Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2009/ii/paper-4/32c/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ii Paper 4 32C Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Let . Differentiating both exponentials and using that commutes with givesApplying the same calculation repeatedly gives . Its Taylor series at zero, evaluated at one, proves the commutator expansion for exponential conjugationFor bounded operators the series converges in operator norm by the bound . The quantum computations below hold on a common invariant domain, such as Schwartz functions, with the commutator series either terminating or closing on a finite-dimensional span.
Use the canonical commutation relations and the Heisenberg picture . For the first Hamiltonian,All further relevant commutators vanish, soThe explicit energy check isThe scalar shifts commute with all operators, so there is no ordering ambiguity.
For the two-dimensional system put and . Direct commutation gives , . Thus the Heisenberg equations of motion are , , whose solution, equivalently the resummed commutator series, isExpanding both squares cancels their cross terms and gives .
In the interaction picture generated by , and . The terminating expansion therefore gives . Also , either by the momentum-square calculation or by direct commutation. Conjugating by rotates position and momentum by the same matrix, since and . Hence
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