Quantum State Function :

The state vector |ψ⟩ has, of course, nothing to do with geometric vectors in three
dimensions but is an abstract symbol that stands for a physical state, identified
by the “label,” or “name,” ψ. The idea is useful because the laws of quantum
mechanics can be written as algebraic equations in terms of these symbols. For
instance, our fundamental law that any state can be made up from a linear
combination of base states is written as
|𝜓〉 = ∑𝑖 𝐶𝑖 |𝑖〉
…………………………………(1)

where the Ci are a set of ordinary (complex) numbers—the amplitudes 𝐶𝑖 =

⟨𝑖|𝜓⟩ while |1⟩, |2⟩, |3⟩, and so on, stand for the base states in some base,
or representation.

If we take some physical state and do something to it, like rotating it, or like
waiting for the time Δt , we get a different state. We say, “performing an operation
on a state produces a new state.” We can express the same idea by an equation:

|ϕ⟩= 𝐴̂|ψ⟩. ……………(2).

An operation on a state produces another state. The operator 𝐴̂ stands for some
particular operation. When this operation is performed on any state, say |ψ⟩, it
produces some other state |ϕ⟩.

What does Eq. 2 mean? We define it this way. If you multiply the equation
by ⟨i| and expand |ψ⟩ according to Eq. 1, we get

⟨i|ϕ⟩= ∑𝑗 ⟨i|𝐴̂|j⟩⟨j|ψ⟩……………...(3)
The states |j⟩ are from the same set as |i⟩. This is now just an algebraic equation.
The numbers ⟨i|ϕ⟩ give the amount of each base state you will find in |ϕ⟩, and it
is given in terms of a linear superposition of the amplitudes ⟨j|ψ⟩ that you
find |ψ⟩ in each base state. The numbers ⟨i|𝐴̂|j⟩ are just the coefficients which
tell how much of ⟨j|ψ⟩ goes into each sum. The operator 𝐴̂ is described
numerically by the set of numbers, or “matrix,”
𝐴𝑖𝑗 = ⟨i|𝐴̂|j⟩……………………………………………(4)

We’ll go on now and look at some useful things we can do with operators. But
first, one special remark. Suppose we have an operator 𝐴̂ whose matrix in some
base is 𝐴𝑖𝑗 = ⟨i|𝐴̂|j⟩. The amplitude that the state 𝐴̂ |ψ⟩ is also in some other
state |ϕ⟩ is ⟨ϕ|𝐴̂ |ψ⟩. Is there some meaning to the complex conjugate of this
amplitude? You should be able to show that
∗
⟨ϕ|𝐴̂|ψ⟩ =⟨ψ|𝐴̂† |ϕ⟩…………………………………..(5)
where 𝐴̂† (read “A dagger”) is an operator whose matrix elements are
A†𝑖𝑗 = (𝐴𝑗𝑖 )∗ (6)
To get the i,j element of 𝐴† we go to the j,i element of A (the indexes are
reversed) and take its complex conjugate. The amplitude that the state 𝐴̂† |ϕ⟩ is
in |ψ⟩ is the complex conjugate of the amplitude that 𝐴̂|ψ⟩ is in |ϕ⟩. The
operator 𝐴̂† is called the “Hermitian adjoint” of 𝐴̂. Many important operators of
quantum mechanics have the special property that when you take the Hermitian
adjoint, you get the same operator back. If 𝐵̂ is such an operator, then

𝐵̂† =𝐵̂ and it is called a “self-adjoint” or “Hermitian,” operator.

Definition and properties of operators

Operators in quantum mechanics are mathematical entities used to represent
physical processes that result in the change of the state vector of the system,
such as the evolution of these states with time.
𝐴̂ |ψ⟩= 𝑎|𝜓〉

These operators can also represent physical properties of a system that can be
experimentally measured (for example position, momentum, or energy),
the observables associated to this quantum system.

Note that each quantum system will have in general a different set of physical
observables associated to it.

An operator is a mathematical object that acts on the state vector of the

system and produces another state vector. To be precise, if we denote an
operator by 𝐴̂ and |ψ⟩ is an element of the Hilbert space of the system,
then 𝐴̂|ψ⟩=|ϕ⟩, where the state vector |ϕ⟩ also belongs to the same Hilbert
space.

