Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2002/iii/paper-74/6/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 74 6 Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use and , so in the stated real coordinates and . For , let be the actual fundamental vector field of the left action, obtained by differentiating at zero. Since the action preserves , Cartan's magic formula gives .
A global component Hamiltonian requires this closed one-form to be exact, withChoose these functions linearly in . This defines the moment map, with equivariance when the constants have the required normalization. A symplectic action alone need not admit it: translation in a periodic coordinate of a symplectic two-torus contracts to a closed one-form with nonzero period. A sufficient existence condition is ; more generally one assumes the action is weakly Hamiltonian and resolves its moment-map equivariance obstruction.
Because the group also preserves ,The component vector fields commute with the Hamiltonian flow: in this convention , hence . These are both conserved observables and infinitesimal symmetries of the dynamics.
For a left action, fundamental vector fields obey . Together with the Hamiltonian-field identity, this makeshave zero Hamiltonian vector field. It is therefore constant on each connected component of . One sufficient condition for is an equivariant moment map, , where . Differentiating this condition along gives directlyA useful concrete sufficient condition is a common fixed point and the normalization . The constant is zero there because all fundamental fields vanish, and hence zero everywhere on connected . This is fixed-point normalization removes the moment-map cocycle. If the action has an ineffective Lie-algebra kernel, the map to observables can have that kernel; equality of brackets alone is not a claim of a faithful representation.
For the oscillator, the printed complex coordinates give and . For an anti-Hermitian matrix , the fundamental field is . Direct contraction yieldsConsequently the unitary moment map of an isotropic oscillator in our declared convention isIt is real because is anti-Hermitian. Identifying with Hermitian matrices by , this is simply . Unitary invariance of proves conservation of all nine real matrix components. Under , the matrix transforms as , exactly the coadjoint transformation in this pairing. The origin is the required fixed point.
The bracket can also be checked without an equivariance theorem. For and , useDifferentiation gives . The central generator has , while a real antisymmetric generator hasThus the special orthogonal group subgroup has the usual angular momentum components , with . The remaining unitary generators supply the other conserved quadratic observables, with their signs fixed by the stated choice of complex coordinates and Hamiltonian convention.
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