Evaluate Bézout's identity for polynomials at :All these linear operators commute because they are polynomials in the same operator. Thus every can be writtenThe first summand belongs to and the second to , since applying the corresponding operator introduces the product .
If lies in both kernels, the same identity gives . Therefore the sum is direct:This is the kernel decomposition for coprime polynomials. It uses both annihilation by and the coprimality expressed by the Bézout identity.
To prove the sum is direct, suppose with . Fix and apply the polynomial in the linear operatorEvery with is killed by one factor. On , each factor is multiplication by , givingThe scalar coefficient is nonzero because the eigenvalues are distinct. Thus for every , provingIn particular, choosing a basis in each eigenspace yields a linearly independent combined list.
For a nonzero eigenvector of ,Therefore is real and nonnegative, and so every eigenvalue is real and nonnegative.
The preceding adjoint identities give , so this linear operator is self-adjoint. The stated finite-dimensional spectral theorem supplies an orthonormal basis with . If , thenSince ,Taking nonnegative square roots provesThe square roots of these extreme eigenvalues are the smallest and largest singular values of ; the lower bound can be zero if has a nontrivial kernel of a linear map.
If the real part vanishes identically, the norm-difference identity becomes equality, soThus the same substitution as above gives for every . To prove surjectivity as well, observe that both and satisfy the nonnegative-real-part hypothesis. The preceding part makes both and invertible. Their product is therefore invertible and onto. It is a surjective norm-preserving linear operator, so the equivalences in (a) prove
Past exam of the chemistry A course of the University of Cambridge 2021 Paper 1 A1 a i Solution 2026-10-20
Write , and . The product rule applied to a smooth test function givesThe mixed second partial derivatives cancel because they commute. Since the orbital angular momentum components are , their commutator isThis is one of the orbital angular momentum commutation relations; the Planck constant enters through the definition of each linear operator.
For Banach spaces , a nonlinear compact operator is a continuous map that sends every bounded set to a relatively compact subset of : the closure of its image is a compact set. For a continuous map, the image condition is equivalent to requiring that every bounded sequence has a subsequence along which converges in the norm topology of . For a linear operator, this is the usual compact operator definition; the continuity requirement is included explicitly here because the subsequent applications are nonlinear.
The compact-domain version of the Schauder fixed-point theorem saysA useful equivalent version replaces by a nonempty closed bounded convex set and assumes is a continuous map with relatively compact image. This latter form will be used for the partial differential equation. Both forms assert existence of a fixed point, without asserting uniqueness.
A linear operator has closed graph when is closed in . The closed graph theorem states that an everywhere-defined linear operator between Banach spaces is bounded if and only if it has closed graph. Boundedness gives the closed-graph property by continuity. Conversely a closed graph is Banach in the product norm . Projection of the graph onto is a bounded linear bijection, so the open mapping theorem makes its inverse bounded. Composing that inverse with the second-coordinate projection proves is bounded.
For the composition assertion, suppose and . Boundedness of gives , and boundedness of gives . Injectivity of forces . Hence has closed graph and is bounded by the theorem.
For the derivative bound take with norm , and with its supremum norm; both are Banach. Regard as a map into , and let be inclusion. This inclusion is bounded and injective, and is bounded by hypothesis. The preceding result gives a constant with . In particular uniformly in .
Past exam of the functional analysis course of the University of Oxford 2011 1 a i Solution 2026-10-31
A linear operator is a compact operator if the image of the closed unit ball has compact closure in . Equivalently, every bounded sequence in has a subsequence whose images converge in the norm of . This implies boundedness of .
The Schauder theorem for compact operators says that for a bounded linear operator between Banach spaces,where the dual map of bounded linear operator is . The forward implication also holds for normed spaces; completeness of the target gives the usual converse. The compactness definition requires the image subsequence's limit to belong to , so that completeness qualification matters when stating the theorem beyond Banach spaces.
Past exam of the functional analysis II course of the University of Oxford 2023 3 b i Solution 2026-10-25
Here the intended space must consist of bounded linear operators, namely Hilbert-Schmidt operators. The printed restriction to “all linear mappings” is insufficient. To see this, choose outside the algebraic linear span of , for example . Extend the linearly independent family to a Hamel basis. Define a linear functional on this Hamel basis by and zero on every other basis vector, and extend it linearly. Then the everywhere-defined linear operator satisfiesIts printed column sum is zero although . More explicitly, but for every . Thus is discontinuous; it has no everywhere-defined adjoint operator of the bounded kind used in the question. This proves finite column sum does not imply boundedness. We use in the intended argument below.