Classification of Operators:-
1. Linear operators
2. unitary operators
3. Hermitian operators
4. unit (or identity) operator
5. zero (or null) operator
6. Projection operator
7. Hermitian adjoint operator

Properties of Linear Operator :

Linear operators, are those operators 𝐴̂ such that for any arbitrary pair of state
vectors |ψ1⟩ and |ψ2⟩ and for any complex numbers c1 and c2 they
satisfy associative and distributive properties, for instance
𝐴̂ [c1|ψ1⟩+c2|ψ2⟩]= c1𝐴̂|ψ1⟩ + c2𝐴̂|ψ2⟩.

Linearity of operators has several important consequences. State vector |ψ⟩ can
be expressed as a linear combination of a complete set of basis states {|ϕi⟩,
i=1,2,3,...,n} associated to this Hilbert
space: 〈𝜓| = ∑𝑛𝑖 𝑐𝑖 𝜙𝑖 𝑐𝑖 = 〈𝜙𝑖 |𝜓〉 where the values of the coefficients 𝑐𝑖 can be
fixed thanks to the orthogonality properties of the basis, ⟨ϕi|ϕj⟩=δij. Then we can
see that for linear operators the following applies
𝑛 𝑛

𝐴̂〈𝜓| = 𝐴̂ ∑ 𝑐𝑖 𝜙𝑖 = ∑ 𝑐𝑖 ( 𝐴̂|𝜙𝑖 〉)
𝑖 𝑖
This result tells us that if we know the effects of the operator 𝐴̂ for each of the
elements of the basis |ϕi⟩, we can easily determine its effect on a general state
vector |ψ⟩ belonging to the same Hilbert space. In other words, the action of the
operator 𝐴̂ on the basis vectors {ϕi⟩} correlates with its action on any other state
vector |ψ⟩ to which the operator was applied.

Identical Operators :

If two operators 𝐴̂ and 𝐵̂ are such that 𝐴̂|ψ⟩ =𝐵̂|ψ⟩, for all state
vectors |ψ⟩ belonging to the Hilbert space of the system, then these two operators
must be identical: 𝐴̂=𝐵̂. This is true only if the action of two operators is
identical for all elements of the Hilbert space.

Unit (or identity) operator : The unit (or identity) operator 𝐼̂ is the operator
that satisfies, 𝐼̂|ψ⟩=|ψ⟩

Zero or Null operator :

The zero (or null) operator 0̂ is the operator that satisfies 0̂|ψ⟩ = 0 In both
cases, these relations hold for all state vectors |ψ⟩ of the Hilbert space H.

Projection operators
An operator 𝐴̂ with the property 𝐴̂𝟐 =𝐴̂𝐴̂=𝐴̂ ,which means that acting twice on a
given state vector produces the same result as acting just once, is described as
a projection operator. Let us give an explicit example of such operator. Assume
that we have an nn-dimensional Hilbert space with a basis given by {|ϕi⟩}. We
can then define the operator 𝐵̂𝑖 as 𝐵̂𝑖 |ϕj⟩≡δij|ϕj⟩.

The Hermitian adjoint

When discussing vector spaces in quantum mechanics, we learned that for each
vector state ket |Ψ⟩, there exists the corresponding bra vector ⟨Ψ| which can be
understood as its complex conjugate. When expressing |Ψ⟩ as a column vector in
terms of its components, ⟨Ψ| was the associated row vector expressing the complex
conjugate of its components. A similar discussion is required now in the case of
operators.

We can introduce another operator related to 𝐴̂ and written as 𝐴̂† which has the
following defining property 𝐴̂|ψ⟩=|ϕ⟩ . Then ⟨ψ|𝐴̂† = ⟨ϕ|.
The operator 𝐴̂† is known as the Hermitian adjoint of 𝐴̂.

What is then the action of this Hermitian adjoint operator on a ket vector?

We can consider the following product

⟨ρ|𝐴̂|ψ⟩=⟨ρ|(𝐴̂|ψ⟩)=⟨ρ|ϕ⟩

using that 𝐴̂|ψ⟩=|ϕ⟩ .

