Student Question

What is the value of the following commutator containing the spin 1/2 operators; `[[S_x*S_y,S_y],S_z]`?

Expert Answers

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Remember the definition of the commutation relation

`[a,b]=ab-ba`

Preform this operation on `[S_x*S_y,S_y]`

`[[S_x*S_y,S_y],S_z]=[[S_x*S_y*S_y-S_y*S_x*S_y,S_z]`

The following is the commutation relation for spin 1/2 systems.

`[S_x,S_y]=i barh S_z`

For cyclic permutations of `x` , `y` , and `z` . `barh ` is represents the reduced planks constant here.

`=[[S_x,S_y]S_y,S_z]`

`=[i barh S_z*S_y,S_z]`

`=i barh S_z[S_y,S_z]`

`=-barh^2S_z*S_x`

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