Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-quantum-condensed-matter-field-theory-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2016/paper-1/3/a/solution

Keep the electromagnetic units of the supplied Lagrangian, including its factor , and regard as the signed coupling used there. Set . The canonical momentum is , so the Legendre transform gives
Single-valued periodic wavefunctions have normalized eigenstates with integer . Defining dimensionless flux gives , and the trace is therefore
The flux-threaded quantum rotor spectrum is periodic under after relabelling , corresponding to flux period in these units. A local gauge change can remove the magnetic vector potential from the differential operator but then imposes a twisted boundary condition with phase ; it cannot remove the flux dependence from both the Hamiltonian and boundary condition simultaneously. In SI conventions the flux coupling has no , so one must not mix the two unit systems.

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