The complex conjugate of the previous expression yields: ⟨ρ|𝐴̂|ψ⟩∗=⟨ρ|ϕ⟩∗=⟨ϕ|ρ⟩

and if ⟨ψ|𝐴̂† =⟨ϕ| , then ⟨ρ|𝐴̂|ψ⟩∗ =⟨ϕ|ρ⟩=(⟨ψ|𝐴̂† )|ρ⟩=⟨ψ|𝐴̂† |ρ⟩.

In quantum mechanics, we are interested in operators for

which 𝑨̂ =𝑨
̂ † that is where the operator coincides with its Hermitian
adjoint.

Matrix representation of operators

In the previous lecture, we discussed the matrix representation of state vectors, a
notation describing the elements of the Hilbert space assigned to a given quantum
system. We will now show how one can also construct a matrix representation
of operators.
The starting point is an operator equation of the form 𝐴̂|ψ⟩=|φ⟩,

where |ψ⟩ and |φ⟩ are state vectors. This equation can be rewritten using the
identity operator given by the basis Elements 𝐼̂= ∑𝑛
𝑖 |ϕi⟩⟨ϕi|=1, and rewritten as

|φ⟩=𝐴̂|ψ⟩=𝐴̂ ∑𝑛𝑖=1 |ϕi⟩⟨ϕi|ψ⟩= ∑𝑛𝑖=1 (⟨ϕj|𝐴̂|ϕi⟩)⟨ϕi|ψ⟩.

We can now evaluate the inner product between the basis vector |ϕj⟩ and the state
vector |φ⟩ to obtain ⟨ϕj|φ⟩=∑𝑛 ̂
𝑖=1 (⟨ϕj|𝐴|ϕi⟩)⟨ϕi|ψ⟩

which can also be expressed as a matrix multiplication equation in terms of its

components using

φj=∑𝑛𝑖=1 |Aji|ψi⟩ where we define Aji=⟨ϕj|𝐴̂|ϕi⟩.

The derivation above demonstrates that an operation equation of the

form |φ⟩=𝐴̂|ψ⟩ can be expressed in terms of a matrix representation

φj=∑𝑛𝑖=1 |Aji|ψi⟩
𝜑1 𝐴11 𝐴12 𝐴13 𝜓1
(𝜑2 )=(𝐴21 𝐴22 𝐴23 ) (𝜓2 )
𝜑3 𝐴31 𝐴32 𝐴33 𝜓3

Difference Between Basis vector and state vector :

Each basis vector could be a state vector, if the system is purely in that
state, but it does not have to be that way. You can get the entire picture
by being more general: state vectors can be expressed as linear
combinations of basis vectors of whatever basis we choose to work in.
When we start talking about state vectors in QM, like |𝜓⟩, we can choose
to express this state vector in terms of any basis we want. In other words,
for a discrete basis:

|ψ⟩=∑ ci|ai⟩

where |ai⟩ represents basis vector 𝑖i, and ci is a coefficient saying "how
much of |ai⟩ is in |ψ⟩
Now it could be that |ψ⟩ is equal to one of our basis vectors, say |aj⟩, so
that ci=δi,j and |ψ⟩=∑ δi,j |ai⟩=|aj⟩

We could even choose express this example in some other basis:

|𝜓⟩=|𝑎𝑗⟩=∑𝑑𝑖|𝑏i⟩

"Basis states" and "basis vectors" essentially mean the same thing, but the
terms do have a bit of a different connotation.

The eigenvectors that span a Hamiltonian matrix are "states" in which a

quantum mechanical system can exist. The ones with the smallest
eigenvalue are "ground state wavefunctions", the ones with the next
smallest eigenvalue are the "first excited state wavefunctions", etc. The
eigenvectors of a Hamiltonian matrix are also basis vectors/states,
because Hamiltonians are Hermitian.

However the eigenvectors of a Hermitian matrix arising in some finance

application that has nothing to do with quantum mechanics, will be called
"basis vectors" but not "basis states" because they don't necessarily have
the meaning of being "states" of anything.