Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 40 3 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The sources are independent odd Grassmann variables and anticommute with the Dirac field. Use and the same mostly-plus gamma matrices and Dirac adjoint as in the interaction calculation. The inverse is selected with vacuum Feynman i-epsilon prescription boundary conditions. With integral kernels and spinor contractions understood, the exponent can be completed to a square:Translations preserve the Berezin integral, so the Gaussian generating functional for a Dirac field isThe positions of the sources matter. To extract the Dirac propagator, use a left Grassmann derivative with respect to followed by a right Grassmann derivative with respect to :The leading minus sign removes the two insertion factors . It can also be checked by differentiating the quadratic source exponential: its ordered second derivative is .
For the Fourier transform , and the Clifford algebra givesThereforeThis equals . The fermionic time ordering is explicitlywith the minus sign supplied by exchanging odd fields. The poles put positive energy forward in time and negative energy backward, which is the antiparticle contribution. Finally, checks the numerator and overall sign. All formulas are distributional limits with the indicated boundary prescription.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 44 2 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Choose in Euclidean signature. The inverse quadratic kernel is the smooth-cutoff scalar propagatorThe subscript records the explicit cutoff dependence implied by the condition at small . For , this reduces to , the usual Euclidean scalar propagator. For , the kernel grows rapidly and its inverse tends to zero.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 44 4 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use the Minkowski metric, path-integral weight and the Abelian gauge theory transformation . The gauge functional varies asThus the Faddeev-Popov operator is . It depends on the gauge field despite the gauge group being Abelian: the ghosts interact because this gauge condition is nonlinear.
Choose the gauge-fixing fermion . The gauge-fixed action isHere the tensor is distinct from the scalar gauge functional . With , integrating over imposes the exact printed constraint. For nonzero , eliminating instead givesThis version displays the additional gauge-dependent cubic and quartic gauge-field vertices as well as the ghost interaction; the strict condition is its limit.
For the Fourier transform convention , the quadratic ghost kernel is . With the ordering ,The term has Fourier coefficient , where is the incoming ghost momentum. Multiplication by in the Feynman rule givesThese signs refer to the displayed action, Fourier convention and ghost ordering. Reversing the ghost/antighost convention changes corresponding signs consistently. A closed ghost loop has the additional minus sign from Grassmann variables.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 49 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The quantum harmonic oscillator has , with . Using and the canonical commutation relation givesFor , the Wronskian normalization isConsequentlyEquality requires and . The minimum-energy normalized oscillator mode is thereforeThe constant phase is irrelevant. This mode also solves the oscillator equation of motion; an arbitrary squeezed mode would have larger vacuum energy.
For inflation, introduce the Mukhanov-Sasaki variable . Since depends only on conformal time,Integrating the cross term by parts gives the canonical bulk actionup to the boundary term . The resulting Euler-Lagrange field equation and its Fourier transform areAt leading order in the slow-roll approximation, retain a small positive, nearly constant in , while approximating and as constant. Then , soStrict exact de Sitter spacetime would have and would not supply the nonzero curvature kinetic coefficient assumed here; the calculation is the leading quasi-de Sitter limit, not a substitution of zero into .
For , the expansion correction is negligible and each canonical mode is a quantum harmonic oscillator of conformal frequency . The Bunch-Davies vacuum selects its positive-frequency, minimum-energy mode in that early subhorizon regime. It does not minimize an instantaneous Hamiltonian after the effective squared frequency has become negative outside the horizon.
A basis of exact solutions to the leading mode equation is and its complex conjugate. Write the normalized Bogoliubov transformation combination asThe Bunch-Davies vacuum boundary condition sets and up to phase. HenceSubstitution verifies the equation, and verifies the Wronskian normalization.
Dividing by gives the comoving curvature perturbation varianceThis is the dimensional slow-roll curvature power spectrum in the printed normalization, with the reduced Planck mass set to one. The corresponding dimensionless cosmological power spectrum is , which is independent of at this order. Restoring the reduced Planck mass divides both power expressions by . Slowly varying background quantities are evaluated near each mode's horizon exit; their variation generates the small departure from exact scale invariance.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 49 4 Solution 2026-10-06
For a single barotropic perfect fluid in general relativity, the perturbations obey . This adiabatic closure is needed: constant background alone would not eliminate an independent entropy perturbation. The absence of scalar anisotropic stress allows the common potential used in Newtonian gauge in cosmology.
