Solutions: Homework II

Quantum Mechanics
4 Points, Due: September 6, 2006
Printed: December 28, 2006
Inequalities

 The sum of two vectors produces a resulting vector with a length that is less than or
equal to the sum of the length of the two constituent vectors. This is know as the
Triangle Inequality, expressed as,

jV + W j  jV j + jW j : (1)
Equality only results when the two vectors are parallel.
 The dot product of two vectors is less than or equal to the product of the length of the
two constituent vectors. This is know as the Schwartz Inequality, expressed as,
hV jW i  jV j jW j : (2)
Equality only results when the two vectors are parallel.

1. Prove the triangle inequality, Eq. 1. Use the Schwartz inequality, Eq. 2 Show that the
triangle inequality is an equality if the vectors are proportional, i.e. jW i = jV i with
  0.
Solution
Begin with the left hand side of the inequality, Eq. 1. The square of the length expands
to be
jV + W j2 = hV + W jV + W i = hV jV i + hW jW i + hV jW i + hW jV i : (3)
The Schwartz inequality, Eq. 2, for the dot product says the last terms in Eq. 3 above
satisfy
hV jW i + hW jV i  2 jV j jW j : (4)
Substitute Eq. 4 into the right side of Eq. 3 and we get,
hV + W jV + W i  hV jV i + hW jW i + 2 jV j jW j : (5)
This is the same as,
+ W j2  (jV j + jW j)2 :
jV (6)
Square root gives the desired result,
jV + W j  jV j + jW j : (7)

1
The equality results when jW i = jV i with   0 since the left and right sides of
Eq. 6 become
hV + W jV + W i = (1 + )2hV jV i ; (8)
(jV j + jW j)2 = (jV j + jj jV j)2 ; (9)
(jV j + jW j)2 = jV j2 + 2jV j2 + 2jV j2 : (10)
Clearly, the RHS, Eq. 10 and LHS, Eq. 8, are equal, as claimed.