Complex coefficents in density operator expansion?

Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
1 reply · 1K views
center o bass
Messages
545
Reaction score
2
Hey, I recently had an exam where the quantum state were on the form

[tex]|\psi\rangle = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} ( |+\rangle + i |-\rangle )[/tex]

Here I formed the density operator for the pure state

[tex]\rho(t) = |\psi\rangle \langle \psi| = \frac{1}{2} ( |+\rangle + i |-\rangle )( \langle +| - i \langle -| ) = \frac{1}{2} ( |+\rangle \langle + | + |- \rangle \langle - | + i(|-\rangle \langle + | - |+\rangle \langle -|)).[/tex]

However in the solutions for the exam the complex i's were not there, i.e the solutions states that

[tex]\rho = \frac{1}{2} ( |+\rangle \langle + | + |- \rangle \langle - | + |-\rangle \langle +| - |+\rangle \langle - |).[/tex]

Have I missed something here or is the suggested solution erroneous? Is there a reason why a density operator expansion should not have complex coefficients?
 
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org
Your solution seems correct - I've got i's on anti-diagonal as well. The second expression cannot be right, because the density matrix has to be hermitian.