Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ia Paper 1 8C i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Expanding the commutator immediately gives , , and . For its matrix trace, writeConsequently every matrix commutator is traceless: . This is the trace of a matrix commutator identity, valid for arbitrary square matrices over the complex numbers.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ia Paper 1 8C iv Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Every traceless skew-Hermitian matrix of size two has the formso it equals for . If , take . Otherwise choose a unit vector perpendicular to and set , . The vector triple product gives .
By part (iii), choosing and gives the required representationIn fact both factors can themselves be chosen as traceless skew-Hermitian matrices. The cross-product model of su(2) explains this geometric commutator construction.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 2 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
For a Lie algebra , write for the linear span of brackets with one argument in each indicated subspace. The three definitions areThese are respectively an Abelian Lie algebra, a solvable Lie algebra and a nilpotent Lie algebra. The second and third sequences are the derived series of a Lie algebra and the lower central series of a Lie algebra.
An Abelian Lie algebra has , and a nilpotent Lie algebra is a solvable Lie algebra: induction gives . Thus all the implications are generated byNone of the reverse implications holds. The Heisenberg Lie algebra with basis and , all other basic brackets zero, is nonabelian but has , . The two-dimensional affine Lie algebra of the line with has and , but for every . It is solvable and neither nilpotent nor abelian. These two examples answer all six ordered-pair comparisons.
The Lie theorem says that a finite-dimensional Lie algebra representation of a finite-dimensional solvable Lie algebra over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero has a common eigenvector whenever its representation space is nonzero. Equivalently it admits an invariant complete flag, or simultaneous upper triangularization. Here the field may be taken to be ; these hypotheses are essential.
To prove the common-eigenvector assertion, induct on . The zero algebra is immediate. Since is nonzero and solvable, its derived algebra is proper. Choose a codimension-one Lie algebra ideal containing it, and write . The Lie algebra is solvable, so induction supplies and a linear functional with .
Consider the finite-dimensional cyclic subspace . Until the first linear dependence, these powers form a basis. The identityand show by induction, simultaneously for all , that is -invariant and that is upper triangular on it with every diagonal entry . It is also -invariant by construction. HenceThe trace of a commutator is zero, and characteristic zero gives .
The simultaneous eigenspace is nonzero and -invariant, sinceOver an algebraically closed field, has an eigenvector, which is therefore a common eigenvector for all of . This finishes induction. Apply the same assertion to the quotient representation by its invariant line, and then to successive quotients. A basis adapted to the resulting complete flag gives the stated simultaneous triangularization of a Lie algebra representation, completing the proof of the Lie theorem.
A nilpotent Lie algebra is a solvable Lie algebra, so the inclusion satisfies the Lie theorem and is upper triangular in a suitable basis, for finite-dimensional complex .
This is insufficient to prove the Engel theorem. Its matrix version starts with a Lie subalgebra of nilpotent endomorphisms and concludes that they are simultaneously strictly upper triangular; its abstract version concludes nilpotence from nilpotence of every Adjoint representation endomorphism. Merely upper triangular matrices can have nonzero diagonal entries: the one-dimensional algebra is an Abelian Lie algebra and a nilpotent Lie algebra, but acts by a nonnilpotent identity matrix. This is nilpotent Lie algebras need not act nilpotently. Moreover, in the abstract Engel theorem nilpotence of the algebra is a conclusion, so assuming it first to invoke the Lie theorem would be circular. Abstract nilpotence and nilpotence of each representing matrix are different conditions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 2 5 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Let be a finite-dimensional Lie algebra representation. The form denoted isIt is the Trace form of a Lie algebra representation; the Killing form without a subscript is specifically the case , . The distinction matters: the form of the trivial representation cannot detect whether the algebra is semisimple.
Linearity of and trace proves bilinearity, and cyclicity of the trace gives symmetry. With , and , the representation identity givesThus it is an invariant bilinear form on a Lie algebra, and in particular the Adjoint representation preserves the Killing form.
The Cartan solvability criterion has two useful formulations. For a finite-dimensional complex Lie algebra ,Its matrix version says that a Lie subalgebra is solvable precisely when for all and . We prove the matrix version first, with ordinary trace in .
