Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 48 3 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Denote the momentum in the printed mode expansion by , as it equals for the boundary-subtracted density discussed in part (b). Take a real complete basis of polarization vectors. Its completeness relation with one index raised isHere raising or lowering the polarization labels uses the same diagonal matrix , so this is just the completeness relation in the PDF. Write . In the mixed field-momentum commutator, the term gives the product of the minus sign in 's creation part and the minus sign in the oscillator commutator. The term gives the same sign. The two mode normalization factors multiply to , and the momentum delta function removes one integral. ConsequentlyFor the field-field commutator, the polarization sum gives insteadbecause the integrand is odd under . Similarly,These are the requested canonical commutation relations, derived by photon oscillator completeness and canonical brackets.
They also hold for the literal momenta of part (b). The shifts areSince the fields commute at equal times, their mixed brackets with the momenta do not change. The only potentially new momentum bracket isAll other momentum brackets vanish separately. Thus both canonical conventions have and vanishing coordinate-coordinate and momentum-momentum brackets, even though the momentum operators differ by spatial derivatives. This resolves the density/expansion mismatch without changing the printed oscillator algebra.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 48 3 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The oscillator commutator givesThe temporal mode has negative norm. More precisely, the nonzero wave packet has norm . The difficulty is an indefinite Hermitian form, not the divergent normalization of an unsmeared momentum eigenstate. The covariant photon Fock space is therefore not a positive physical Hilbert space.
Gupta-Bleuler quantization imposes only the annihilation, or positive-frequency part of a quantum field, of the divergence:A strong operator identity is incompatible with the four unconstrained canonical commutation relations; in the literal momentum convention it would set . The weaker condition instead implies between physical states: the positive-frequency part annihilates the ket, and its adjoint annihilates the bra.
For a nonzero momentum choose upper-index polarization vectorswhere are an orthonormal pair perpendicular to . Labels 1 and 2 have transverse polarization, label 3 has spatial longitudinal polarization, and label 0 has timelike photon polarization. With , the divergence of the annihilation part is proportional to . The physical condition is thereforeFor a one-mode state , the condition reads . ThusThe last direction has zero norm and is orthogonal to every constrained state. Its field wavefunction is proportional to , hence it is a pure gauge symmetry direction. A purely longitudinal creator alone is not physical, despite having positive norm.
For the multiparticle sketch, put and . The commutator allows polynomials in times transverse creator states to obey the constraint. Conversely, on creator polynomials the constraint is , so these are all the constrained polynomials. Every term containing is orthogonal to every constrained bra, since . Quotienting those null vectors and completing the remaining positive space is the Gupta-Bleuler null-state quotient. It givesThe one-particle instance is the transverse one-photon physical quotient.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 61 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Assume piecewise-constant real controls with freely chosen duration, as in the usual finite-dimensional quantum controllability theorem. We can establish the strongest notion here: the Dynamical Lie algebra is , so the system has unitary operator controllability, and consequently both pure-state and fixed-spectrum density operator controllability.
To verify the hypotheses explicitly, use matrix units and put , , . Then andSince and , linear combinations of these two elements isolate and . Their commutators with give and , respectively. Further commutators give two independent traceless diagonal generators, since , as well as the two – generators. These eight generators span the special unitary Lie algebra .
Finally . Subtract its traceless component, already in the generated algebra, to obtain a nonzero multiple of . This proves the Lie algebra of the unitary group is all of , not merely . The compact-group controllability theorem then gives access to every unitary with a suitable control and some duration. This does not assert controllability at every predetermined short time or under additional bandwidth constraints. This proves that two adjacent transitions generate the qutrit unitary Lie algebra.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 61 2 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For each fixed phase , the single-transition Quantum Hamiltonian is , so its generators at different times commute. Its exact propagator depends only on . On the active two-level subspace, ; on the spectator state, . Thus it is an embedded two-level quantum rotation, not an involution on the whole three-dimensional space. Explicitly,The spectator entries in both matrices are exactly one; the converted TeX damages the second matrix, so these entries use the PDF.
The proposed combined exponential is false in general for two independent envelopes. Direct multiplication givessoThe constant pulse-axis condition for removing time ordering holds if both envelopes are proportional to the same function, but not for generic independent controls. For example, turn on only the first transition, then only the second. The result is , whose Baker--Campbell--Hausdorff formula includes a nonzero commutator correction, rather than simply .
There is also a literal source defect: the PDF's right-hand exponent omits the factor on its second term. With it would give , which has eigenvalues and is not unitary for real nonzero , whereas the true propagator is unitary. Even after repairing that missing factor, time ordering is still necessary unless the commutators vanish.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 ii Paper 1 32D a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Write , so . Repeated use of the product rule for the commutator gives . Summing the exponential series yieldsThese manipulations hold for bounded operators, or as identities on a common invariant domain where the series and derivatives are justified.