Substituting the density constraint into the pressure equation gives the gravitational potential evolution of a barotropic fluidSince , the conformal Hubble parameter is . The bracket cancels identically, leavingFor a Fourier transform mode, becomes .
During radiation domination, and . Set and write . The resulting equation is , so the two Spherical Bessel functions in the hint giveAt , the two solutions approach a constant and a mode proportional to . The regular adiabatic mode, normalized to its primordial potential, isAfter entry into the sound horizon, , the potential oscillates at cosmological sound speed with envelope . The Hubble radius and sound horizon differ by the sound-speed factor; outside the Hubble radius the regular potential is constant, while well inside it radiation supports acoustic oscillations.
During matter domination, gives at every wavenumber. HenceThe growing density mode has a constant potential both outside and inside the Hubble radius; the other potential mode decays. Pressureless matter has zero cosmological sound speed, so horizon entry does not produce the radiation acoustic decay. These formulas cover both independent solutions, while the subsequent sketches select the regular adiabatic growing mode.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 53 3 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For a statistically homogeneous comoving curvature perturbation, define the connected primordial bispectrum byStatistical isotropy makes depend only on the three magnitudes, which must form a triangle. A Gaussian random field has zero connected bispectrum. Canonical attractor single-field slow-roll inflation with the usual vacuum produces only slow-roll-sized primordial non-Gaussianity. A measurable signal can arise from additional light fields and nonlinear conversion of isocurvature perturbations, or from enhanced interactions such as a small sound speed, departures from an attractor, or suitable features/excited initial states. The resulting model must still reproduce the observed nearly scale-invariant power spectrum and remain under perturbative control, with acceptable backreaction and late-time conversion to the observed perturbations. Large non-Gaussianity is therefore possible but is not automatic in a viable model.
Put and use the consistent Fourier transform convention with , rather than the repeated momentum argument printed in the integrand. The quadratic part has transformThe subtraction sets the mean to zero and removes the internal contraction of a single quadratic factor. At first order in , choose one of the three external factors to be quadratic. For example, the two connected Wick contractions at the third leg pair its two fields with the first two legs, givingSumming the three placements provesThis is the leading local primordial bispectrum. The factor is the quadratic coefficient multiplied by the two cross-pairings. Terms of order have an odd Gaussian moment and vanish.
The literal quadratic local model also has a connected cubic-in- contribution, from one quadratic factor at every leg:This is the loop correction to the local primordial bispectrum; regulators may be needed for idealized spectra. Thus the PDF's displayed formula is the tree/leading-order result, not an exact identity for arbitrary . The weak-non-Gaussian expansion assumes these loop terms are small. The local shape is enhanced in the squeezed bispectrum configuration when a long-wavelength perturbation modulates small-scale power.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 63 4 a i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use the Fourier transform convention . Since , it is real, so . The positive-frequency cutoff therefore also eliminates frequencies at or below . Normalization gives .
For spectral filtering of Hamiltonian terms, chooseIn an energy eigenbasis, its matrix elements areAt the frequency is zero, so the normalization preserves the ground-state expectation:The spectral filter is a positive weighted average of unitary conjugations; in particular the integral is bounded in operator norm by . We can choose it even without an extra assumed tail bound: the evenization of a nonnegative bandlimited filter proved in part (e) produces another admissible spectral filter with the same type of positive-time decay. Make that choice consistently in all the filtered terms and shell definitions below.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 66 5 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use the Fourier transform for the spatial Cauchy problem, or its periodic analogue, and regard the two starting levels as independently perturbed data. A Fourier mode with spatial factor has amplification roots satisfyingPut and . ThenIf , both roots have modulus one and their separation is bounded below uniformly in frequency:The uniform power bound from separated amplification roots now controls the two-level companion matrix for every time step. Its entries are uniformly bounded, and its eigenvector conditioning is bounded by the reciprocal root gap. The Parseval identity transfers this frequency-uniform bound to the spatial norm. This proves stability, rather than merely checking each root's modulus.
If , the frequency has a root outside the unit disk, so there is exponential instability. If , the two roots at coincide on the unit circle. The companion matrix is not a scalar matrix and has a nontrivial Jordan block; its powers grow linearly in the number of steps. Frequencies arbitrarily near that value produce the same lack of a uniform bound for localized Fourier packets, so this also invalidates Cauchy stability, not only periodic plane-wave stability. At the double amplification root is , and at it is .
