Quantum Mechanics for

Scientists and Engineers

David Miller
Background mathematics 9
Matrix notation
Matrix notation
A matrix is, first of all, a rectangular
array of numbers
An MN matrix has
M rows (here 2)
Rows are horizontal
N columns (here 3)
Columns are vertical
The array is enclosed in square brackets
2 1 3

6 5 4
A

(
=
(

This is a
rectangular
matrix
2 3
Symbol for a matrix
As a symbol for a matrix
we could just use a capital letter, like A
Here, we need to distinguish matrices
and other linear operators
from numbers and simple variables
so we put a hat over a symbol
representing a matrix
which distinguishes a matrix
symbol when we write it by
hand

A
2 1 3

6 5 4
A

(
=
(

Rectangular and square matrices
Because all matrices are, by
definition, rectangular
when we say a matrix is
rectangular
we almost always mean it is not
a square matrix
one with equal numbers of
rows and columns
This is a
square
matrix
2 2
1.5 0.5

0.5 1.5
i
B
i

(
=
(

Rectangular and square matrices
The numbers or elements in a matrix
can be
real, imaginary, or complex
The elements are indexed in row-
column order
B
12
is the element (value -0.5i) in the
first row and second column
We often use the same letter, here B, for
the matrix and for its elements
or the lower case version, e.g., b
12
This is a
square
matrix
2 2
1.5 0.5

0.5 1.5
i
B
i

(
=
(

Diagonal elements
The leading diagonal of a matrix
or just the diagonal
is the diagonal from top left to
bottom right
Elements on the diagonal
here those with value 1.5
are called diagonal elements
Elements not on the diagonal
here those with value 0.5i and -0.5i
are called off-diagonal elements
This is a
square
matrix
2 2
1.5 0.5

0.5 1.5
i
B
i

(
=
(

Vectors
In the matrix algebra version of vectors
which are matrices of size 1 in one of
their directions
we must specify whether a vector is a
row vector
a matrix with one row
or a column vector
a matrix with one column
2 3
5 2
4
7 6
i
i
d
i
i
+
(
(
+
(
=
(
(


| |
4, 2,5,7 c =
Transpose
An important manipulation for matrices
and vectors is
the transpose
denoted by a superscript
T

a reflection about a diagonal line
from top left to bottom right for
a matrix
Algebraically
2 1 3

6 5 4
A

(
=
(

2 6

1 5
3 4
T
A
(
(
=
(
(

( )

T
nm
mn
A A =
1.5 0.5

0.5 1.5
i
B
i

(
=
(

Transpose
An important manipulation for matrices
and vectors is
the transpose
denoted by a superscript
T

a reflection about a diagonal line
from top left to bottom right for
a matrix
Algebraically
1.5 0.5

0.5 1.5
T
i
B
i
(
=
(

( )

T
nm
mn
B B =
Transpose
An important manipulation for matrices
and vectors is
the transpose
denoted by a superscript
T

a reflection about a diagonal line
from top left to bottom right for
a matrix
or at 45 for a vector
| |
4, 2,5,7 c =
4
2
5
7
T
c
(
(

(
=
(
(

Transpose
An important manipulation for matrices
and vectors is
the transpose
denoted by a superscript
T

a reflection about a diagonal line
from top left to bottom right for
a matrix
or at 45 for a vector
2 3
5 2
4
7 6
i
i
d
i
i
+
(
(
+
(
=
(
(


[2 3 5 2 4 7 6 ]
T
d i i i i = + +
Hermitian transpose or adjoint
Another common manipulation is the
Hermitian adjoint, Hermitian
transpose, or conjugate transpose
denoted by a superscript

pronounced dagger
a reflection about a diagonal line
from top left to bottom right for a
matrix or at 45 for a vector
and taking the complex
conjugate of all the elements
1.5 0.5

0.3 1.5
i
D
i

(
=
(

1.5 0.3

0.5 1.5
i
D
i

(
=
(

( )

nm
mn
D D
-
=
Hermitian transpose or adjoint
Another common manipulation is the
Hermitian adjoint, Hermitian
transpose, or conjugate transpose
denoted by a superscript

pronounced dagger
a reflection about a diagonal line
from top left to bottom right for a
matrix or at 45 for a vector
and taking the complex
conjugate of all the elements
2 3
5 2
4
7 6
i
i
d
i
i
+
(
(
+
(
=
(
(


| |

2 3 5 2 4 7 6 d i i i i = + +
Hermitian matrix
A matrix is said to be
Hermitian
if it is equal to its own Hermitian
adjoint
i.e.,
or, element by element

B B =
( ) ( )

nm nm
B B =
1.5 0.5

0.5 1.5
i
B
i

(
=
(

1.5 0.5

0.5 1.5
i
B B
i

(
= =
(

Background mathematics 9
Matrix algebra
Adding and subtracting matrices
If two matrices are the same
size
i.e., the same numbers of
rows and columns
we can add or subtract
them by
adding or subtracting
the individual matrix
elements
one by one
1

2 1 3
i
F
i
(
=
(

5 4

6 7 8
i
G
i
(
=
(
+


K F G = +
Adding and subtracting matrices
If two matrices are the same
size
i.e., the same numbers of
rows and columns
we can add or subtract
them by
adding or subtracting
the individual matrix
elements
one by one
1

