Pauli matrices

In mathematical physics and mathematics, the Pauli matrices are a set of three 2 2 complex matrices which are
Hermitian and unitary.[1] Usually indicated by the Greek
letter sigma (), they are occasionally denoted by tau ()
when used in connection with isospin symmetries. They
are

wise. This expression is useful for selecting any one

of the matrices numerically by substituting values of a =
1, 2, 3, in turn useful when any of the matrices (but no
particular one) is to be used in algebraic manipulations.
The matrices are involutory:

(
)
0 1
1 = x =
1 0
(
)
0 i
2 = y =
i 0
(
)
1 0
3 = z =
.
0 1

12 = 22 = 32 = i1 2 3 =

(
1
0

0
1

)
=I

where I is the identity matrix.

The determinants and traces of the Pauli matrices
are:

These matrices are named after the physicist Wolfgang det i = 1,

Pauli. In quantum mechanics, they occur in the Pauli
Tr i = 0.
equation which takes into account the interaction of the
spin of a particle with an external electromagnetic eld. From above we can deduce that the eigenvalues of each
i are 1.
Each Pauli matrix is Hermitian, and together with the
identity matrix I (sometimes considered as the zeroth
Together with the 2 2 identity matrix I (sometimes
Pauli matrix 0 ), the Pauli matrices (multiplied by real
written as 0 ), the Pauli matrices form an orthogonal
coecients) span the full vector space of 2 2 Hermitian
basis, in the sense of HilbertSchmidt, for the real
matrices.
Hilbert space of 2 2 complex Hermitian matrices,
In the language of quantum mechanics, Hermitian matrior the complex Hilbert space of all 2 2 matrices.
ces are observables, so the Pauli matrices span the space
of observables of the 2-dimensional complex Hilbert
space. In the context of Paulis work, k is the observ- 1.1 Eigenvectors and eigenvalues
able corresponding to spin along the kth coordinate axis
Each of the (Hermitian) Pauli matrices has two
in three-dimensional Euclidean space 3 .
eigenvalues, +1 and 1. The corresponding normalized
The Pauli matrices (after multiplication by i to make eigenvectors are:
them anti-Hermitian), also generate transformations in
the sense of Lie algebras: the matrices i1 , i2 , i3 form
( )
( )
a basis for su(2), which exponentiates to the special uni1 1
1
1

=
,

=
,
x+
x
tary group SU(2). The algebra generated by the three
2 (1)
2 (1)
matrices 1 , 2 , 3 is isomorphic to the Cliord algebra
1 1
1
1
y+ =
, y =
,
of 3 , called the algebra of physical space.
2 (i)
2 (i)
1
0
z+ =
, z =
.
0
1

Algebraic properties

1.2 Pauli vector

All three of the Pauli matrices can be compacted into a

single expression:
(
a =

a3
a1 + ia2

a1 ia2
a3

The Pauli vector is dened by[nb 1]

)
= 1 x
+ 2 y + 3 z

where i = 1 is the imaginary unit, and ab is the and provides a mapping mechanism from a vector basis
Kronecker delta, which equals +1 if a = b and 0 other- to a Pauli matrix basis[2] as follows,
1

1 ALGEBRAIC PROPERTIES

a = (ai x
i ) (j x
j )
= ai j x
i x
j
= ai j ij
(
a3
= ai i =
a1 + ia2

a1 ia2
a3

using the summation convention. Further,

Contracting each side of the equation with components of

two 3-vectors ap and bq (which commute with the Pauli
matrices, i.e., apq = qap) for each matrix q and vector component ap (and likewise with bq), and relabeling
indices a, b, c p, q, r, to prevent notational conicts,
yields
(

det a = a a = |a| ,
2

and also (see completeness, below)

ap bq p q = ap bq
ap p bq q = i

)
pqr r + pq I

pqr ap bq r + ap bq pq I .

tr((a ) )/2 = a.

1.3

Finally, translating the index notation for the dot product

and cross product results in

Commutation relations

The Pauli matrices obey the following commutation relations:

1.5

Exponential of a Pauli vector

For
[a , b ] = 2iabc c ,
and anticommutation relations:

{a , b } = 2ab I.

|
n| = 1,

a = a
n,

one has, for even powers,

where abc is the Levi-Civita symbol, Einstein summan )2n = I

tion notation is used, ab is the Kronecker delta, and I is (
the 2 2 identity matrix.
which can be shown rst for the n = 1 case using the anFor example,
ticommutation relations.
Thus, for odd powers,
[1 , 2 ] = 2i3 ,
[2 , 3 ] = 2i1 ,
[3 , 1 ] = 2i2 ,
[1 , 1 ] = 0 ,
{1 , 1 } = 2I ,
{1 , 2 } = 0 .