Therefore the full two-level stability range for a fixed positive Courant ratio isThe endpoint is moreover not a positive time step. Bounds deteriorate as approaches either endpoint; the displayed range is not a uniform claim over ratios arbitrarily close to one. A prescribed starter that removes one special parasitic component can change behavior for selected initial data, but does not establish the requested unrestricted two-level stability.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 67 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use complex-linear distribution pairings, without conjugation. Write for the space of test functions. The smoothing convolution with a test function isOn a compact set of values, all the translated test functions have support in one compact set. Continuity of the distribution therefore permits differentiation in , giving for every multi-index. In particular this convolution is a smooth function, even if is not tempered.
For the first associativity identity, integration against and the distribution pairing can be interchanged: the integrand has a common compact support in , depends smoothly on the integration variable, and satisfies the finite-order continuity estimate there. ConsequentlyThe common-support argument matters: a general distribution cannot be paired with arbitrary noncompact functions.
For convolution of distributions with a compactly supported factor, first take with compact support and defineThe inner pairing is interpreted using a cutoff function equal to one near . It is smooth in and has support in . To see continuity, restrict to a fixed compact support . The order of a distribution estimate for controls derivatives of the inner function by finitely many derivatives of , and its support lies in the fixed compact set . Applying the corresponding estimate for givesThus is a distribution, not merely a formal iterated pairing.
Choose an additional cutoff function in equal to one on a neighborhood of . The resulting joint kernel is compactly supported in both variables, so the tensor product of distributions permits reversing the pairings. One justification is to approximate that smooth compact kernel, in all the required derivative seminorms, by finite sums of products of one-variable kernels; the two orders agree on such products and their continuity estimates pass to the limit. Reversing consequently gives . If rather than has compact support, use the same construction with the roles reversed; pairing against a smooth function is then legitimate.
Evaluating the resulting smoothing convolution with a test function givesIf has compact support, is itself a test function; if has compact support, its action on the smooth inner convolution uses a cutoff. This explains the meaning of the formula in either case. It also proves uniqueness: , and reflection runs through all test functions. When both factors have compact support, the same definition gives , their Minkowski sum.
The Schwartz space consists of smooth functions for which every seminorm is finite. A tempered distribution is a continuous linear functional on this space. Fix the angular-frequency Fourier transform conventionThe Fourier transform isomorphism of the Schwartz space makes the dual definition continuous. For a compactly supported distribution, a fixed cutoff function near its support extends the action to smooth functions by . A finite-order estimate controls this by finitely many Schwartz space seminorms, so both compactly supported factors are tempered.
Their Fourier transform of a compactly supported distribution is the smooth function . Applying the compact-support convolution definition to the exponential givesThe convolution theorem has no extra factor with this normalization.
For the spherical surface measure convolution, put . Rotate the polar axis to the direction of ; rotational invariance of surface area givesAt the removable value is , the total sphere area. Hence .
For , angular integration in Fourier inversion now givesThis conditional integral can be made rigorous by first inserting and then taking in tempered distributions. The supplied sine identity gives an integral of when , and zero off that interval. Thusas a regular distribution. To justify the limiting density as well as the signs, expand the product of sines into four sine terms and use . The four arctangents are uniformly bounded; the regularized inverse is bounded by a constant times , which is a locally integrable function in three dimensions. Dominated convergence theorem therefore identifies the distributional limit with the displayed density.
Changing the two endpoint sphere values does not change the regular distribution; this includes the source's closed-interval representative. At a jump, symmetric Fourier inversion instead takes the half-value. If , the singularity at the origin remains locally integrable and is not a point mass. As a normalization check,exactly the product of the original sphere areas.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 67 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use , so the Fourier transform of is . Distinguish the full degree- polynomial from its homogeneous top-degree part , the principal symbol. The elliptic differential operator condition isIt does not require the full polynomial to be nonzero at small frequencies. Compactness of the unit sphere gives . Homogeneity and the lower-degree remainder implyFor sufficiently large the second term is at most half the first, so the high-frequency lower bound for an elliptic polynomial isHere is the Japanese bracket. The order-zero case just means a nonzero constant and is immediate.
For real , the Sobolev space definition with the current Fourier normalization isChanging the harmless constant in the norm gives the same space. A distribution on belongs to the Local Sobolev space when , extended by zero outside , belongs to for every test function .