The same commutation relation implies : its derivative is and its initial value is . Put . ThenFor the specified , the operator commutes with . Indeed conjugation by sends to , and subsequent conjugation by restores . Thereforeso . At this proves the central-commutator case of the Baker--Campbell--Hausdorff formula:The last equality holds because commutes with .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 ii Paper 1 32D b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The spatial translation operator is . From and the preceding central-commutator result,Thus , consistent with . Since , the translated wavefunction is .
For the quantum harmonic oscillator, the creation and annihilation operators give . Put . The central commutator of and is , soAs and ,Taking position wavefunctions provesThe coefficient squares sum to , checking normalization of this coherent state.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 17 3 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
A left-invariant vector field on a Lie group satisfiesor equivalently for every . For , defineThis is smooth because multiplication is smooth and its differential depends smoothly on the base points. The identity gives , so is a left-invariant vector field. Conversely, left invariance forces any such field to have this form with . Evaluation at and the construction above are inverse linear maps. HenceThe Lie bracket of vector fields is their commutator as derivations on smooth functions: . It is another vector field because the cross terms cancel in the Leibniz rule for its action on a product. The bracket is preserved by a diffeomorphism: conjugating the derivation operators by pullback of a smooth function preserves their commutator. Thereforefor left-invariant . These fields are consequently closed under the bracket.
Transport the bracket to the tangent space byBilinearity and antisymmetry come from the commutator. The Jacobi identity follows by expanding the three nested commutators of derivation operators: their six terms cancel in pairs. Thus is a Lie algebra, and the displayed correspondence is a Lie algebra isomorphism onto the algebra of left-invariant vector fields.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 2 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The special linear group over a finite field consists of the determinant-one invertible matrices over . Counting an ordered basis givesThe determinant map is onto , soA transvection has the form , where , the linear functional is nonzero and . It has determinant one, fixes the hyperplane pointwise, and its displacement has image the line . In particular for is an elementary transvection when .
Row addition is multiplication by such a matrix. Gaussian elimination reduces a determinant-one matrix to diagonal form using row additions and determinant-one pivot exchanges. The latter, and all remaining diagonal factors, are themselves products of transvections: within two coordinates,A diagonal matrix with product of entries one is a product of these two-coordinate diagonal matrices. Thus transvections generate . This generation statement actually holds for every and every finite field; the exclusions in the question are needed for the subsequent simplicity assertion.
Commuting with all elementary matrices forces the group center to consist of scalar matrices with , so its order is . The projective quotient acts faithfully on the one-dimensional subspaces. Its action is two-transitive: send an ordered pair of independent representative vectors to any other pair and adjust the determinant by rescaling a representative without changing its line. Therefore it is primitive.
The Iwasawa simplicity lemma says that in a faithful primitive action, if a point stabilizer has an abelian normal subgroup whose conjugates generate the group, every nontrivial normal subgroup contains the derived subgroup. In particular a nontrivial perfect group satisfying these conditions is simple. No proof of the lemma is required here.
For the point , the subgroupis abelian, is normal in the line stabilizer, and its conjugates contain all transvections. Its image in the projective quotient has the same properties. Perfectness follows explicitly from elementary commutators. If , choose a third index to obtainIf , choose with and set . ThenEvery upper transvection is a commutator, and conjugation gives the lower ones. The group and its projective quotient are perfect. Iwasawa's simplicity lemma now proves
The order of is . Its faithful projective-line action has degree five, so its image is an index-two subgroup of , necessarily . Thus .
For the order is . We construct a faithful degree-five action. In takeThey satisfy and . Their quaternion subgroup projects to a Sylow 2-subgroup . Its projective centralizer is : a lift of a centralizing element conjugates each of to itself or its negative. In the matrix basis , those four sign choices each leave a one-dimensional space, and determinant one leaves just its two quaternion representatives. The matrixhas order three and cyclically permutes the three nonidentity elements of . The normalizer quotient embeds in and has order dividing both and , so it has order exactly three. Hence and there are five Sylow 2-subgroups. Their conjugation action is nontrivial and transitive, and simplicity makes it faithful. Its image again has order in , proving
Finally,In characteristic two an involutory matrix has form with . Its Jordan blocks have size at most two. A projective involution in has a unique involutory lift to : its square is central, and squaring is an automorphism of the scalar center of order three, allowing a unique scalar adjustment. The nonidentity Jordan form in dimension three is only . This GL-class remains a single SL-class, since the centralizer contains of every determinant . Thus has one involution class.
