Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 74 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For a two-dimensional internal gravity wave with fixed horizontal wave number , the vertical velocity amplitude satisfiesThis follows from the Linearized Boussinesq equations just as in part (a), allowing the background buoyancy frequency to vary. The WKB approximation gives locallyIt requires slowly varying stratification compared with the local vertical wavelength, in particular , and a small-amplitude wave in the inviscid, nonrotating regime. Propagation requires ; where , the local vertical wave number is imaginary and the solution is evanescent. Turning levels and abrupt changes need a separate connection calculation. Finite viscosity, background flow, rotation or nonlinear effects require modifications of this model.
The ray tracing equations use the local dispersion relation as a Hamiltonian:The stationary, horizontally uniform background conserves the frequency and horizontal wave number. In two dimensions the group velocity gives . For the specified buoyancy frequency and , . Hence for the two geometric internal-wave rays through the specified point areEach curve has both directed propagation senses, giving four local directed rays. Their formal intersections with are and .
At , and : this is a double-zero internal-wave turning level, since touches zero without changing sign. The ray becomes vertical geometrically, but its group velocity tends to zero. Taking without loss of generality, the downward branch hasThe formal travel time diverges logarithmically as . Meanwhile grows, so the WKB approximation fails before that limit; its predicted amplitude cannot be extrapolated to infinity. The spatial ray reaches a finite limiting position, but finite-wavelength behaviour near the zero must be found beyond WKB. There is no evanescent half-space supplied by this particular , so ordinary simple-turning-point reflection cannot be assumed solely from the local ray construction.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 81 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Each bond of the classical Heisenberg antiferromagnet is minimized when its two spins are antiparallel. Since the periodic chain has an even number of sites, all bonds can be minimized simultaneously:The ground-state degeneracy is a continuous sphere of orientations . Choose the Néel state with even sites in and odd sites in .
This product state is not an energy eigenstate. The spin ladder operators inproduce states with both neighboring magnetic quantum numbers changed. On an up-down bond, has a nonzero matrix element , hence coefficient in the Hamiltonian. These orthogonal spin configurations show explicitly why the classical minimum is not an exact quantum eigenstate for .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 81 1 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The linear spin-wave approximation expands about the rotated all-up state, with :In the longitudinal product, . Each site belongs to two bonds, so the resulting quadratic Hamiltonian isThe omitted terms are of order at fixed small occupation number. The pair terms describe the quantum fluctuations that were missing from the classical Néel state.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 81 1 e Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Apply a discrete Fourier transform, with lattice spacing one:The wavevectors lie in a Brillouin zone, which we choose as . Pairing with makes the quadratic HamiltonianA bosonic Bogoliubov diagonalization uses . The canonical commutation relations hold because . The anomalous terms vanish when , givingNear and , the dispersion relation is linear: . These are the low-energy antiferromagnetic spin waves; the two zeroes are related by the two-sublattice description. The transformation is singular at the exact zero modes, which require an infrared regulator or separate treatment of the collective rotation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 81 3 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For the Hamiltonian , the real-time configuration-space path integral iswith its measure defined by time slicing. Wick rotation gives the Euclidean path integral and the thermal trace.
For the infinite square well on , the Dirichlet boundary conditions select the normalized energy eigenstatesThere is no state: the corresponding sine is identically zero. Taking the trace in this orthonormal basis gives the canonical partition function
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 81 4 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Let , take slices of width , and insert the coherent-state resolution of identity between factors of . If is in normal ordering, each short-time matrix element isCombining the overlap with the Gaussian weight leaves in the action. The coherent-state time slicing prescription fixes which adjacent labels appear in , rather than allowing an arbitrary ordering change after taking the continuum limit.
