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A beam of silver atoms (which are electrically neutral spin-1/2 particles) enters an inhomogeneous magnetic field, and is split in two.
The state of an atom that has passed the magnet is often described as |U>|↓>+|L>|↑>, where |U> and |L> are states that are localized to the upper and lower paths respectively, and |↓> and |↑> are the "spin down" and "spin up" states respectively. I have realized that I don't really understand how to justify this. Can we prove that each atom will end up in a |U>|↓>+|L>|↑> state?
The state of an atom that has passed the magnet is often described as |U>|↓>+|L>|↑>, where |U> and |L> are states that are localized to the upper and lower paths respectively, and |↓> and |↑> are the "spin down" and "spin up" states respectively. I have realized that I don't really understand how to justify this. Can we prove that each atom will end up in a |U>|↓>+|L>|↑> state?