Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-advanced-quantum-theory-path-integrals-and-many-particle-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2025/2/c/solution

Let , and . Substitution of the Bogoliubov transformation, with normal ordering using and , gives
For example, the term in contributes ; these constants must be retained to obtain the ground-state energy. The two-orbital fermionic pairing Hamiltonian is consequently
To eliminate the pairing term, choose a canonical rotation of two fermionic modes satisfying
With , , take , so . Setting gives
This positive choice fixes a convenient convention for the vacuum state in part (d). It yields
Both number operators independently have eigenvalues . Hence the energy eigenvalues and state degeneracies are
There is one fermionic Bogoliubov quasiparticle of energy per occupied transformed orbital. The two Nambu spinor matrix eigenvalues should not be mistaken for two independently occupiable levels of opposite energy; the normal ordering constant and the two positive quasiparticle excitation costs give the four physical energy eigenvalues above.
An independent diagonalization of a matrix checks both the pairing sign and the additive constant. In the ordered orthonormal basis , the even-fermion parity block is
because and . Its characteristic polynomial is , giving . The odd-fermion parity Fock states are unaffected by pairing and both have energy .
Equivalently, with the Nambu spinor ,
Replacing by gives , reproducing the result by normal ordering.
Figure 1.
Pairing splits the even-parity levels and mixes the original vacuum with the occupied pair
. Original exact energy eigenvalues in units of , and the probability of finding both original orbitals occupied in the two-mode fermionic paired vacuum. The middle energy level remains twofold degenerate; both outside energy levels are nondegenerate. Details.

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