1.4

Relation to dot and cross product

Pauli vectors elegantly map these commutation and anticommutation relations to corresponding vector products.
Adding the commutator to the anticommutator gives

(
n )2n+1 = n
.
Matrix exponentiating, and using the Taylor series for sine
and cosine,

eia(n) =
=

n
n

i [a(
n )]
n!
n=0

(1)n (a
n )2n
(1)n (a
n )2n+1
+i
(2n)!
(2n + 1)!
n=0
n=0

=I

(1)n a2n
(1)n a2n+1
+ i(
n )
(2n)!
(2n + 1)!
n=0
n=0

[a , b ] + {a , b } = (a b b a ) + (a b + b a )
and, in the last line, the rst sum is the cosine, while the

abc c + 2ab I = 2a b
2i
second sum is the sine; so, nally,
c

so that, cancelling the factors of 2,

1.7

Relation with the permutation operator

which is analogous to Eulers formula. Note

element in row and column of the i-th Pauli matrix is

i .

det[ia(
n )] = a2

In this notation, the completeness relation for the Pauli

matrices can be written

while the determinant of the exponential itself is just 1,

which makes it the generic group element of SU(2).
A more abstract version of formula (2) for a general 2 2
matrix can be found in the article on matrix exponentials.

i
i

= 2 .

i=1

Proof
1.5.1

The group composition law of SU(2)

The fact that the Pauli matrices, along with the identity
A straightforward application of this formula provides matrix I, form an orthogonal basis for the complex Hilbert
a parameterization of the composition law of the group space of all 2 2 matrices means that we can express any
SU(2).[nb 2] One may directly solve for c in
matrix M as

)
i nm
eia(n) eib(m
= I(cos a cos b
n m
sin a sin b)+i(
n sin aMcos=b+
+sin b cos
sin a sin b)
cIm
ai a

= I cos c + i(k ) sin c = eic(k) ,

where c is a complex number, and a is a 3-component

which species the generic group multiplication, where, complex vector. It is straightforward to show, using the
manifestly,
properties listed above, that
cos c = cos a cos b n
m
sin a sin b ,
the spherical law of cosines. Given c, then,

tr i j = 2ij
where tr denotes the trace, and hence that c =
and ai = 12 tr i M .

1
2 tr M

k = (
n sin a cos b+m
sin b cos a
n m
sin a sin b)/ sin c . This therefore gives
Consequently, the composite rotation parameters in this

group element (a closed form of the respective BCH ex- 2M = Itr M +

i tr i M
[3]
pansion in this case) simply amount to
i
which can be rewritten in terms of matrix indices as
)
c
e
= exp i
(
n sin a cos b + m
sin b cos a n
m
sin a sin b) .
sin c

i
i

M
(Of course, when n is parallel to m, so is k, and c = a + 2M = M +
i
b.)
where summation is implied over the repeated indices
The fact that any 2 2 complex Hermitian matrices can
and . Since this is true for any choice of the matrix M,
be expressed in terms of the identity matrix and the Pauli
the completeness relation follows as stated above.
matrices also leads to the Bloch sphere representation of 2
2 mixed states' density matrix, (2 2 positive semidef- As noted above, it is common to denote the 2 2 unit
inite matrices with trace 1). This can be seen by simply matrix by 0 , so 0 = . The completeness relation
rst writing an arbitrary Hermitian matrix as a real linear can therefore alternatively be expressed as
combination of {0 , 1 , 2 , 3 } as above, and then imposing the positive-semidenite and trace 1 conditions.
3

i
i
See also: Rotation formalisms in three dimensions

= 2
Rodrigues parameters and Gibbs representation
i=0

ick

1.6

Completeness relation

1.7 Relation with the permutation operator

An alternative notation that is commonly used for the Let Pij be the transposition (also known as a permutation)
Pauli matrices is to write the vector index i in the super- between two spins i and j living in the tensor product
script, and the matrix indices as subscripts, so that the space 2 2 ,

PHYSICS

2.2 Quaternions
Pij |i j = |j i .

The real linear span of {I, i1 , i2 , i3 } is isomorphic

to the real algebra of quaternions . The isomorphism
This operator can also be written more explicitly as from to this set is given by the following map (notice
Diracs spin exchange operator,
the reversed signs for the Pauli matrices):

Pij = 12 (i j + 1) .

1 7 I,

i 7 i1 ,

j 7 i2 ,

k 7 i3 .

Its eigenvalues are therefore[4] 1 or 1. It may thus be uti- Alternatively, the isomorphism can be achieved by a map
lized as an interaction term in a Hamiltonian, splitting the using the Pauli matrices in reversed order,[5]
energy eigenvalues of its symmetric versus antisymmetric
eigenstates.
1 7 I,

i 7 i3 ,

j 7 i2 ,

k 7 i1 .

