Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2003/iii/paper-61/3/b/solution

Remove the commutator gauge by setting . These matrices all satisfy the ordinary first-order systems
Both coefficient matrices are traceless, so the normalization implies . For any two solutions, differentiating shows that it is independent of both and . Calling these constant matrices and gives
At , , so . More generally,
At the other normalization is , so
Thus is determined by the initial spatial Volterra integral equation, while is determined by the boundary time equation evaluated at . The latter uses all boundary values occurring in , including the initially unknown second-derivative trace. It is the global relation, rather than a claim of independence of those traces, that supplies their constraint.

New to topics? Read the docs here!