The twist in the thermal trace closes the path with the coherent-state thermal boundary conditions: periodic for bosons, antiperiodic for fermions. Taking the regulated continuum limit givesThe action is dimensionless because has inverse-energy units. For fermions, and remain independent Grassmann fields. If the original Hamiltonian is not normally ordered, first express it in normal order, retaining all constants.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 ii Paper 2 12C a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
The canonical momentum is , and a regular Legendre transform in mechanics defines after solving for . Its differential isbecause the terms cancel. With the Euler-Lagrange equation , this gives Hamilton's equationsIn particular at corresponding velocities, so a cyclic coordinate for the Lagrangian is also cyclic for the Hamiltonian.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 ii Paper 2 31A Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
For spin , . The Pauli matrices satisfy . The antisymmetric term vanishes on contraction with , and , so . Separating the even and odd terms of the exponential series givesFor the single-particle Hamiltonian, unitary time evolution consequently acts asFor two spins the joint eigenstates of total angular momentum are the spin-one-half triplet statewith and , and the spin-one-half singlet stateThese follow by adding the two spin- angular momenta, or by direct action of the Pauli matrices.
The two terms of the specified Hamiltonian commute, so its evolution factorizes into rotations with opposite angles on the two tensor factors. The unique initial state is . With , , its evolved state isThe singlet amplitude is , giving the requested probability
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 ii Paper 3 14I a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
A Hamilton cycle is a cycle graph which visits every vertex of a finite graph exactly once, apart from returning to its starting vertex. A graph is Hamiltonian when it contains such a cycle.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 ii Paper 3 7D a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
The Hamiltonian is . On a regular family of closed phase-space trajectories, action-angle variables are canonical coordinates in which is periodic modulo and . Hamilton's equations then give and .
The action variable isThe orientation is that of the motion, so the integral is the positive enclosed phase-space area divided by .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ib Paper 2 17B b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Part (a) implies . Since , it follows thatFor an eigenfunction of the Hamiltonian with eigenvalue ,Thus is a ladder operator lowering the energy by , provided . The zero function is not an eigenfunction; in particular the ground state is annihilated by this operator. This qualification is essential for the later argument.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ib Paper 2 17B e Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
The Hamiltonian of the quantum harmonic oscillator is the sum of two positive quadratic forms. For a nonzero eigenfunction in its domain,Thus . Part (d) supplies the stronger bound .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 306 1 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Work away from , where the inverse-square potential is singular. Variation of the phase-space action givesThe last equation is the constraint imposed by the Lagrange multiplier . The canonical momentum conjugate to is , not . Consequently the nonzero canonical Poisson brackets areIn particular,With the convention , the Noether charge generating is . Equivalently, the conserved physical energy is ; a convention that calls the energy the time-translation charge absorbs this minus sign into its parameter.
For the dilation charge,on the constraint surface. Its infinitesimal canonical transformations areFor constant , extending this by preserves the action: the kinetic terms are invariant and scales oppositely to . Thus the dilation acts on time and position with their nonrelativistic relative scaling. Its Poisson bracket with the energy is
Put . Direct variation of the Hamiltonian givessoThe supplied transformations are generated by the special conformal charge of inverse-square mechanicsChooseThen even for a time-dependent parameter. Expanding the kinetic-term variation, keeping the terms in , givesHenceFor a constant parameter only the boundary term remains, identifying as the Noether charge. Independently, the equations of motion giveUsing the same canonical Poisson bracket convention,Together, , and form the sl2R Lie algebra of conformal mechanics. These are time translation, dilation and special conformal transformation. A useful normalization check is the Casimir elementon the constraint surface.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 306 4 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The first-order fermionic kinetic term produces second-class momentum constraints. After eliminating them, the canonical graded Dirac brackets arewith other mixed brackets zero. The bracket of two odd variables is symmetric, consistently with the graded Poisson bracket. The constraint algebra isIt is the worldline supersymmetry algebra: the square of the fermionic constraint generates the Hamiltonian constraint.