If is solvable, the Lie theorem makes all its matrices upper triangular. Their commutators are strictly upper triangular, so multiplying such a matrix by an upper triangular one still has zero diagonal and hence zero trace. This proves the easy direction.
Conversely assume the trace-orthogonality condition and fix . We show that all eigenvalues of vanish. Use its Additive Jordan decomposition with . On the generalized eigenspace of , define an auxiliary endomorphism to be . This need not be in ; we only need control of its commutator with .
On , acts by and by . Choose a polynomial with and at the finitely many distinct differences. Polynomial interpolation supplies it because equal differences have equal conjugates. Therefore .
The adjoint compatibility of additive Jordan decomposition identifies as the semisimple part of . Elementary Jordan–Chevalley decomposition gives for a polynomial with . Hence is a polynomial in with zero constant term. Since maps into and preserves that Lie algebra ideal, we obtainNo assumption that , or belongs to was made.
Write with . Cyclicity and the assumed orthogonality now giveOn the other hand the nilpotent parts have zero trace on each generalized eigenspace, soThus all are zero and is a nilpotent endomorphism. This is the Conjugate-spectrum proof of Cartan solvability.
The permitted Engel theorem, in the form needed here, states: a finite-dimensional Lie subalgebra of endomorphisms in which every element is nilpotent has a nonzero vector annihilated by all its elements, and iteration on quotients makes every element simultaneously strictly upper triangular. Apply it to . The strictly upper triangular algebra is nilpotent, so is a nilpotent Lie algebra and therefore solvable. Since is abelian, the derived series of a Lie algebra of terminates too. This proves the matrix criterion.
Apply it to . The condition on is exactly the matrix condition on . Thus is solvable. The kernel of is the center of a Lie algebra, which is abelian, so is solvable as well: once the derived series maps to zero it is central, and its next term vanishes. Conversely a solvable has solvable adjoint image, proving the abstract Cartan solvability criterion in both directions.
A finite-dimensional Lie algebra is a semisimple Lie algebra when it has no nonzero solvable Lie algebra ideal, equivalently its solvable radical is zero. Let . Invariance makes an ideal. For , induces zero on , and the block trace gives , where is the adjoint Killing form of itself. The Cartan solvability criterion therefore makes solvable. If is semisimple, .
Conversely suppose is a nondegenerate bilinear form. If a nonzero solvable ideal existed, its last nonzero derived term would be an abelian ideal of . For and , the operator has image in and is zero on , so its square and its trace are zero. Thus , contradicting nondegeneracy. This is Abelian ideals lie in the radical of the Killing form. We conclude the Cartan criterion for semisimplicity:
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 2 6 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
A real Lie group is a group equipped with a finite-dimensional real smooth manifold structure, conventionally Hausdorff and second countable, for which multiplication and inversion are smooth.
Its tangent space at the identity is defined by smooth curves through : two curves represent the same tangent vector when their derivatives in a local chart agree at zero. For , left translation determines the left-invariant vector fieldThe commutator of these derivations on smooth functions is another left-invariant vector field, so define the Lie bracketThis construction supplies the Lie algebra structure. In a Matrix Lie group, and differentiating the two fields gives .
For the special linear group, differentiate the determinant along a curve through . Expansion of the determinant, or its differential , givesThe determinant differential is surjective at , so the level set has tangent space equal to its differential's kernel. Equivalently, every tangent matrix has zero trace, and every zero-trace matrix supplies a curve of determinant . Hencewith the matrix commutator bracket. The same calculation over gives the complex special linear Lie algebra ; as a real group, the complex group has that space viewed as a real Lie algebra.
The matrix exponential is the everywhere-convergent serieswhose inverse matrix is . The matrix logarithm is locally defined near byThese maps are inverse on suitable neighbourhoods of zero and , giving a logarithmic chart of a matrix Lie group. A logarithm is not a globally single-valued inverse of the exponential.
Every invertible complex matrix nevertheless has at least one matrix logarithm. Put it in Jordan normal form. For a block , and , choose any complex scalar logarithm of and setThe finite logarithm and exponential identities in the nilpotent variable give . Combine the blocks and conjugate back. Thus the exponential map is surjective on , by existence of a logarithm for every invertible complex matrix.