SU(2)

As the quaternions of unit norm is group-isomorphic to

SU(2), this gives yet another way of describing SU(2) via
The group SU(2) is the Lie group of unitary 22 matri- the Pauli matrices. The two-to-one homomorphism from
ces with unit determinant; its Lie algebra is the set of all SU(2) to SO(3) can also be explicitly given in terms of
22 anti-Hermitian matrices with trace 0. Direct calcu- the Pauli matrices in this formulation.
lation, as above, shows that the Lie algebra su2 is the 3- Quaternions form a division algebraevery non-zero eledimensional real algebra spanned by the set { ij }. In ment has an inversewhereas Pauli matrices do not. For
compact notation,
a quaternionic version of the algebra generated by Pauli
matrices see biquaternions, which is a venerable algebra
of eight real dimensions.
su(2) = span{i1 , i2 , i3 }.
As a result, each ij can be seen as an innitesimal generator of SU(2). The elements of SU(2) are exponentials of
linear combinations of these three generators, and multiply as indicated above in discussing the Pauli vector. Although this suces to generate SU(2), it is not a proper
representation of su(2), as the Pauli eigenvalues are scaled
unconventionally. The conventional normalization is =
1/2, so that

3 Physics

2.1

An interesting property of spin particles is that they

must be rotated by an angle of 4 in order to return
to their original conguration. This is due to the twoto-one correspondence between SU(2) and SO(3) mentioned above, and the fact that, although one visualizes
spin up/down as the north/south pole on the 2-sphere S 2 ,
they are actually represented by orthogonal vectors in the
two dimensional complex Hilbert space.

3.1 Quantum mechanics

In quantum mechanics, each Pauli matrix is related to

an angular momentum operator that corresponds to an
observable describing the spin of a spin particle, in each
of the three spatial directions. As an immediate consequence of the Cartan decomposition mentioned above,
{
}
ij are the generators of a projective representation (spin
i1 i2 i3
su(2) = span
,
,
.
representation) of the rotation group SO(3) acting on
2
2
2
non-relativistic particles with spin . The states of the
As SU(2) is a compact group, its Cartan decomposition particles are represented as two-component spinors. In
is trivial.
the same way, the Pauli matrices are related to the isospin
operator

SO(3)

The Lie algebra su(2) is isomorphic to the Lie algebra

so(3), which corresponds to the Lie group SO(3), the
group of rotations in three-dimensional space. In other
words, one can say that the ij are a realization (and,
in fact, the lowest-dimensional realization) of innitesimal rotations in three-dimensional space. However,
even though su(2) and so(3) are isomorphic as Lie algebras, SU(2) and SO(3) are not isomorphic as Lie groups.
SU(2) is actually a double cover of SO(3), meaning that
there is a two-to-one group homomorphism from SU(2)
to SO(3), see relationship between SO(3) and SU(2).

For a spin particle, the spin operator is given by

J=/2, the fundamental representation of SU(2). By
taking Kronecker products of this representation with itself repeatedly, one may construct all higher irreducible
representations. That is, the resulting spin operators for

5
higher spin systems in three spatial dimensions, for arbitrarily large j, can be calculated using this spin operator and ladder operators. They can be found in Rotation
group SO(3)#A note on representations. The analog formula to the above generalization of Eulers formula for
Pauli matrices, the group element in terms of spin matrices, is tractable, but less simple.[6]
Also useful in the quantum mechanics of multiparticle
systems, the general Pauli group Gn is dened to consist
of all n-fold tensor products of Pauli matrices.

3.2

See also
Gamma matrices
Angular momentum
Gell-Mann matrices
Poincar group
Generalizations of Pauli matrices
Bloch sphere
Eulers four-square identity

Remarks

[1] The Pauli vector is a formal device. It may be thought of

as an element of M 2 () 3 , where the tensor product
space is endowed with a mapping : 3 M 2 () 3
M 2 ().
[2] N.B. The relation among a, b, c, n, m, k derived here
in the 2 2 representation holds for all representations of
SU(2), being a group identity.

[4] Explicitly, in the convention of right-space

) into
( matrices
elements of left-space matrices, it is

1
0
0
0

0
0
1
0

0
1
0
0

0
0
0
1

[5] Nakahara, Mikio (2003). Geometry, topology, and physics

(2nd ed.). CRC Press. ISBN 978-0-7503-0606-5, pp.
xxii.
[6] Curtright, T L; Fairlie, D B; Zachos, C K (2014). A
compact formula for rotations as spin matrix polynomials. SIGMA 10: 084. doi:10.3842/SIGMA.2014.084.

Quantum information

In quantum information, single-qubit quantum gates

are 2 2 unitary matrices. The Pauli matrices
are some of the most important single-qubit operations. In that context, the Cartan decomposition
given above is called the ZY decomposition of a
single-qubit gate. Choosing a dierent Cartan pair
gives a similar XY decomposition of a single-qubit
gate.

[3] cf. J W Gibbs (1884). Elements of Vector Analysis, New

Haven, 1884, p. 67

Notes

[1] Pauli matrices. Planetmath website. 28 March 2008.

Retrieved 28 May 2013.
[2] See the spinor map.

7 References
Libo, Richard L. (2002). Introductory Quantum
Mechanics. Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0-8053-87145.
Schi, Leonard I. (1968). Quantum Mechanics.
McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0070552876.
Leonhardt, Ulf (2010). Essential Quantum Optics.
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-14505-8.

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