College Physics ›› 2025, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (7): 10-.doi: 10.16854/j.cnki.1000-0712.240502

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The Rodrigues rotation formula for vector operators and its applications

WU Ning   

  1. Center for Quantum Technology Research, School of Physics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
  • Received:2024-11-01 Revised:2025-02-20 Online:2025-09-01 Published:2025-09-16

Abstract: Using the global transformation properties of vector operators under rotation operations, this paper presents a classical derivation of the Rodrigues formula satisfied by general vector operators. The formula is then applied to two physical examples: 1. We provide some further analysis regarding one of the main conclusions in \[YAN Er-bin. On the state space of angular momentum. College Physics, 2021, 40(10): 18-21\], 2. Solution of the Rabi problem with the static magnetic field pointing along an arbitrary direction.

Key words: vector operators, spatial rotations, spin component operator, Rabi problem