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Physics:-Bra - a Bra sate vectors of a discrete or continuous space of quantum states in

Dirac's notation

Physics:-Ket - a Ket sate vectors of a discrete or continuous space of quantum states in

Dirac's notation

Calling Sequence
Ket(A, n1, n2, ...)
Bra(A, n1, n2, ...)
Parameters
A - the label identifying the basis of quantum states to which the Bra or Ket belongs -
see Setup
n1, n2, ... - a sequence of "quantum numbers", or algebraic expressions representing them; the
sequence could be empty

Description
• The Dirac Bra-Ket notation is the standard notation in quantum mechanics although it can also be
used to denote abstract vectors and linear functionals in general.
• In quantum mechanics, a Ket state vector is used to represent the quantum state of a physical
system. In this implementation, Kets are assumed to be non-degenerate, the correspondence
between Kets and quantum states is one-to-one and a set of Kets can always be said to form a
basis of a (sub)space of quantum states,
• The first argument in Ket(A, n1, n2...), is a label identifying the basis to which the Ket belongs.
Recalling, a single space of quantum states can be represented by different bases, so the scalar
product of Kets of these different bases is generally speaking not zero. To represent fermionic
state vectors use an anticommutative label - see also Setup.
• The second and subsequent N arguments of the Ket function represent "quantum numbers" and
identify one Ket from another inside the basis. In this sense, the concept of a quantum number is
equivalent to the concept of components of a standard vector in an Euclidean N-dimensional space
if we associate the different components with the different values of the quantum number. Note
however that in the case of quantum-state vectors there can be many quantum numbers (the N-
dimensional Euclidean analog of that would be a tensor, not a vector). Kets with many quantum
numbers belongs to the tensor product of spaces that can be represented with Kets of only one
quantum number.
• When the label - say A - of a Ket has also been set as a quantum operator, the Ket is automatically
an eigenvector of this operator with a quantum number for eigenvalue; to specify which quantum
number use the operator indexed with the position of the quantum number, e.g.: A[2] . Ket(A, n,
m) will result in m Ket(A, n,m).
• A Bra is also a vector in a space of quantum states and corresponds to a Ket vector in that one is
obtained from the other through Hermitian conjugation. Bras are elements of the dual of the space
associated to the corresponding Kets.
• The set of Kets formed by attributing all possible values to its quantum numbers forms a basis for
the corresponding space of quantum states. To construct projectors onto these basis use the
Projector command. To set the dimension, possibly different, of each of the quantum numbers of
the Kets of a basis of quantum states see Setup.
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• The space of states spanned by a basis of Kets can be either continuous or discrete. To make the
label (first argument) of a Bra or Ket be associated with a continuous space of states use the Setup
command, for instance as in Setup(continuousbasis = A); otherwise it is assumed that the Bra or
Ket corresponds to a discrete space of states.
• The Physics:-`.` is the computational representation for the scalar (also called inner) product
between any two of a Bra, a Ket or a quantum operator, the latter set to be so using the Setup
command or returned by the Annihilation, Creation or Projector commands.
• For scalar products involving Bras and Kets of the same basis and with quantum numbers, the
result is expressed in terms of KroneckerDeltas, when the state vectors belong to a discrete space
of states, or using Dirac functions when they belong to a continuous space of states. In this sense
we can say that Bras and Kets with quantum numbers are analogous to 3D=Euclidean "unit
vectors".
• When the scalar product cannot be resolved, the operation is returned unevaluated, expressed
using the Bracket command (note the 'c' between Bra and a Ket). For details regarding when is the
scalar product returned unevaluated see Physics:- `.`.
• To represent the tensor product of Bras and Kets use the Physics:-`*` operator, e.g. as in |A>*<B|
(a quantum operator) or |A>*|B> (a Ket of the tensor product of spaces).
• Two important operations, representing the annihilation and creation of 'particles' in a given state
are performed with the linear operators returned by the Annihilation and Creation commands.
These operators respectively diminish and augment by one the "quantum numbers" over which
they act - see the respective help pages and the examples below.
• To set bracket rules involving Bra and Ket state vectors use the Setup command, see the examples
below.

Examples
Consider two Kets belonging to the same basis, labeled with the letter y
O with(Physics):
K1 := Ket(psi, n, m);
K1 := `|` yn, m `O` (2.1)

O K2 := Ket(psi, r, s);
K2 := `|` yr, s `O` (2.2)

To construct the corresponding Bras, you can enter them directly using Bra, or taking the Hermitian
conjugate using Dagger command
O BK1 := Bra(psi, n, m); # equal to Bra(op(K1))
BK1 := `!` yn, m `|` (2.3)

O BK2 := Dagger(K2); # equal to Bra(op(K2))

BK2 := `!` yr, s `|` (2.4)