A connected counterexample is . It is connected: polar decomposition of an invertible real matrix writes each element as , with and positive definite symmetric of determinant one; is connected and is connected to through .
But belongs to this group and is not for any real . Such an would commute with . Since has two distinct real eigenvalues, direct commutation makes a real diagonal matrix. Its exponential has positive diagonal entries, a contradiction. ThereforeThis is an exponential-surjectivity obstruction from distinct negative eigenvalues; connectedness does not eliminate the obstruction.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 40 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For the real scalar field, the mostly-plus Minkowski metric gives a positive kinetic energy. Its canonical momentum and Hamiltonian operator areThe Euler-Lagrange field equation is , or . Canonical quantization of a real scalar field promotes the fields to Hermitian operators and replaces the equal-time Poisson brackets by canonical commutation relations:The Heisenberg equation of motion then gives and , so the classical field equation remains an operator identity. Products at coincident points need a regulator; equivalently, the field is an operator-valued distribution.
Resolve the free field into positive- and negative-frequency plane waves. With and ,Reality pairs the two terms by Hermitian conjugation. The equal-time canonical commutation relations are equivalent toFor example, the two mixed terms in each supply half the Dirac delta function. Thus the normalization is fixed, not optional. Each independent mode is a quantum harmonic oscillator, with and its annihilation operator and creation operator.
Choose the Fock vacuum by . Repeated creation operators construct the bosonic Fock space. Substitution into the Hamiltonian operator yieldswhere a finite volume can be used as a regulator. Normal ordering sets the flat-space vacuum reference to zero. The spatial momentum operator isIn particular, and . A one-particle state therefore has positive energy, momentum , and invariant mass . A scalar field transforms in the trivial spin representation, so its particles have spin zero. Because the field is real there is only one set of oscillators: the particle is its own antiparticle, with no distinct conserved particle-minus-antiparticle charge. The free theory does conserve its occupation-number sum, though generic scalar interactions need not.
A momentum eigenstate extends throughout space. A localized particle is described by a superposition such asIts wave packet evolves through the phase ; a narrow packet has group velocity , whose magnitude is at most one. Localization and dispersion concern these superpositions, rather than classical trajectories attached to individual field modes.
Relativistic spacetime behavior is encoded by microcausality. Directly from the oscillator commutators,This is a Lorentz-invariant distribution and vanishes at equal time. Any spacelike separation can be transformed to an equal-time separation, so for spacelike . Thus local operations at spacelike-separated points commute. The vacuum Wightman function need not vanish outside the light cone, but that correlation does not transmit a controllable signal. The Feynman propagator iswhich propagates positive energy forward and negative energy backward in the time-ordered product. For causal response one uses the retarded Green function, whose support lies in or on the future light cone.
Finally, commuting creation operators implyThe multiparticle state is symmetric under the particle exchange operator, which is Bose statistics. For a normalized single mode, the occupation states are with : any number of identical bosons can occupy it. There is no Pauli exclusion principle for these particles. This construction agrees with the Spin-statistics theorem relating integer spin to bosonic exchange symmetry under relativistic locality and positive-energy assumptions. It demonstrates the required scalar case without assuming that theorem as the quantization prescription.
The quantized real scalar field describes positive-energy, mass-, spin-zero bosons that are their own antiparticles; commuting creation operators give Bose statistics, and local field commutators enforce microcausality.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 41 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For a Lie bracket over or , antisymmetry of a Lie bracket means . In particular in these characteristic-zero fields. The Jacobi identity isIt expresses compatibility of the bracket with its own adjoint action. Bilinearity must hold over the chosen base field, and the bracket must take its values in the same vector space.
For the matrix commutator, bilinearity and antisymmetry follow directly from distributivity. Associativity of matrix multiplication givesadding the two cyclic permutations cancels every monomial. Thus the Jacobi identity holds in the entire matrix algebra. For a specified linear subspace, the only additional bracket condition is closure: must belong to the subspace whenever do. It is unnecessary to require closure under the separate products and .