With , quantization converts these toRepresent the fermions by Gamma matrices, , where , and . The wavefunction is a Dirac spinor. Its physical-state constraint iswhich is exactly the massless Dirac equation. Moreover , so this equation implies the remaining mass-shell constraint. Conversely, a solution of the massless Dirac equation satisfies both constraints. The Klein-Gordon constraint alone would not impose the spinorial first-order equation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 311 3 a iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For a closed universe, the spatial Cauchy hypersurface is compact without boundary. There is consequently no asymptotic surface term in the gravitational Hamiltonian. On solutions, the Hamiltonian constraint and momentum constraint giveThis is the vanishing canonical Hamiltonian of a closed universe: evolution generated by lapse and shift is a gauge transformation, and there is no asymptotic time-translation charge. It does not mean the local stress-energy tensor or Riemann curvature tensor is zero. In an asymptotically flat universe the same bulk constraint equations in field theory hold, but a boundary Arnowitt-Deser-Misner energy can be nonzero.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 311 3 a ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Perform the Legendre transform in mechanics, using . The trace contraction givesTo avoid differentiating a tensor density as though it were an ordinary tensor, set . Integration by parts with the Levi-Civita connection of givesafter dropping the surface term. AlsoTherefore the requested Hamiltonian isVarying the lapse function and shift vector imposes the Hamiltonian constraint and momentum constraint . The total canonical generator also contains multipliers for the vanishing lapse and shift canonical momenta. With an asymptotic boundary, surface terms must be restored to define the Arnowitt-Deser-Misner energy.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 2 15D Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
The principle of stationary action, also called Hamilton's principle, requires for fixed-endpoint path variations. Here the original PDF has in the radial kinetic energy; the TeX has lost that dot. With and , the Lagrangian isThe Euler-Lagrange equation for each coordinate givesThe two conserved quantities are angular momentum and energy . By Noether's theorem, they arise respectively from rotational invariance and time-translation invariance of the action. The coordinate is a cyclic coordinate, and has no explicit time dependence.
The conjugate momentum for each coordinate is , . The Legendre transform gives the HamiltonianHamilton's equations areSetting yields with the effective potential .
For and , this potential tends to infinity both as and as , and has its unique stationary point atThe effective potential stability criterion proves a stable circular orbit in a quadratic central potential, with . For a small radial displacement , to first order, so radial perturbations oscillate rather than grow. The diagram shows the centrifugal and quadratic contributions and their sum in dimensionless units:
The printed paper only says that is constant. Its claimed positive-radius stable circular orbit needs the additional attractive-force assumption and nonzero angular momentum. For there is no such minimum; for the effective potential is strictly decreasing. With , the minimum is at the origin and is not a positive-radius circular orbit. These cases are not represented by the diagram.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 216 6 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use the extended target probability density functionThe desired stationary distribution for positions is ; the full position-momentum joint probability distribution is , not alone. Gaussian momentum refreshment preserves , since it redraws its momentum marginal distribution independently while keeping the position fixed.
Let and be the surrogate leapfrog integration map. The proposal in the paper is : its notation includes the final momentum flip. Reversibility gives , so . Both and preserve volume. Thus is an involutive Metropolis proposal, and the required acceptance probability isEquivalently, in terms of the surrogate Hamiltonian ,Only evaluations of the true target probability density function are needed at endpoints; the trajectory uses the surrogate gradient. Target and surrogate normalizing constants cancel.
For , the accepted flux satisfiesChanging variables has unit absolute Jacobian determinant, so this identity proves detailed balance for accepted moves. The rejection mass stays at the same point and is also reversible. The accept/reject step therefore preserves . Since momentum refreshment also preserves , their composition and either phase of the alternating process preserve . Projecting onto positions proves the position stationary distribution is exactly the original target. Stationarity alone does not establish uniqueness or convergence from every start; those require additional irreducible Markov chain and aperiodic Markov chain hypotheses.
There is a genuine defect in the printed smoothing claim. For the positive, nondifferentiable Laplace distribution on the real line, direct minimization gives, for every ,For the minimizer is ; for it is ; at zero both signs minimize. Hence normalization leaves , still nondifferentiable at zero. The displayed construction does not in general produce the asserted smooth surrogate. For example, the also nondifferentiable target makes that infimum for every , since the negative quartic term dominates the quadratic penalty. The invariance proof above is valid conditional on actually having a usable smooth surrogate, as the subsequent algorithm assumes.
