Finding Matrix Elements

Highlights of the activity

1. Students review the ideas of projecting a vector onto a basis vector and “operating on” a vector with a matrix using bra-ket notation.
2. Students carry out explicit matrix and bra-ket calculations to find matrix elements, e.g., $\langle2|A|1\rangle$.

Reasons to spend class time on the activity

This activity helps students to practice using basis vectors to extract elements from a matrix in both matrix language and in bra-ket notation.

Reflections

• Reflections from the original implementation.

• Reflections from "official" adapters/adopters.

• Reflections from the general public.

Instructor's Guide

• Wiki version

Student Handouts

prmatrixelemshand.pdf

prmatrixelemshand.tex