To determine the special unitary Lie algebra, let be a differentiable curve in the special unitary group with and . Differentiating gives . Differentiating at the identity gives . Conversely a traceless skew-Hermitian matrix has unitary and , so it really is a tangent vector. ThereforeThis is a real Lie algebra of complex matrices: multiplication by generally leaves this real subspace. Its complexification is , not the compact algebra itself. For ,Thus closure holds, and the already verified commutator identities establish all the Lie algebra axioms.
The cross-product Lie algebra on is bilinear, antisymmetric and closed because the cross product has those properties. Its Jacobi identity follows from the vector triple-product identity:In the cyclic sum, the coefficients cancel by symmetry of the scalar product.
For the explicit relation to the SU(2) Lie algebra, take the three Pauli matrices and defineThese matrices are traceless and Skew-Hermitian, and the three images of the standard basis form a real basis of . Using the Pauli matrix commutator identity,Hence is a real Lie algebra isomorphism. The factor and sign are essential for preserving the unscaled cross-product bracket. At the group level there is an Adjoint double cover from SU(2) to SO(3); the isomorphism of their tangent algebras does not identify the two global groups.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 41 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use the metric in the question and fix the Levi-Civita symbol convention . A consistent choice of rotation Lie algebra generators isSubstituting the indices into the printed Poincare algebra givesThe other cyclic brackets follow the same way. The negative spatial metric and antisymmetry of both enter this sign.
The printed brackets are real Lie algebra brackets, without the factor used for ordinary commutators of Hermitian quantum observables. We use those brackets for the algebraic verifications. For physical eigenvalues below, angular momentum is Hermitian, its spin projection is the real number , and . In that quantum convention the ordinary operator commutators are times the displayed brackets. This distinction prevents identifying a real spin projection with an anti-Hermitian matrix eigenvalue.
In the universal enveloping algebra, translations commute. The Pauli-Lubanski pseudovector therefore satisfiesFor fixed , the product of momenta is symmetric in while the epsilon coefficient is antisymmetric in them. There is no need to commute the Lorentz generator through the momenta.
Using the commutator derivation identity and the mixed bracket,The two terms become equal after swapping , and the last expression vanishes by antisymmetry in . In the Hermitian observable convention, the calculation has one overall extra and still vanishes. Thus preserves each momentum eigenspace.
For the specified epsilon orientation, two useful component identities areThe order displayed matters: the momentum operator is on the right, so it can act first on the momentum eigenstate. At rest, , and on a spin state with these giveThese are massive rest-frame Pauli-Lubanski eigenvalues. The raised component would be ; confusing with reverses the answer.
Helicity is the projection of spin angular momentum, or equivalently the rotation generator acting internally, along the momentum direction:For the momentum with , the helicity operator is . Hence a helicity- state hasThe result uses only the two longitudinal components and does not need a separate assumption about the transverse little-group generators. These massless longitudinal Pauli-Lubanski eigenvalues agree with for ordinary finite-helicity representations.
Finally, at rest the contraction is . For the chosen null momentum it is , whose two eigenvalues cancel. Thus both results obey . Reversing the epsilon orientation reverses all eigenvalues together; it leaves both identities and both consistency checks intact. For a literal anti-Hermitian derived representation of the printed real algebra, write for the Hermitian observable. Since is bilinear in generators, its abstract enveloping-algebra image is . Thus the corresponding formal-image eigenvalues, if that convention is intended, areHere has eigenvalue , while and themselves remain real physical labels. This is the same result after the Hermitian quantum generator convention is applied to both factors, not an inconsistent choice of spin sign. Both the Hermitian-observable and literal anti-Hermitian interpretations are consequently specified.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 51 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Multiplying the matrices gives the Heisenberg group lawDifferentiating at the identity gives all strictly upper-triangular matrices. With , and , the commutator givesThis is the Heisenberg Lie algebra.
The right Maurer-Cartan form isThus the right-invariant coframe of the real Heisenberg group is , , . Under a right translation,we have , , and . All three right-invariant differential forms are preserved.