A compactly supported distribution of finite order of a distribution has a smooth Fourier transform satisfying , by applying the finite-order estimate to a fixed cutoff times the exponential. Thus its weighted squared transform is bounded by . This is integrable precisely in the sufficient range , and provesThis is the negative Sobolev regularity of a compactly supported distribution; the strict inequality is important, and is not a claim that this sufficient threshold is optimal for each distribution.
To establish elliptic regularity without assuming the answer as an a priori smoothness hypothesis, first obtain a global constant-coefficient gain. For a compactly supported distribution with , the polynomial lower bound at high frequency givesOn , the transform of is smooth and bounded. Therefore implies . Possible low-frequency zeros of are harmless; we never divide by them.
Two elementary mapping facts supply the variable-coefficient argument. Distributional derivatives of order map into . Sobolev multiplication by a smooth cutoff is bounded on for every real , including negative ones. Indeed, for a compactly supported smooth , the Peetre weight inequalityand reduce the bound to Young's convolution inequality with the integrable kernel . Smooth coefficients only need this property on compact subsets, where they can be multiplied by another cutoff.
Write the lower-order part as , with , and suppose provisionally that on a relatively compact neighborhood. For a cutoff function supported there,The bracket is the operator commutator. Its order is at most : in the product rule, every surviving term has at least one derivative falling on . Choose a second cutoff function equal to one near when estimating the products. The derivative and smooth-multiplication bounds then giveThe global gain just proved applies to the compactly supported distribution , and yieldsThis is the cutoff bootstrap for local elliptic regularity; it works for real indices, not just nonnegative integers.
There is always a legitimate starting index. Around any fixed point choose on a smaller neighborhood. The compactly supported distribution has the negative Sobolev regularity proved above, so on that neighborhood for some finite . The index need not be uniform over all of . Repeating the one-step gain finitely many times reaches , or the target is already reached if . Since the point was arbitrary,For the result follows directly by dividing by the nonzero constant.
Finally, if , its forcing belongs to every Local Sobolev space. The gain consequently gives every local Sobolev order for . For each integer , choose an order larger than and apply the Sobolev embedding theorem to a localized solution. It has a representative; the representatives agree because they represent the same distribution. Thus every distributional solution of is smooth on .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 69 2 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Work first with in the Schwartz space, so that all Fourier manipulations and spectral contour integrals are justified; weaker classes follow by the usual density or distribution arguments. DefineThe phase is purely imaginary. Since , setting reduces the spectral equation to . The whole-plane Cauchy-Pompeiu formula therefore constructs the solution decaying spatially at infinity:The freedom to add times an entire function is removed by this decay condition. For every fixed , the integral is a spatial Cauchy-Green operator applied to a modulated source.
Now differentiate in the conjugate spectral parameter. The two exponential derivatives produce , canceling the Cauchy denominator, soThis is the spectral dbar equation: its right-hand side is the forward transform of multiplied by a known plane wave. Apply the whole-plane Cauchy-Pompeiu formula again, now in :The spatial spectral equation also gives as . One way to justify this is to integrate by parts in the first Cauchy integral: , where the modulated Cauchy integral tends to zero by the Riemann-Lebesgue lemma. Comparing the coefficient of the spectral contour integral therefore givesThis derives the transform pair from two uses of the Cauchy-Pompeiu formula, not from an assumed inversion formula.
To identify the usual normalization, write and . Then . Set , , so . The result is exactly the two-dimensional Fourier transform pairThe factor four in the real-frequency change of variables is essential.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 7 2 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Fix the mixed Fourier transform conventionThe spatial derivative transforms to , and multiplication by transforms to . Hence the transformed free transport equation isIts characteristic equations for a transport equation give , so the characteristic ending at at time began at . ConsequentlyThe same sign follows directly by substituting in the Fourier transform of . No first velocity moment is assumed, so the differential equation may be understood in the sense of tempered distributions; the explicit transform formula is valid pointwise because is integrable.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 75 1 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Retain from part (b), and use time translation invariance to write . Define the temporal Fourier transform byMultiplying the transformed Green function equation by givesThis is a symmetric divergence-form spatial operator, although the original unweighted operator need not be symmetric in the ordinary volume measure.