In there are two forms, and , so there are two involution classes. More concretely, the first group's single class has elements, counting image line, kernel plane through it and nonzero map between the quotient and image. The rank-one class in dimension four over has elements; the rank-two class has . Isomorphisms preserve conjugacy classes, so
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 42 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The canonical anticommutation relations realize the internal states as a fermionic Fock space . Choosing a Clifford vacuum annihilated by all , the states are functions multiplying , , with , or . Thus the four fermion-number sectors in supersymmetric quantum mechanics arewith internal dimensions . The fermion number operator has value on . The sectors have even fermion parity, and have odd fermion parity.
Write , so that the supercharge is . The commutator is zero because the two mixed partial derivatives of agree. The canonical anticommutation relations then imply andThe Hamiltonian operator preserves each sector, while raises and lowers its degree by one. For a state in its operator domain, , so the spectrum is nonnegative. If with , then is a state of the same energy and opposite fermion parity, and . This is an odd involution pairing bosonic and fermionic states and proves equal even and odd multiplicities at every positive eigenvalue.
There is also a more precise adjacent-sector pairing. On the positive-energy eigenspace,The two summands are orthogonal since . A state in the image of obeys , , so maps it to a normalized partner in the next sector, with inverse . Thus positive-energy doublets lie in , , or . In particular, every positive-energy state of has a partner in , and every one of has a partner in ; the remaining middle-sector states pair with each other. There is no requirement that all four individual sector spectra coincide. Zero-energy states satisfy and can be unpaired. No confinement assumption was given: a continuous spectrum is possible, with the same even/odd pairing on its positive spectral subspaces.
For real , the adjoint operator is . In , every vanishes; in the one-dimensional internal space of , it equals . The two scalar Hamiltonian operators are consequentlyThese are the extreme sectors of the gradient superpotential Hamiltonian in supersymmetric quantum mechanics.
For radial and a normalized state with , and . The radial superpartner in three-dimensional supersymmetric quantum mechanics therefore has the simple formIt belongs to ; follows from , and its wavefunction normalization follows from . Also . At the origin the formula is interpreted by regular extension; its degree-one components carry the radial unit vector rather than being three independent radial scalars.
For a zero mode in the fermion-vacuum sector, the factorization of gives . Hence , or . The requested wavefunction isA nonzero normalizable wavefunction exists only if this integral is finite. The positive sign in the exponential is fixed by the given convention .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 44 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use natural units and the Minkowski metric . The canonical momentum is , and the Legendre transform in mechanics givesFor canonical quantization of a real scalar field, impose the equal-time canonical commutation relationsThe Heisenberg picture equation then gives . For the other equation, the momentum term commutes with ; commuting the gradient term past and integrating the derivative of the Dirac delta function by parts gives . ConsequentlyThe Fourier transform reduces this Klein-Gordon equation to oscillators of frequency . Hermiticity of the real scalar field pairs their positive- and negative-frequency coefficients, so its general mode expansion can be normalized asTo verify its normalization rather than guess the oscillator algebra, use scalar field oscillator inversion at :Its adjoint has the conjugate phase and the opposite sign in front of . The two mixed field-momentum commutators giveThe Fourier representation of the Dirac delta function sets the energies equal in the last step. Similarly, has a factor multiplying and vanishes; the two-creator commutator vanishes as well.
Substituting the expansion in and integrating the spatial phases, the two-annihilator and two-creator coefficients cancel by . The free real scalar Hamiltonian in oscillator variables isIt differs from by its constant vacuum energy; normal ordering removes that constant. Using the oscillator commutators, for either Hamiltonian,Choose the Fock vacuum annihilated by every . Each creation operator adds a particle of energy and momentum ; its annihilation operator removes one. Their mutual commutativity gives bosonic Fock space and symmetric many-particle states. Thus the scalar mass-shell frequency has a particle interpretation, rather than merely describing a classical oscillation.
For and , vacuum contraction and time ordering give the Feynman propagatorIn the scalar Feynman propagator pole prescription, the integral of has poles at and . Close clockwise below for and counterclockwise above for . The residue theorem gives exactly the corresponding term above, provingAs a direct check of the distributional source, is continuous, but . The derivative jump of a free scalar time-ordered two-point function therefore gives . Spatial Fourier inversion yields
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 45 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Start with a nonzero highest-weight vector and set . The sl2 highest-weight lowering formula follows inductively from the commutator relations:Indeed gives the weight formula, and turns the coefficient at step into at step . The nonzero have distinct eigenvalues, so are linearly independent. Finite dimensionality therefore forces a last nonzero vector . Applying to gives , hence . This also proves that no earlier vector can vanish. Thus the cyclic highest-weight representation generated by isIt is irreducible: spectral projections in select a weight vector from any nonzero invariant subspace, and its nonzero raising and lowering coefficients then generate the whole string. This gives the classification of finite-dimensional sl2 representations used for each root direction below.