To perform the scalar product use Bracket (note the 'c' between 'Bra' and 'ket') or the scalar product
operator Physics:-`.`
O BK1 . K2;
dr, n ds, m (2.5)
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O Bracket(BK1, K2);
dr, n ds, m (2.6)

Note the above is the product of two Kronecker deltas. This is so because these Kets are assumed to
be part of a discrete basis. To indicate that they belong to a continuous space of states use the Setup
command
O Setup(continuousbasis = psi);
* Partial match of 'continuousbasis' against keyword 'quantumcontinuousbasis' (2.7)
quantumcontinuousbasis = y

O Bracket(BK1, K2);
2
d n Kr, m Ks (2.8)
So now in the above you see a 2-dimensional Dirac function. You can also set the label y of this
example to represent a discrete basis using the Setup command, but you need first to clear the
previous setting
O Setup(clear, continuousbasis);
* Partial match of 'continuousbasis' against keyword 'quantumcontinuousbasis' (2.9)
quantumcontinuousbasis = none
O Setup(discretebasis = psi);
* Partial match of 'discretebasis' against keyword 'quantumdiscretebasis' (2.10)
quantumdiscretebasis = y
For discrete basis it is possible to define creation and annihilation operators acting on Kets belonging
to this space of states (i.e. to the basis labeled by the Ket's first argument). For these purposes use the
Annihilation and Creation operators (see the optional argument 'notation = explicit', to make explicit
the label and quantum numbers onto which the operator returned acts)
O am1 := Annihilation(psi, 1);
am1 := a- (2.11)
O am2 := Annihilation(psi, 2, notation = explicit);
am2 := a-y (2.12)
2

In the above, am1 and am2 respectively represent the annihilation operators with respect to the 1st
and 2nd quantum numbers; their action over the Kets K1 and K2 is
O am1(K1);
n `|` yn K 1, m `O` (2.13)

O am2(K2);
s `|` yr, s K 1 `O` (2.14)

These are the corresponding creation operators

O ap1 := Creation(psi, 1);
ap1 := aC (2.15)
O ap2 := Creation(psi, 2);
ap2 := aC (2.16)
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Note that the application of these annihilation and creation operators can be performed as shown with
the annihilation operators am1 and am2 above, or using the Physics:-`.` scalar product operator
O ap1 . K1;
n C1 `|` yn C 1, m `O` (2.17)

O ap2 . K2;
s C1 `|` yr, s C 1 `O` (2.18)

As an example involving the creation of a bracket rule, let |R, x,y,z > and |P, px,py,pz > represent
"position" and "momentum" state vectors; their scalar product is unknown to the system
O Bracket(Bra(R, x, y, z), Ket(P, p[x], p[y], p[z]));
Rx, y, z Pp , p , p (2.19)
x y z

Let their scalar product be the corresponding normalized plane wave (see ref. [1] at the end)
O % = 1/(2*Pi)^(3/2)*exp(I*(x*p[x] + y*p[y]+z*p[z]));
xp Cyp Cz p I
x y z
1 2 e
Rx, y, z Pp , p , p = 3/2
(2.20)
x y z 4 p
To set the above as a rule when computing Brackets between R and P vectors use
O Setup(%);
xp Cyp Cz p I
x y z
1 2 e
bracketrules = Rx, y, z Pp , p , p = 3/2
(2.21)
x y z 4 p
Now this rule is used automatically
O %Bracket(Bra(R, a, b, c), Ket(P, d, e, f));
Ra, b, c Pd, e, f (2.22)

O value(%);
a d Cb eCcf I
1 2 e
3/2
(2.23)
4 p

O Setup(continuousbasis = {P,R});
* Partial match of 'continuousbasis' against keyword 'quantumcontinuousbasis' (2.24)
quantumcontinuousbasis = R, P
O Projector(Ket(P, p[1], p[2], p[3]));
N N N
`|` Pp , p , p `O` `!` Pp , p , p `|` dp1 dp2 dp3 (2.25)
KN KN KN 1 2 3 1 2 3

O Bra(R, x[1], x[2], x[3]) . %;

N x p Cx p Cx p I
1 1 2 2 3 3
N N 2 e `!` Pp , p , p `|`
1 1 2 3
3/2
dp1 dp2 dp3 (2.26)
KN KN 4 p
KN
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O %% . Ket(R, x[1], x[2], x[3]);

N KI x p C x p C x p
1 1 2 2 3 3
N N `|` Pp , p , p `O` 2 e
1 1 2 3
3/2
dp1 dp2 dp3 (2.27)
KN KN 4 p
KN

The result above for < P | R > was computed using the rule stated for < R | P > but you can also state
the rule for < P | R > in addition, using the Setup command with the keyword additionally or stating
the two rules at the same time.

See Also
Physics:-`.`, Annihilation, Bracket, Creation, Dagger, Setup, Physics

References
C.Cohen-Tannoudji, B.Diu, F.Laloe, Quantum Mechanics, Chapter II, Hermann, Paris, France,
(1977).