Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2001/iii/paper-70/3/a/i/solution

Choose a vacuum order parameter and let be its stabilizer in . Acting with produces all symmetry-related minima; two elements produce the same minimum precisely when they differ by an element of . The vacuum manifold is therefore
This assumes a single transitive orbit of minima; additional independent vacuum sectors would require more than one orbit. For a local gauge symmetry, describes the vacuum directions used in finite-energy boundary conditions and defect classification, rather than distinct observable vacua after quotienting by every gauge redundancy.

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