For the SU(3) Lie algebra, the repeated-index relation is the trace constraint . The displayed generators are a basis of its complexification, not nine independent generators or three individually vanishing diagonal elements. Realize them by matrix units as ; the compact real algebra is obtained from anti-Hermitian combinations. Thenand , , , . Substituting into the given commutators givesThus both root pairs obey the required sl2 Lie algebra relations. More generally, their Cartan matrix isA weight vector with eigenvalues moves by under and by under . The third negative-root operator is and moves it by . In the required weight diagram coordinatesthese moves are , and respectively. Successive lowerings from a highest-weight vector, with linear dependencies removed, construct the following bases.
For Dynkin labels , use the defining action of SU(3) on . Its highest vector is ; lowering gives and . There are no further independent vectors. The weight diagram of the defining SU(3) representation, in the present rescaled coordinates, isand . Any invariant weight subspace raises to and lowers to all three vectors, proving irreducibility.
For , use the adjoint representation of SU(3) on traceless matrices, with acting by . The highest vector is : both and vanish, while . Lowering gives and . Further lowering produces and , then and , and finally . Consequently the basis is the six off-diagonal matrix units together with :The six nonzero weights have weight multiplicity one, and zero has multiplicity two. Thus . Its irreducibility follows also because an adjoint-invariant subspace is an ideal and is a simple Lie algebra.
For , take the symmetric cubic representation of SU(3), , realized by homogeneous degree-three polynomials. Hereso is a highest-weight vector with eigenvalues . For ,which is nonzero and constructs every monomial. These monomials form a basis and have distinct weights . If an invariant subspace is nonzero, joint spectral projections in select one monomial; repeated transfers its powers to , and repeated transfers all its powers to , reaching . Lowering then generates the whole basis, proving irreducibility without merely assuming the dimension formula. The plotted weights arewith multiplicity one at every point. Hence .
SU(3) weights in the three requested representations, with the two independent zero-weight octet states marked
. Details. For approximate flavor symmetry, identify with the up quark, down quark and strange quark. The defining representation is their flavour triplet. The baryon octet realizes and contains the spin- nucleons and the multiplets; its central double weight distinguishes and . The baryon decuplet realizes the symmetric flavour representation , containing the spin- multiplets. In standard isospin and flavor hypercharge normalization, and , so these plots use and . Three-quark spin and flavour combine subject to the Pauli constraint on three-quark flavour multiplets and the antisymmetric three-quark colour singlet. The adjoint flavour representation also describes a meson octet. A distinct, exact colour SU(3) gauge symmetry places quarks in its defining representation and gluons in its adjoint octet; colour and flavour here are different physical group actions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 52 1 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Hamiltonian engineering chooses accessible interactions so that their actual or effective Quantum Hamiltonian produces the desired evolution. A typical model is ; the controls may change frequencies, amplitudes, phases or coupling strengths. Three standard model-based open-loop control approaches illustrate different mechanisms.
In resonant quantum control, select a transition with a near-resonant field. In a rotating frame, after neglecting rapidly oscillating terms in a justified regime, an effective two-level drive can be . When its axis is fixed,The pulse area sets the rotation angle and the drive phase selects the transverse axis. A resonant pulse of area swaps the two level populations. This requires knowledge of transition frequencies, couplings and the validity of the selective-drive approximation.
In adiabatic quantum control, design a slowly varying Quantum Hamiltonian whose desired instantaneous eigenstate connects the initial and final states. For a nondegenerate eigenstate separated by a gap, the quantum adiabatic theorem explains why sufficiently slow evolution follows that state up to a phase. The relative size of matrix elements of and squared spectral gaps controls the approximation; degeneracies or rapid changes invalidate simple following. This engineers a state path rather than a prescribed resonant rotation.
In average Hamiltonian engineering, apply a predetermined sequence of fast pulses and let the system evolve for intervals in the corresponding frames. For cycle length , the leading effective generator isChoose the sequence to cancel unwanted terms or retain desired couplings. For instance, equal intervals under and its conjugate cancel the leading generator because . Noncommuting terms produce higher-order commutator corrections, so fast cycling, finite pulse errors and the accuracy of the model matter. All three methods determine a waveform or sequence before its execution; none automatically corrects an unknown mismatch during that run.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 52 2 d Solution 2026-10-14
Let denote the Lindbladian. Substituting and projecting with the Hilbert-Schmidt inner product givesFor the Quantum Hamiltonian term, cyclicity of the trace yieldsFor each Lindblad dissipator, the same cyclic rearrangement givesThese are the required coefficient matrices, so . They are real because both generators map Hermitian matrices to Hermitian matrices, whose coordinates are real by (a).
The trace of a commutator vanishes. AlsoThus the last row of is zero and . It is trace preservation, not preservation of the purity of a density operator, that produces this constant coordinate.
Write and . Since , the remaining coordinates obey the Affine Bloch equationBecause and , its offset can also be writtenIt vanishes for unital dynamics, but need not vanish for a general dissipative evolution.
