Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2017/iii/paper-305/1/b/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 305 1 b Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Assume a complete relativistically normalized basis of scalar momentum eigenstates transforms asThis states both reversal of spatial momentum and preservation of the normalization of basis quantum states. Antilinearity alone would not suffice: multiplying a conjugation operator by two gives an antilinear operator that multiplies squared norms by four.
Expand and similarly for , with . This Lorentz-invariant phase-space measure is unchanged under . The antilinearity of the quantum time-reversal operator gives conjugated expansion coefficients. Orthogonality of the momentum eigenstates and cancellation of their unit-modulus phases yieldSince momentum reversal is a bijection of the complete basis, is also onto. ThusThis proves antiunitarity, with the normalization hypothesis explicitly included. For scalar multiparticle quantum states the same argument uses the complete occupation-state basis and reverses all momenta; it is not restricted to a single-particle wave packet.
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