Let . The product rule gives the bilinear Green second identityThe frequency terms cancel. Integrating over the domain, the right side becomesThe boundary integral is zero for common homogeneous Dirichlet boundary condition, Neumann boundary condition or reciprocal Robin boundary condition conditions. In an unbounded domain, use the same outgoing limiting-absorption prescription for both Green functions; it gives the corresponding vanishing boundary pairing. This identity has no complex conjugation: it proves transpose wave reciprocity, not a Hermitian or time-reversal identity. We obtain the weighted acoustic Green-function reciprocityThe factor is frequency independent, so inverse Fourier transform gives the same relation at equal time lag. Both time arguments below have lag , henceReciprocity exchanges source and receiver while preserving elapsed time; it does not turn a causal response into an advanced one.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 75 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Suppress the common time factor , take , and fix the spatial Fourier transform conventionA plus transform is supported on and analytic above ; a minus transform is supported on and analytic below it. For the outgoing radiation condition with this time convention, initially take , , and pass to the limit at the end. Thus lies below the contour and above it.
Choose to have positive real part on the real transform line. Its branch cuts run from into the lower half-plane and from into the upper half-plane, without crossing ; downward and upward vertical rays are suitable. In the zero-absorption limit, for real and between the branch points. This ensures that represents decay or outgoing radiation, rather than an incoming exterior field.
Evenness in and the Helmholtz equation give the transformed fieldsAt , the one-sided normal derivatives of the scattered field agree for , because that part of the interface is open. For they both vanish by rigidity. Their common trace is therefore a minus function, denoted . ConsequentlyThe jump in the total scattered transform isFor , continuity of the total mass density requires the scattered jump to cancel the incident jump, so . Its minus transform is . The unknown plate-side jump is the plus function . Thus , and the Wiener-Hopf equation follows:
Use the Wiener-Hopf factorization , with factors analytic and nonzero in their designated half-planes. Their analytic continuations allocate outgoing modal zeros to below the contour, and the opposite zeros to above it. Set . Multiplication by and pole subtraction giveThe pole in the upper expression is removable by its numerator. The two expressions analytically continue to the common entire function, which is zero under the stipulated edge/growth assumption. Henceand the transformed fields areA constant reciprocal rescaling of the factors does not alter or the physical field.
Inside the guide, and are even entire functions of , while is analytic in the lower half-plane. Thus continuation across the lower branch cut changes none of the interior transform: that cut is removable. The exterior expression retains the cut, corresponding to radiation into the open exterior.
For , the inverse-transform contour closes downwards, clockwise. Away from modal cutoffs, its enclosed singularities are the outgoing simple poleswith positive real part for propagating modes and negative imaginary part for decaying modes; is the root. The opposite roots lie above the contour or cancel against zeros of . Symmetry excludes odd transverse modes. At , , and differentiation of givesEach inverse-transform contribution is times its residue. Therefore the outgoing modes of an open rigid acoustic waveguide areThe original time factor multiplies this expression. Thus every cut-on mode propagates in the positive direction; cut-off modes are evanescent waves decaying into the guide, not additional backward waves. Strictly, a complete mode sum includes these evanescent modes as well as propagating ones. The displayed simple-pole amplitudes apply away from exact cutoffs; cutoff values use the outgoing limiting-absorption continuation before taking the limit. The reflected plane-wave amplitude relative to the unit incident wave is above. It has the expected negative sign in the long-wavelength leading kernel approximation .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 28 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
A normalization is important here. I use the covolume-one theta function of a fractional ideal, for which the requested limit is , and also give the formula for the unnormalized Gaussian theta sum.
Let , let , and choose one field embedding for each Archimedean place. The Minkowski embedding of a number field identifieswith a real inner-product space havingIts Euclidean Lebesgue measure is . With this convention, the covolume of a fractional ideal lattice iswhere is the field discriminant and is the positive absolute norm of a fractional ideal. Thus the Euclidean lattice has covolume . DefineThis Gaussian theta sum converges absolutely whenever every .
The trace dual of a fractional ideal isHere is the inverse different. Since , we have . There is a subtle distinction between the trace pairing and the positive inner product: the dual lattice of is , where the bar conjugates the complex coordinates and fixes the real ones. Indeed,Consequently . Coordinatewise complex conjugation preserves the weighted squared lengths in the Gaussian theta sum.
Here are the precise analytic formulas used in the proof. For a Schwartz function on , take the Fourier transform to beFor a full Euclidean lattice of covolume , the Poisson summation formula for a Euclidean lattice isFor , the Gaussian Fourier transform, applied in orthonormal real coordinates, givesMore generally, for a real positive-definite matrix that is symmetric. Each complex coordinate contributes two real coordinates, which explains its exponent .