By the Parseval identity for a Hilbertian basis for , followed by the adjoint operator identity and then the Parseval identity for a Hilbertian basis for ,The interchange is valid by Tonelli's theorem for nonnegative double series, even before finiteness is known. Repeating with shows that the right side also equals . HenceIn particular the Hilbert-Schmidt norm is independent of the Hilbertian basis, and .
On the complex vector space of class functions, define the linear operatorThis is a complex-linear map and satisfies . It is well-defined on class functions, because inversion of conjugacy classes takes an entire conjugacy class to another conjugacy class .
Use first the basis consisting of the indicator functions of the conjugacy classes. The linear operator permutes this basis by . A permutation matrix has trace equal to the number of fixed basis vectors, soThe right-hand side counts the real conjugacy classes.
By character orthogonality and completeness, the irreducible characters are another basis of . Part (a) gives . The pointwise complex conjugate of an irreducible character is again an irreducible character: conjugate the representing matrices, and conjugate any hypothetical proper invariant subspace back to contradict irreducibility. Thus also permutes this basis, andHere means exactly that is a real-valued character. Equality of the trace in these two bases provesThis is the real character and real conjugacy class counting theorem. The linear operator used in the proof is ; on the irreducible character basis it agrees with pointwise complex conjugation, although pointwise complex conjugation itself is not a complex-linear map on all class functions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 54 2 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The spatial mean is conserved: averaging every term in the partial differential equation over the periodic cell gives . Adding a constant to also preserves the equation. We therefore fix the mean, conveniently at zero. This qualification is essential: without it the constant Fourier mode contributes an additional neutral direction, so the centre subspace would have five real dimensions rather than four.
On a Fourier mode , the linearized linear operator has eigenvalueOn the fixed-mean subspace, the first eigenvalues to reach zero are those with . At these are the modes ; every other nonconstant Fourier mode is strictly damped. The reality condition leaves two complex amplitudes, hence a four-real-dimensional centre manifold on the fixed-mean subspace. The trivial state loses linear stability as increases through one.
Use slow time , and write , whereThere is no quadratic nonlinearity, so no forced second-order correction is needed. At order , with , projection onto the critical Fourier modes givesThe correction does not contribute to the critical projection because the linear operator vanishes on those modes. To find the nonlinear coefficient of , split the divergence term intoThe first term contributes . In the second, only the zero- Fourier coefficient of contributes; it is , and differentiating once more gives . The third term has zero -average, and the fourth has no -dependent critical component. Interchanging gives the other amplitude equation. Thus the conserved-mean convection amplitude equations areTo establish the selected planform, put , . The phases are constant and the magnitudes obeyFor , the square state has . Its magnitude Jacobian matrix is , with eigenvalues and . Its two neutral phases correspond to translation symmetry. The pure roll has ; an infinitesimal disturbance grows at rate . The other pure roll is equivalent, while the trivial state is unstable for . Consequently squares, with , are the stable small-amplitude planform, modulo translations. For the trivial state is stable.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 58 6 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The Weierstrass approximation theorem asserts that every real continuous function on a compact interval is a uniform limit of polynomials. An affine change of variable reduces the interval to . There are two complementary routes: construct positive approximation operators, or construct an algebra dense enough to approximate absolute values and hence pointwise maxima and minima.
For the first route, the Korovkin theorem reduces convergence of positive linear operators on continuous functions to the three tests . Here is its proof. Given and , uniform continuity supplies a such that for . For all one then hasApply positivity to the two real inequalities obtained from this bound. At this givesThe expression in brackets is nonnegative and tends uniformly to zero by the three test assumptions. Also uniformly. Taking the upper limit of the supremum norm and then letting proves convergence for every . This is the quadratic barrier estimate for positive approximation operators.
