Experiment 5

In this experiment the electrons coming out of the Electron Gun are in a single (but as yet unknown) quantum state. We will call this state Unknown State 1. Our goal is to analyze that state in terms of spin along each of the three coordinate axes. For example, the electrons may be in a state given by

ψ = +(x) + -(x)

where χ+(x) is the state of an electron with spin “up” (with respect to the x-axis) and χ-(x) is the state of an electron with spin “down” (with respect to the x-axis). We will let a and b be real numbers, although in general they can be complex. In this case the probability for the electron to be measured with spin “up” would be a2 and the probability for it to be measured with spin “down” would be b2.