A corrected sufficient construction is Moreau smoothing of a negative log-density. For a proper convex function with sequential lower semicontinuity , setThe Moreau envelope is differentiable, with ; require to be integrable to normalize it. The signs differ from the printed formula. For the Laplace distribution, this givesa genuinely differentiable potential with integrable exponential tails. Using that surrogate with the boxed acceptance probability still targets the original Laplace distribution.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 302 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Use the real Lie-algebra convention of the question, with a gauge covariant derivative . The gauge field strength is its curvature:Write . To first order in ,Substitute . The mixed second derivatives of cancel. The terms containing first derivatives of cancel in pairs. The remaining terms areThe Jacobi identity combines the last two into . ConsequentlyThe transformation is homogeneous even though the connection transformation contains an inhomogeneous derivative term.
For a finite-dimensional Lie algebra, define its Adjoint representation by and its Killing form byIt is a symmetric bilinear form by cyclicity of the trace. The Jacobi identity gives . Set , , . ThenThis proves the invariant bilinear form on a Lie algebra property, without assuming simplicity or nondegeneracy.
For definiteness use the Minkowski metric and take a real compact semisimple Lie algebra as the gauge algebra. Its positive internal metric is . A Killing-form Yang-Mills Lagrangian with the coupling absorbed into the connection isThe spacetime metric is unchanged by internal gauge transformations. HenceThus gauge invariance follows directly from invariance of the Killing form. Other overall conventions are possible, but the energy sign must be checked rather than inferred from a prefactor in isolation.
For physical kinetic terms the internal form must be real, nondegenerate and positive definite after choosing the overall sign. If and , the above convention has Lagrangian and physical energy densityThe canonical Hamiltonian density also contains the nondynamical multiplier and a spatial divergence. With and , integration by parts using the invariant bilinear form on a Lie algebra givesThe Gauss law constraint in gauge theory sets . If the boundary flux vanishes, or the appropriate boundary contribution is included, the integrated physical Hamiltonian is the positive energy displayed above.
An indefinite internal form would give gauge-field polarizations with opposite kinetic signs. A degenerate form would fail to supply a kinetic term for some directions. The compactness criterion from the Killing form says that negative-definiteness of the Killing form of a real finite-dimensional algebra is equivalent to compact semisimplicity; thus the pure Killing-form construction selects compact semisimple real forms. One cannot use a complex-bilinear Killing form on arbitrary complex field components as if it were a positive Hermitian metric.
This does not prohibit Abelian gauge theories. A compact Abelian factor has zero Killing form, so it needs a separately chosen positive invariant bilinear form on a Lie algebra, rather than the Killing form. More generally an algebra with a positive invariant metric on a Lie algebra is compact reductive, namely a direct sum of a compact semisimple algebra and an Abelian center. A noncompact group can also share the same compact Lie algebra through global covering choices in an Abelian factor; positivity is a statement about the algebra and internal metric, not by itself a classification of global gauge-group topology. Quantum matter anomalies and global restrictions would require additional input; no matter content is specified here.
For the finite matrix transformation, let and regard as a multiplication operator. The identity givesTaking commutators of these differential operators cancels the adjacent multiplication operators , yieldingThis argument keeps the derivatives acting on test fields and avoids treating as just a matrix.
There is a normalization issue in the printed last paragraph. The standard Killing form defined through the adjoint trace on isnot simply . For example, with and , the defining trace is , whereas the adjoint trace is . The printed trace formula can be used as a rescaled invariant form, with the constant absorbed into the gauge coupling; it has exactly the invariance needed here. For either normalization,by cyclicity. This proves finite Yang-Mills gauge transformation invariance, with the healthy sign chosen for anti-Hermitian gauge fields. The normalization discrepancy is not a failure of gauge invariance.
Finally let . Since is traceless and skew-Hermitian, this exponential lies in . Expanding the finite formula givesThus the stated infinitesimal transformation is the derivative of the finite transformation at the identity. It describes transformations in the identity component; arbitrary global or large gauge transformations need not be generated by one globally defined infinitesimal parameter.