The Bernstein polynomial supplies the constructive corollaryThe binomial theorem makes its nonnegative weights sum to one. Differentiating the binomial theorem, or using the first two binomial distribution moments, givesThe Korovkin theorem proves uniformly, and each is a polynomial, proving the Weierstrass approximation theorem. The same criterion gives the Schoenberg spline operator convergence in Solution 3. For periodic functions its counterpart uses : the nonnegative barrier is bounded away from zero outside any fixed small arc. This periodic Korovkin test set gives convergence of the normalized Fejér sums and density of trigonometric polynomials.
The Lebesgue convergence criterion for approximation operators addresses stability. Suppose bounded linear operators converge to the identity on every polynomial. Then they converge on every continuous function if and only if . Sufficiency is the extension of approximation operators from a dense subspace: for a polynomial with and a common bound ,First let , then . Necessity follows from the Uniform boundedness principle, since a convergent is bounded for every . Applied to approximation projectors, the Lebesgue inequality for approximation projectors isIndeed makes ; take the infimum. Thus density of the ranges and a uniform bound on the Lebesgue constants of interpolation imply convergence. Density alone does not control a sequence of interpolation projectors.
There is also a kernel version of this stability criterion, useful for trigonometric polynomial approximation. If integrable periodic kernels have uniformly bounded norms, their integrals tend to one, and for every , then convolution with converges uniformly to every continuous periodic function. Subtract and split the error into a small arc, bounded by , and its complement, bounded by . The remaining mass error tends to zero. This approximate identity argument shows directly why nonnegative unit-mass Fejér kernels work even though ordinary Fourier partial sums need not converge uniformly for every continuous target.
Lebesgue's constructive approach to the Weierstrass approximation theorem starts instead with the absolute value. On define the polynomial recurrence for the absolute valueInduction gives , monotonicity, andThe pointwise limit satisfies and is nonnegative, hence equals . Dini's theorem makes the convergence uniform. More explicitly, the continuous decreasing errors have, for any positive tolerance, open sublevel sets covering the compact interval; a finite subcover supplies one index valid everywhere. Every continuous piecewise linear function has the formThe are its changes in slope. Scaling and translating the absolute-value approximation shows that is uniformly approximable by polynomials. Solution 4, or polygonal interpolation and uniform continuity, makes these piecewise linear functions dense in . Approximating first by and then by a polynomial is another complete proof of the Weierstrass approximation theorem.
The Stone-Weierstrass theorem generalizes from intervals to a compact Hausdorff space : a real subalgebra containing the constants and separating points is uniformly dense. Its proof uses the same absolute-value mechanism. The uniform closure of a function algebra is an algebra. If belongs to this closure, approximation of by polynomials on a bounded interval containing its range proves that also belongs to the closure. Therefore the closure containsPoint separation and constants allow exact interpolation of any two real values: choose with and solve for in . The lattice approximation from two-point approximation proved in Solution 4 now makes the closure all of .
The complex version requires a unital, point-separating subalgebra closed under complex conjugation. Its real-valued members separate points using real or imaginary parts, so the real result approximates both parts of every complex target. Conjugation closure is essential: polynomials in alone on the closed unit disk cannot approximate uniformly, because whereas .
Among the corollaries are density of multivariate polynomials on compact subsets of real Euclidean space, since coordinates separate points, and density of trigonometric polynomials on the circle, since sine and cosine separate points there. On a compact interval, polynomials with rational coefficients are a countable dense family, giving separability of . The real and complex approximation results above concern uniform approximation of continuous targets; neither asserts convergence of arbitrary interpolation schemes or arbitrary Fourier series.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 58 7 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Fix a clamped nondecreasing spline knot sequence on , with and . For continuous splines assume interior multiplicities at most , and assume . An order- spline has degree at most on each nonempty knot interval; at a knot of multiplicity it has continuous derivatives. Its dimension is , and a normalized B-spline basis has local support, nonnegative values and sum one on .
These properties are visible in the Cox-de Boor recurrence. Starting with interval indicators at order one, setwith a term of zero denominator defined to be zero. On each contributing support the weights are nonnegative, and summing the recurrence makes the coefficients of each lower-order B-spline add to one. This gives partition of unity and , with endpoint values defined by limits.
