Characteristic three 2026-10-31
A field has characteristic three when . The binomial identity then becomes , and . Thus a cyclic shift operator on three coordinates has a repeated-root minimal polynomial in this characteristic and cannot be diagonalizable.
Cyclic shift operator Created 2026-09-25 Updated 2026-11-05
On a basis indexed by , a cyclic shift operator has the form . The quantum Fourier transform simultaneously diagonalizes all such shifts.
Yes. The matrix is a cyclic shift operator on three coordinates. Since are the three standard basis vectors, no polynomial of degree below three annihilates . Also , so its minimal polynomial is . Over the complex numbers this has the distinct roots , where . The minimal polynomial criterion for diagonalizability therefore proves diagonalizability.
Explicitly, satisfies when . These three eigenvectors form an eigenbasis. This is a special case of diagonalization of a cyclic shift over a field.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 67 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Let . The positive-exponent quantum Fourier transform gives . Reindexing the cyclic shift operator givesThus is an eigenstate with eigenvalue , with this sign fixed by the printed quantum Fourier transform convention.
Prepare the first two qutrits in and the answer qutrit in . The modular-addition quantum oracle applies to the answer. Its eigenvalue produces quantum phase kickback, leavingApply to each input qutrit, then measure them in the computational basis. The result isThe preparation, inverse transforms and measurements are independent of , and there is exactly one use of . This is qutrit linear-function identification, the ternary version of Bernstein-Vazirani phase kickback.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 58 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Use the quantum Fourier transform convention , where . Reindexing the shifted sum givesThus the cyclic shift operator has these eigenvectors, with eigenvalues . This is cyclic shift diagonalization by the quantum Fourier transform, and it implies with .
For , the binary encoding is , with the more significant qubit. The required diagonal phase isso . The allowed-gate circuit is thereforeIn execution order, apply the inverse QFT, then the two phase gates, then the forward QFT. There is no extra global phase. Reversing the Fourier sign convention would conjugate both phase gate parameters.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 324 1 b Solution Created 2026-09-25 Updated 2026-10-03
A shift-invariant basis is a common eigenbasis of all cyclic shift operators . For the displayed Fourier states, orthonormality follows from the root-of-unity filter:There are vectors in this orthonormal set in the -dimensional Hilbert space, so they form a basis. Reindexing the finite sum givesThus every is simultaneously an eigenvector of every shift, with eigenvalue for .