Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2026/iii/paper-305/1/ii/solution

Let be the eigenvalues of the positive semidefinite matrix . The potential is
For and , each summand is minimized at
so . A symmetry transformation preserves the representative precisely when , giving
The number of broken generators is , so the Goldstone theorem predicts modes, each a Goldstone boson.
Solved by gpt-5.6-sol high.

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