At distinct ordered sites , interpolation is the linear systemIt has a unique solution for every data vector exactly when the B-spline collocation matrix is invertible. The Schoenberg–Whitney theorem characterizes this by for every ; away from clamped endpoints this is . At the clamped endpoints the first and last B-splines have value one, so the endpoint version uses this positive-value formulation rather than the strict inequalities. Both ordering and the support conditions matter. A spline space with interior knots is generally not a Chebyshev system on the entire interval: a locally supported B-spline vanishes on an interval. Thus arbitrary distinct nodes need not permit interpolation. Merely specifying all data sites as knots also need not fix the remaining freedom; for example, cubic interpolation with simple interior knots at data sites has dimension , and two extra boundary conditions are needed to interpolate values uniquely.
The positivity governing this existence theorem is total nonnegativity of B-spline collocation matrices: every square minor with increasing row and column indices is nonnegative. In spline terminology this is often called total positivity, but it permits zero minors caused by disjoint supports. It is not the stronger assertion that every minor is strictly positive. A useful proof uses knot insertion. Each refinement step changes coefficients bywith the unchanged endpoint pieces. The refinement matrix is nonnegative bidiagonal, and its minors are nonnegative: any nonzero determinant has its allowed diagonal matching and is a product of nonnegative entries. Products preserve this property by the Cauchy–Binet formula. Insert each sampling site to full multiplicity, so evaluation at that site becomes selection of an ordered refined coefficient. The collocation matrix is then an ordered row submatrix of the refinement product, proving total nonnegativity. The strict support criterion is the strict part of this argument: an ordered path through the consecutive support intervals exists exactly when every diagonal B-spline value is positive, giving the Schoenberg–Whitney theorem determinant criterion.
If is invertible, its determinant is positive and the adjugate identity yieldsThis checkerboard inverse of a totally nonnegative matrix is the central stability fact. With alternating data , the absolute row sums satisfyFor general data, the cardinal splines are . The spline interpolation operator and its exact Lebesgue constant of interpolation areThe equality for the operator norm follows by extending the signs at distinct sites to a continuous unit-norm data function, as in Solution 2. That solution also shows the last inequality can be very strict. Stability concerns the range function as well as its coefficients.
An optimal interpolation set must be specified relative to an objective. For the normalized B-spline coefficients, every admissible sampling set satisfiessince and sampling cannot increase the supremum norm. If a unit-norm spline has ordered alternating extrema at admissible sites, the checkerboard identity givesTaking the largest row shows , so equality holds. This proves the optimal spline coefficient interpolation sites property and the Chebyshev spline coefficient and dual norm equality. In particular, for the cubic space of Solution 1 the alternating extrema satisfy the support conditions. Its coefficients have maximum magnitude , so these sites are optimal for coefficient recovery andThe argument proves optimality whenever this admissible equioscillating spline is available; it does not identify extrema of an arbitrary spline as optimal sites, or transfer coefficient optimality automatically to the Lebesgue constant of interpolation.
For the intrinsic interpolation objective, minimize itself. There is a minimizer for a fixed finite-dimensional continuous spline space. Indeed the sites lie in a compact ordered simplex. On admissible sets, inverse entries and hence vary continuously. As a collocation matrix tends to a singular one, its inverse norm diverges. The uniform-norm stability of a B-spline basis gives the complementary boundchoose sample signs attaining a largest inverse row, extend them to a continuous unit-norm function, and use . Thus a minimizing sequence with bounded Lebesgue constants of interpolation cannot approach a singular site set. A convergent subsequence has an admissible limit attaining the minimum.
Fekete interpolation sites for a continuous function space offer another useful, constructive criterion: maximize the absolute evaluation determinant. A nonzero maximum exists by compactness and linear independence. Replacing one row by evaluation at multiplies the determinant by the corresponding cardinal function, so maximality gives , and therefore . These sites are determinant-optimal, with a proven interpolation bound; one should not claim without further argument that they minimize . Greville abscissae provide inexpensive admissible sites for the usual continuous clamped spline spaces of order at least two. Admissibility alone does not give the best stability bound.
Finally, the coefficient condition number of a normalized B-spline basis is bounded by a constant depending only on order. To see the mechanism, for each coefficient choose a longest nonempty knot cell in that B-spline's support. If its length is and the support width is , then . On that cell the spline is a degree-at-most- polynomial; repeated Markov polynomial inequalities bound its th derivative by . In the De Boor–Fix spline coefficient functional, the accompanying derivative of the knot polynomial is bounded by . Each term is consequently at most , yielding independently of the number and spacing of knots. This is basis stability; it does not bound at arbitrarily poor sampling sites.
