectors) and Ax, Ay, Az are the
corresponding coordinates, in the x, y, z directions. In a more general notation, for any basis in 3d space we write;
Generalizing further, consider a vector A in an N dimensional vector space over the field of complex numbers ,
symbolically stated as . The vector A is still conventionally represented by a linear combination of basis
vectors or a column matrix:
where denotes the complex conjugate of . A special case is the inner product of a vector with itself, which is
square of its norm (magnitude):
Bra-ket notation splits this inner product (also called a "bracket") into two pieces, the "bra" and the "ket":
and then it is understood that a bra next to a ket implies matrix multiplication.
The conjugate transpose (also called Hermitian conjugate) of a bra is the corresponding ket and vice-versa:
then performs a complex conjugation, and then a matrix transpose, one ends up with the ket
Banach spaces are a different generalization of Hilbert spaces. In a Banach space B, the vectors may be notated by
kets and the continuous linear functionals by bras. Over any vector space without topology, we may also notate the
vectors by kets and the linear functionals by bras. In these more general contexts, the bracket does not have the
meaning of an inner product, because the Riesz representation theorem does not apply.
On the left side, is a function mapping any point in space to a complex number; on the right side, is a ket.
It is then customary to define linear operators acting on wavefunctions in terms of linear operators acting on kets, by
though this is something of a (fairly common) abuse of notation. The differential operator must be understood to be
an abstract operator, acting on kets, that has the effect of differentiating wavefunctions once the expression is
projected into the position basis:
Bra-ket notation 6
Overlap of states
In quantum mechanics the expression is typically interpreted as the probability amplitude for the state to
collapse into the state . Mathematically, this means the coefficient for the projection of onto .
where is the state with a definite value of the spin operator Sz equal to +1/2 and is the state with a
definite value of the spin operator Sz equal to -1/2.
Since these are a basis, any quantum state of the particle can be expressed as a linear combination (i.e., quantum
superposition) of these two states:
depending on which basis you are using. In other words, the "coordinates" of a vector depend on the basis used.
There is a mathematical relationship between ; see change of basis.
Misleading uses
There are few conventions and notation abuses generally accepted on the physical community which might confuse
the non initiated.
It is common among physicists to use the same symbol for labels and constants on the same equation. It supposedly
becomes easier to identify that the constant is related to the labeled object, and is claimed that the divergent nature of
each will eliminate any ambiguity and no further differentiation is required. A common example is the usual
definition of a quantum coherent state as satisfying where is both the name of the state and
its eigenvalue(a complex number) with respect to the lowering operator.
Something similar occurs in component notation of vectors. While (uppercase) is traditionally associated with
wavefunctions, (lowercase) may be used to denote a label, a wave function or complex constant in the same
context, usually differentiated only by a subscript.
The main abuses are including operations inside the vector labels. This is usually done for a fast notation of scaling
vectors. E.g. if the vector is scaled by , it might be denoted by , which makes no sense since
is a label, not a function or a number, so you can't make operations on it.
This is specially common when denoting vectors as tensor products, where part of the labels are moved outside the
designed slot. E.g. . Here part of the labeling that should state that all three vectors
are different was moved outside the kets, as subscripts 1 and 2. And a further abuse occurs, since is meant to refer
to the norm of the first vector - which is a label is denoting a value.
Bra-ket notation 7
Linear operators
(in other words, a function composition). This expression is commonly written as (cf. energy inner product)
In an N-dimensional Hilbert space, can be written as a 1N row vector, and A (as in the previous section) is an
NN matrix. Then the bra can be computed by normal matrix multiplication.
If the same state vector appears on both bra and ket side,
then this expression gives the expectation value, or mean or average value, of the observable represented by operator
A for the physical system in the state .
Outer products
A convenient way to define linear operators on H is given by the outer product: if is a bra and is a ket, the
outer product
denotes the rank-one operator that maps the ket to the ket (where is a scalar multiplying
the vector ).
For a finite-dimensional vector space, the outer product can be understood as simple matrix multiplication:
Properties
Bra-ket notation was designed to facilitate the formal manipulation of linear-algebraic expressions. Some of the
properties that allow this manipulation are listed herein. In what follows, c1 and c2 denote arbitrary complex
numbers, c* denotes the complex conjugate of c, A and B denote arbitrary linear operators, and these properties are
to hold for any choice of bras and kets.
Linearity
Since bras are linear functionals,
By the definition of addition and scalar multiplication of linear functionals in the dual space,[5]
Associativity
Given any expression involving complex numbers, bras, kets, inner products, outer products, and/or linear operators
(but not addition), written in bra-ket notation, the parenthetical groupings do not matter (i.e., the associative property
holds). For example:
and so forth. The expressions on the right (with no parentheses whatsoever) are allowed to be written unambiguously
because of the equalities on the left. Note that the associative property does not hold for expressions that include
non-linear operators, such as the antilinear time reversal operator in physics.
Hermitian conjugation
Bra-ket notation makes it particularly easy to compute the Hermitian conjugate (also called dagger, and denoted )
of expressions. The formal rules are:
The Hermitian conjugate of a bra is the corresponding ket, and vice-versa.
The Hermitian conjugate of a complex number is its complex conjugate.
The Hermitian conjugate of the Hermitian conjugate of anything (linear operators, bras, kets, numbers) is
itselfi.e.,
.
Bra-ket notation 9
Given any combination of complex numbers, bras, kets, inner products, outer products, and/or linear operators,
written in bra-ket notation, its Hermitian conjugate can be computed by reversing the order of the components,
and taking the Hermitian conjugate of each.
These rules are sufficient to formally write the Hermitian conjugate of any such expression; some examples are as
follows:
Kets:
Inner products:
Matrix elements:
Outer products:
with the inner product on the Hilbert space. From the commutativity of kets with (complex) scalars now
follows that
must be the unit operator, which sends each vector to itself. This can be inserted in any expression without affecting
its value, for example
where in the last identity Einstein summation convention has been used.
In quantum mechanics it often occurs that little or no information about the inner product of two arbitrary
(state) kets is present, while it is possible to say something about the expansion coefficients and
of those vectors with respect to a chosen (orthonormalized) basis. In this case it is particularly useful to
insert the unit operator into the bracket one time or more (for more information see Resolution of the identity).
Bra-ket notation 10
One ignores the parentheses and removes the double bars. Some properties of this notation are convenient since we
are dealing with linear operators and composition acts like a ring multiplication.
Moreover, mathematicians usually write the dual entity not at the first place, as the physicists do, but at the second
one, and they don't use the *-symbol, but an overline (which the physicists reserve to averages) to denote
conjugate-complex numbers, i.e. for scalar products mathematicians usually write
Further reading
Feynman, Leighton and Sands (1965). The Feynman Lectures on Physics Vol. III. Addison-Wesley.
ISBN0-201-02115-3.
External links
Richard Fitzpatrick, "Quantum Mechanics: A graduate level course" (http://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/
qm/lectures/lectures.html), The University of Texas at Austin.
1. Ket space (http://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/qm/lectures/node7.html)
2. Bra space (http://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/qm/lectures/node8.html)
3. Operators (http://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/qm/lectures/node9.html)
4. The outer product (http://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/qm/lectures/node10.html)
5. Eigenvalues and eigenvectors (http://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/qm/lectures/node11.html)
Robert Littlejohn, Lecture notes on "The Mathematical Formalism of Quantum mechanics", including bra-ket
notation. (http://bohr.physics.berkeley.edu/classes/221/0708/notes/hilbert.pdf)
Article Sources and Contributors 12
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