Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2009/iii/paper-52/3/d/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 52 3 d Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
First fix a source convention needed for physical coordinates. The PDF's displayed definition of omits a factor of : half the commutator of the two Hermitian transverse matrices is anti-Hermitian and cannot supply a real Bloch coordinate. The Hermitian choice consistent with the supplied dynamical matrix isWith this convention the three Pauli expectation values use the unit-radius normalization, unlike the orthonormal coordinates of Question 2. For example, writing with , , the dissipator gives rates for , for , and population equation . The Quantum Hamiltonian adds to and to . This independently reproduces the supplied real Bloch dynamics.
Put . Since decays independently, every steady state has . The reduced steady-state equations areTheir coefficient determinant isIt is strictly positive unless and . Inverting this two-by-two system givesThus the reduced system has a unique steady state except at , . At that exceptional point the equations reduce to , , so every is stationary; physical coordinates restrict .
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