Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 37D iii Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 37D ii Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 37D i Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 36A Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Let two systems exchange energy inside an otherwise isolated composite system, so is fixed. By the Second law of thermodynamics, equilibrium maximizes the total entropyAt an interior maximum,Thus , which is entropy maximization under thermal contact and the condition for thermal equilibrium.
Stability requires this entropy maximum to be locally strict, so each ordinary subsystem has a concave entropy-energy relation. Sinceone has , or equivalentlyThis is the entropy concavity and positive heat capacity criterion.
Now let and . Because the spins are distinguishable, the number of microstates is the binomial coefficientThe Boltzmann entropy and the Stirling formula give, to leading order for large ,The total energy isThereforeSolving for the up-spin fraction gives the independent spin-one-half two-level system resultFor ordinary positive absolute temperature,with as and as . Since the spectrum is bounded above, the population-inverted range is also mathematically possible and corresponds to negative temperature; is the infinite-temperature state.
Substitution givesand direct differentiation yieldsThus the energy increases with temperature throughout either finite-temperature branch, in particular throughout the required positive-temperature range.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 35C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
In the Parity basis of a one-dimensional S-matrix, parity acts as . Parity invariance requiresand thereforeIndependently, unitarity givesCombining parity and unitarity leaves two phases,
For the symmetric double-delta potential, consider the odd channel on . Choose the asymptotic conventionand write for ; the sine enforces odd parity at the origin. Continuity and the delta potential derivative jump at giveEliminating yields the Odd-parity S-matrix of a symmetric double-delta potentialUsing rewrites this as the requested expressionFor real , the two factors in the ratio are complex conjugates, directly confirming .
A bound state occurs at a pole , . Setting the denominator to zero givesorFor , write . The right-hand side is increasing and concave, starts at zero with slope , and approaches , whereas the left-hand side is the straight line . A positive intersection therefore exists exactly whenThis is the odd bound state of a symmetric double-delta potential; equality is its zero-energy threshold.
For , analytically continue the same pole equation into the lower half of the complex -plane. PutIt becomesWhen , the lowest odd mode lies near the hard-wall value . Writing and expanding givessoIn particular, the odd resonance of a strongly repulsive symmetric double-delta potential hasThe negative imaginary part identifies a decaying scattering resonance. Ifthen, to leading nonzero order,Its time-dependent amplitude is proportional toso its survival probability decays as and its lifetime isPhysically, this is the lowest odd standing wave trapped for a long time between two strong repulsive barriers and leaking out by quantum tunnelling.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 34A Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
For part (a), the adjoint operator isUsing the canonical commutation relation ,Thus and are the annihilation and creation operators of the quantum harmonic oscillator.
For part (b), writeSince and , differentiation of the unitary conjugation givesThe initial conditions are and . Solving this pair of linear ordinary differential equations gives the Bogoliubov transformationThis is the transformation implemented by the single-mode squeeze operator.
For part (c), invert the definition of :The transformation above impliesThe ground state has zero position and momentum means and variances and . Hence the squeezed vacuum state hasThe reciprocal squeezing factors cancel, soThe state therefore continues to saturate the Heisenberg uncertainty relation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 33C b Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 33C a Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 32E iii Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 32E ii Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 32E i Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 31J c Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 31J b Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 31J a Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 30K b Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 30K a Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 2H iii Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 2H ii Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 2H i Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 29J Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Let have regular density , letbe its score function, and letbe its Fisher information. Regularity gives the mean-zero score identity .
Suppose an estimator has mean . Differentiating under the integral givesThe Cauchy-Schwarz inequality therefore yieldsand hence the Cramér-Rao boundIn particular, an unbiased estimator of has variance at least . For an independent sample, the information is the sum of the individual informations.
Now let be independent variables with , under squared-error loss. The sample mean is unbiased with variance , sofor every . Thus the minimax value is at most .
For the matching lower bound, choose a continuously differentiable density on that vanishes at both endpoints and has finite prior informationfor example, . For , define the priorIt is supported inside the parameter space, and its information is .
Here the likelihood score iswhose Fisher information is . For any decision rule , combine it with the prior score to form the joint scoreIntegration by parts in , with no boundary term because vanishes there, givesThe likelihood score has conditional mean zero, so its cross term with the prior score vanishes andCauchy--Schwarz now proves the Van Trees inequality in this case:The worst-case risk dominates every integrated risk, and thereforeLetting shows that every rule has worst-case risk at least . Since attains that value, the result on the minimax sample mean for a nonnegative normal location is
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