Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2025/iii/paper-343/1/c/solution

Let be the spin-one-half singlet state, complete it to an orthonormal basis , and choose
Each excited population decays into the singlet. On the matrix-unit basis, has decay eigenvalue after separating off its contribution to the stationary population, while and its adjoint have eigenvalue . The sole zero mode is , so every initial state converges to
The nonzero eigenvalue closest to the origin is therefore

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