2 1 3
i
F
i
(
=
(

5 4

6 7 8
i
G
i
(
=
(
+


1 5 4
2 6 1 7 3 8
K F G
i i
i i
= +
+ +
(
=
(
+ +

Adding and subtracting matrices
If two matrices are the same
size
i.e., the same numbers of
rows and columns
we can add or subtract
them by
adding or subtracting
the individual matrix
elements
one by one
1

2 1 3
i
F
i
(
=
(

5 4

6 7 8
i
G
i
(
=
(
+


1 5 4
2 6 1 7 3 8
6 5
4 8 5
K F G
i i
i i
i
i
= +
+ +
(
=
(
+ +

(
=
(
+

Multiplying a vector by a matrix
Suppose we want to multiply a column
vector by a matrix
The number of rows in the vector
must match the number of
columns in the matrix
This is generally true for matrix-matrix
multiplication
The number of rows in the matrix on
the right
must match the number of
columns in the matrix on the left
1 2 3
4 5 6
matrix
7
8
9
vector
Multiplying a vector by a matrix
First we put the vector sideways on
top of the matrix
then multiply element by element
and add to get the first element
of the resulting vector
Move down
and repeat for the next row
1 2 3
4 5 6
7
8
9
matrix vector
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
1 7
2 8
3 9
50

+
+
=

50
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
4 7
5 8
6 9
122

+
+
=

50
122
Multiplying a vector by a matrix
1 2 3
4 5 6
7
8
9
matrix vector
7
8
9
1 2 3
4 5 6
50
122
=
m mn n
n
d A c =

d
=

A
c
First we put the vector sideways on
top of the matrix
then multiply element by element
and add to get the first element
of the resulting vector
Move down
and repeat for the next row
We can also write this multiplication
with a sum over the repeated
index
Multiplying a matrix by a matrix
To multiply a matrix by a matrix
repeat this operation for each
column of the matrix on the
right
working from left to right
Write down the resulting
columns in the resulting matrix
also working from left to right
Summation notation
sums over the repeated index
7 1
50 14 1 2 3
8 2
122 32 4 5 6
9 3
(
( (
(
=
( (
(

(

R
=

B

A
mp mn np
n
R B A =

Vector vector products

An inner product
of a row and a column vector
collapses two vectors to a
number
analogous to geometrical
vector dot product
An outer product
of a column and a row vector
generates a square matrix
| |
4
32 1 2 3 5
6
(
(
=
(
(

| |
4 8 12 4
5 10 15 5 1 2 3
6 12 18 6
( (
( (
=
( (
( (

n n
n
f c d =

c d f
=
mp m p
F d c =

F = d
c
Matrix algebra properties
Matrix algebra, like normal algebra
is associative
and has distributive properties
but matrix multiplication is
not in general commutative
as is easily proved by
example
( ) ( )

CB A C BA =
( )

A B C AB AC + = +
1 2 5 6 19 22
3 4 7 8 43 50
( ( (
=
( ( (

5 6 1 2 23 34
7 8 3 4 31 46
( ( (
=
( ( (


BA AB = in general
Multiplying a matrix by a number
Multiplying a matrix by a number
means we multiply every element of
the matrix by that number
Also, we can take out a common factor
from every element
multiplying the matrix by that factor
Such results are easily proved in
summation notation
e.g., for matrix vector multiplication
where B
mn
= oA
mn
1 2 2 4
2
3 4 6 8
( (
=
( (

2 4 1 2
2
6 8 3 4
( (
=
( (

( )
m mn n mn n
n n
mn n mn n
n n
d A c A c
A c B c
o o
o
= =
= =


Multiplying a matrix by a number
Since number multiplication is commutative
we can move simple factors around
arbitrarily in matrix products
e.g., for a number o and a vector c
This result is also easily proved using
summation notation

ABc A Bc AB c o o o = =
Hermitian adjoint of a product
The Hermitian adjoint of a product
is the reversed product of the Hermitian adjoints
We can prove this using summation notation
Suppose so that and so
( )

AB B A =

R AB =
mp mn np
n
R A B =

( )
( )

*


( ) ( )

( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
pm mp mn np mn np
n n
pm
nm pn pn nm
n n
pm
AB R R A B A B
A B B A B A
- - - | |
= = = =
|
\ .
= = =


Inverse of a matrix
For ordinary algebra, the reciprocal or
inverse of a number or variable x is
which has the obvious property
For a matrix, if it has an inverse
it has the property
where is called the identity matrix
which is the diagonal matrix with
1 for all diagonal elements
and zeros for all other elements
1
1
x
x x
x

= =
1/ x
1
x

or
1

1

A A I

I
Identity matrix
For example, the 3x3 identity matrix is
The identity matrix in a given
multiplication has to be the right size
so we do not typically bother to state
the size of the identity matrix
For any matrix
we can write
Like the number 1 in ordinary algebra
the identity matrix is almost trivial
but is very important
1 0 0

0 1 0
0 0 1
I
(
(
=
(
(


AI IA A = =