Paper 1, Section I, 10C

Quantum Information and Computation
Part II, 2020

Suppose we measure an observable A=n^σA=\hat{n} \cdot \vec{\sigma}on a qubit, where n^=(nx,ny,nz)R3\hat{n}=\left(n_{x}, n_{y}, n_{z}\right) \in \mathbb{R}^{3} is a unit vector and σ=(σx,σy,σz)\vec{\sigma}=\left(\sigma_{x}, \sigma_{y}, \sigma_{z}\right) is the vector of Pauli operators.

(i) Express AA as a 2×22 \times 2 matrix in terms of the components of n^\hat{n}.

(ii) Representing n^\hat{n} in terms of spherical polar coordinates as n^=(1,θ,ϕ)\hat{n}=(1, \theta, \phi), rewrite the above matrix in terms of the angles θ\theta and ϕ\phi.

(iii) What are the possible outcomes of the above measurement?

(iv) Suppose the qubit is initially in a state 1|1\rangle. What is the probability of getting an outcome 1?

(v) Consider the three-qubit state

ψ=a000+b010+c110+d111+e100|\psi\rangle=a|000\rangle+b|010\rangle+c|110\rangle+d|111\rangle+e|100\rangle

Suppose the second qubit is measured relative to the computational basis. What is the probability of getting an outcome 1? State the rule that you are using.