Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-theoretical-physics-ii-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2015/paper-1/4/a/solution

For the canonical quantum Gibbs state,
If , its spectral form is , with a sum over any degeneracy and an integral where a continuous spectrum needs one. It is Hermitian, positive and has unit trace, and it commutes with . The formula presumes a well-defined finite partition function. At zero temperature a nondegenerate stable system approaches its ground-state projector; a degenerate ground space requires specifying the ensemble or preparation.

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