Solution

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

The canonical anticommutation relations make , so the proposed exponential function terminates exactly:
Use the inverse Bogoliubov transformation , , and the actions and . The two vacuum state conditions become
Both therefore require . Normalizing this quantum state gives . Choosing positive , which fixes an irrelevant overall global phase, yields because . Thus the two-mode fermionic paired vacuum is
The other sign for describes the same physical quantum state. The positive relative coefficient is fixed by the paper's pairing order and the convention .
As a direct eigenvector check, and imply
It is therefore the unique ground state, as also follows from positive quasiparticle excitation energy . It has definite even fermion parity but is not an eigenstate of the original total number operator: the empty-pair and occupied-pair probabilities are and . In particular . The pair amplitude is , consistently with .
For the limiting check at fixed positive , , , so . For at fixed positive , , , giving equal amplitudes for the empty and occupied pair. These checks also fix which branch of the Bogoliubov transformation produces the ground state.

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