Apply the Poisson summation formula for a Euclidean lattice to , whose covolume is , and use the preceding description of its dual lattice. The anisotropic theta functional equation isFor comparison, the unnormalized Gaussian theta sumhas the functional equationand its corresponding limit is rather than . Explicitly, our normalization is .
For the small-parameter asymptotic of a lattice theta sum, means that every coordinate tends to zero. In , the zero lattice vector contributes . Every nonzero vector contributes a term tending to zero. Once every , all these terms are bounded by the summable Gaussian theta sum . The dominated convergence theorem therefore gives . Using the anisotropic theta functional equation,The condition that every coordinate tends to zero matters; alone would not justify this argument.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 45 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For the Gaussian critical exponents, use dimensionless statistical-action conventions, with the Boltzmann factor . If is an energy, apply the following to and absorb that smooth factor into the couplings. Choose the Fourier transform conventionReality gives . The Fourier-space statistical Hamiltonian isThe source term is not multiplied by one half. Completing the Gaussian functional integral gives and the connected Fourier-space two-point correlation functionAssume for the stable massive Gaussian field theory. In the continuum long-distance theory, the real-space correlation function is the Green kernel of . Away from its source, a radial ansatz gives, at large , . Equivalently the propagator pole is at . Thus the exponential correlation length isAt the correlation length diverges. A sharp momentum regulator itself introduces artificial oscillatory long-distance tails; this length describes the physical continuum pole or a local/smoothly regulated model on distances large compared with .
For a momentum-shell renormalization group step with , split the Fourier modes into retained modes and eliminated modes . Define as the retained field. Integrating the eliminated modes is exact for a Gaussian field theory; a uniform source acts only on the zero mode, so this integration produces a field-independent free-energy term. Rescale and set . The retained quadratic action becomesKeeping the gradient coefficient fixed requires . For , the source term is , so the complete Gaussian rescaling isThe corresponding real-space field obeys ; confusing that real-space factor with would change the source exponent incorrectly.
Let be free energy per original volume, with proportional to . Rescaled volume is , so the Gaussian free-energy scaling relation isA field-normalisation Jacobian can be included in the field-independent shell term. For any finite step on positive-mass modes, that background is analytic near . Subtract regular backgrounds and choose on the massive side. The usual homogeneous singular scaling then givesThese are Gaussian critical exponents for the stipulated Gaussian approximation. A useful check is its source-dependent contribution : gives precisely that power of .
There is a qualification to a strictly pure-power singular free energy. The Gaussian free-energy logarithm at effective dimension two in contains after subtracting analytic terms. Thus the displayed exponent assignments remain the formal power indices, but at the advertised homogeneous expression needs this additive logarithmic term. A purely quadratic theory also cannot stabilise the ordered phase or the zero-mass zero mode at nonzero ; the scaling calculation is taken from , and an ordered-phase continuation requires stabilising interactions.
At a uniaxial Lifshitz point, the quadratic kernel instead isThe vanishing coefficient of is an additional tuning that distinguishes this Lifshitz point from an ordinary critical point. Use a factorised cutoff, retain and , and integrate its complement. A rectangular or cylindrical retained region is suitable; its precise boundary is not an exponent. This is a uniaxial Lifshitz Gaussian renormalization step.
Set , , and . The momentum measure acquires . Keeping both kinetic coefficients fixed requiresTherefore the anisotropic blocking and source factors areThe anisotropic effective dimension is : one parallel coordinate contributes half the scaling weight of a perpendicular coordinate. The rescaled-volume factor is , soChoosing gives the requested Lifshitz Gaussian exponents:Again , checking the uniform-source susceptibility. The associated length powers are and . A Gaussian determinant has the analogous logarithmic exception if its effective dimension equals 2. Interactions can alter these exponents; dimensional rescaling here solves the specified Gaussian model.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 46 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Decompose the original scalar field as , where has support in and has support in . This is a momentum-shell decomposition of a scalar field. The two collections of integration variables are disjoint. Define the lower-scale Wilsonian effective action by integrating out the second collection:A field-independent normalization may be retained as a vacuum term or absorbed into the measure. Integrating this identity over the low modes recovers the original Euclidean path integral, so it preserves all observables depending only on those modes.
Put . The quadratic cross terms integrate to zero: in Fourier transform variables each pairs a low momentum with its negative, which cannot be a shell momentum. Expanding the interaction therefore givesFactoring out of the shell integral and taking minus its logarithm yieldsThis definition is a Wilsonian effective action, rather than a Legendre transform generating only one-particle-irreducible Feynman diagrams.