Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/ii/paper-1/34b/a/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 ii Paper 1 34B a Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
The Born rule depends only on transition probabilitiesbetween rays. A physical transformation must preserve these probabilities. By Wigner theorem, such a ray transformation is induced by a unitary or antiunitary operator. For ordinary continuously connected transformations one chooses the unitary branch, so
The states and represent the same ray. They may therefore differ by a state-independent quantum phase:Thus quantum transformations form a projective unitary representation.
If is a symmetry of the Hamiltonian operator , it also obeysequivalently . For a differentiable one-parameter subgroup, writewith a self-adjoint generator . Differentiating the symmetry equation at yieldsFor a time-independent , the Heisenberg picture equation isHence the generator is a conserved observable. Conversely, a self-adjoint conserved commutes with and its unitary group generates symmetries. This is the conserved generator of a continuous quantum symmetry.
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