A Classically Intuitive Discussion of Quantum Spin-1/2 Systems

Details A Classically Intuitive Discussion of Quantum Spin-1/2 Systems A Classically Intuitive Discussion of Quantum Spin-1/2 Systems

2011-12-31

arxiv.org/abs/1201.0302v1

Physics

Quantum Physics

5 pages, submitted to American Journal of Physics

Scientific paper

We arrive at expressions for the x and y basis states for a spin-1/2 system. But rather than deriving them, we come to them using semi-classical arguments about what properties these basis states should have. This approach yields the well known results, but in a way which increases the pedagogical value of the exercise by highlighting the correspondence of the properties of these states with classical notions of orthogonality. We use semi-classical arguments to show that these states must have a certain form but involve several arbitrary parameters. Aside from a global phase factor for each basis state, we show that the arbitrary parameters have a one-to-one correspondence with classical parameters used when defining a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system.

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