SPIN - EXPECTATION VALUES OF COMPONENTS

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Reference: Griffiths, David J. (2005), Introduction to Quantum Mechan-
ics, 2nd Edition; Pearson Education - Problem 4.28.
The most general spin state for a spin 1/2 particle is
 
a
χ= (1)
b
From this we can calculate the expectation values of the spin components.
By direct matrix multiplication using the spin matrices, we get
  
h̄ ∗ ∗ 0 1 a h̄
hSx i = ( a b ) = (a∗ b + b∗ a) (2)
2 1 0 b 2
This is a real quantity since it is the sum of a number and its complex
conjugate. Similarly
  
h̄ ∗ ∗ 0 −i a h̄
hSy i = ( a b ) = i (b∗ a − a∗ b) (3)
2 i 0 b 2
This is also real, since the difference of a number and its complex conju-
gate is pure imaginary, so multiplying by i gives a real number.
Finally,
  
h̄ ∗ ∗ 1 0 a h̄
hSz i = ( a b ) = (|a|2 − |b|2 ) (4)
2 0 −1 b 2
 
h̄2 1 0
2 2
Since Sx = Sy = Sz = 4 2 , hSx2 i = hSy2 i = hSz2 i = |χ|2 h̄2 /4 =
0 1
h̄2 /4, and hSx2 i + hSy2 i + hSz2 i = 3h̄2 /4 = hS2 i which agrees with our original
result.
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