Every right-invariant Riemannian metric is determined by an arbitrary inner product at the identity. In this coframe its most general expression isEquivalently,Products here are symmetric products. If a pseudo-Riemannian metric tensor is intended, replace positive definiteness by nondegeneracy. Since every right translation preserves the coframe, it is an isometry. The action is faithful, and is a group homomorphism, embedding a copy of into the isometry group.
The one-parameter right translations produce the Killing frame for a right-invariant Heisenberg metric:Their flows are respectively , and . Each preserves , and their Lie brackets of vector fields are , with the other two zero. This explicitly realizes the Heisenberg Lie algebra. These Killing vector fields are left-invariant vector fields; the vector fields dual to the right-invariant coframe are instead , and should not be substituted for these generators.
For the diagonal case, putThe Kaluza-Klein decomposition along a Killing field uses . Completing the square in gives the Heisenberg metric Kaluza-Klein reduction:These depend only on the quotient coordinates and satisfy . For a diagonal indefinite metric tensor, the same expressions hold wherever ; a null Killing vector field cannot be treated with this completed-square decomposition.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 63 3 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
First take disjoint supports , the setting in which the displayed Lieb-Robinson bound can hold with an factor. For overlapping supports a nonzero equal-time commutator is possible, whereas that factor vanishes at .
Iterate the given integral inequality for . At time zero, if misses , and in general . Define the positive interaction-chain weightsThe Lieb-Robinson interaction-chain expansion givesThe ordered time integrations produce . For a finite system the iterative remainder tends to zero, since the total interaction weights are finite and the factorial dominates repeated integrations.
For the interaction distance convention counting the fewest interacting hyperedges needed to connect disjoint supports, when . The per-site interaction bound givesDropping the final endpoint restriction consequently bounds . Reversing the chains gives the same estimate with . ThereforeMultiply by and sum the exponential series to obtainFor overlapping supports, retain the initial term. A valid general version adds to the right side. A coarser bound with in place of is also sufficient for later shell estimates, with the conventional support distance zero on overlaps. Thus the printed bound needs disjoint supports or an equal-time term. The printed and inside a supremum over are also inconsistent labels; the iteration uses and .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 63 4 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Put . For , apply a valid Lieb-Robinson bound to each commutator in the supplied comparison of the two evolutions. For a disjoint shell at support distance ,In the usual uniform interaction-norm setting, truncation preserves the strength bound, so the same constants apply to . The given polynomial shell-weight hypothesis and now giveConsequentlyThe question explicitly supplies a bound for the full ; such a bound alone should not be assumed to transfer to . A full-evolution comparison for truncated dynamics avoids that additional assumption. The Duhamel comparison formula givesNow use only the full-Hamiltonian bound, and sum the shell weights. Since , the errors for and are each bounded by . The triangle inequality comparing both evolutions to proves the same boxed estimate from the stated full-system assumption. Negative times follow by the reverse-time Duhamel formula; the commutator bounds use .
For the interaction-term shells used to enforce , shell corresponds to support distance for distinct terms. Replace the displayed commutator estimate by the coarser bound with , retaining the equal-time contribution for overlaps. Its distance factor is , and the fixed factor is absorbed by the big-O constant. This supplies the same claimed shell estimate without incorrectly using a zero equal-time bound for overlapping terms.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 66 4 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Set and . Since , . Differentiate the ordered exponential products, using that each matrix commutes with its own exponential:Here the commutator convention is ; this fixes both signs. The error satisfies , so the variation-of-constants formula givesThis is the symmetrized exponential-splitting defect identity. Symmetry of was not needed for the identity itself; it will be used to bound their exponentials in part (c).
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 66 4 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Let and , where all three matrices are symmetric. Submultiplicativity and the triangle inequality giveand similarly the other commutator term is bounded by . Apply part (a) also to in the integral from part (b). The outer factor one-half cancels these twos, leavingThe exponential divided difference evaluates this integral. Thuswhen , andwhen they coincide. The second expression is both the direct equal-exponent integral and the continuous limit of the first. The Rayleigh-Ritz variational principle also gives , although the integral computation does not require a strict inequality. These are valid coarse norm bounds; the cancellation between the two products can make the actual small-step error substantially smaller.