For approximation, reproduction gives the Lebesgue inequality for approximation projectorsAs the maximum knot gap tends to zero with fixed order, spline quasi-interpolation gives an approximant with error at most , so the infimum tends to zero. A sequence of uniformly bounded interpolation linear operators therefore converges to every continuous target. Local support and a stable choice of sites make spline interpolation effective; mesh refinement without control of the interpolation operator norm is not by itself a convergence proof.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ib Paper 2 17F ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
For any complex , the shifted linear operator is normal: expansion of leaves just . Apply part (i) to this shifted normal operator:Hence a nonzero vector is an eigenvector of with eigenvalue if and only if it is an eigenvector of with eigenvalue . The eigenspaces coincide, with conjugate eigenvalues.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ib Paper 2 17F iv Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Proceed by induction on . The zero-dimensional case has the empty orthonormal basis. In positive dimension, the fundamental theorem of algebra gives a root of the characteristic polynomial, hence a unit eigenvector of , say with eigenvalue . Part (ii) makes it an eigenvector of as well. Thus the line spanned by and its orthogonal complement are invariant under both operators by the introductory adjoint argument.
On , the restriction of is the adjoint of the restriction of , and the restrictions still commute. The restricted linear operator is therefore normal. By induction it has an orthonormal basis of eigenvectors. Adjoining proves an orthonormal eigenbasis exists for , establishing the finite-dimensional spectral theorem by construction.
For the final deduction, use this orthonormal basis and write . DefineThe real nonnegative diagonal entries make a Hermitian operator, and the modulus-one diagonal entries make a unitary operator. Both are diagonal in the same orthonormal basis, so they commute and even when . This proves the required factorization without assuming invertibility.
Conversely, if with , , and , then andThus is normal. Normality is equivalent to a commuting Hermitian–unitary factorization, with the Hermitian factor even selectable nonnegative. This is the polar decomposition with a unitary extension on the kernel.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ib Paper 2 17F Solution 2026-10-14
Use an inner product linear in its first argument. The adjoint operator is the unique linear operator such thatIn a finite-dimensional inner product space, existence follows by choosing an orthonormal basis: the matrix of the adjoint is the conjugate transpose of the matrix of . Uniqueness follows from nondegeneracy of the inner product.
If , then for and ,Thus . Conversely, if , the same equality gives for every , so . This proves the adjoint criterion for an invariant orthogonal complement.
The equality uses the finite-dimensional setting appropriate here. In a general Hilbert space it holds for closed subspaces, and an adjoint is assured for bounded operators. Without closedness the converse only implies invariance of the closure. For example in , take to be the finite-support sequences and . Then is automatically adjoint-invariant, but . Thus the finite-dimensional or closed-subspace hypothesis cannot be omitted from an infinite-dimensional reading.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 26 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Write and use the determinant-normalized slash operatorThe automorphy factor identity proves , and positive scalar matrices act trivially. Let be all integral matrices of determinant . It is stable under left and right multiplication by . Its left orbits have unique representativesIndeed Bézout's identity reduces the first column to , the determinant fixes , and a row shear reduces modulo . These are the determinant-n matrix representatives for Hecke operators. For composite , can contain more than one double coset; keeping every integral matrix, including nonprimitive ones, is essential.
Define the Hecke operator byChanging a representative on the left leaves its summand unchanged. Right multiplication by permutes left orbits of , so the result satisfies the weight- transformation law. Each summand is holomorphic. Its expansion at infinity is bounded, and vanishes there when is a cusp form; the group has just one cusp class. Therefore preserves both and , and is the identity.
For a Fourier expansion , the sum over vanishes unless . Substitute and then collect the coefficient of to obtain the Fourier coefficients of a composite-index Hecke operator:Here , so the constant coefficient is ; at it is . This proves preservation of integral coefficients. At a prime,with if .
We can prove the entire Hecke multiplication relations directly, not just quote them. On formal power series put and . Although these individual operators need not preserve level one, and the coefficient formula givesMultiply on the left by . In the first part the term is ; every reduces by to . The second part, together with the term, is . The remaining sum is . ThusFor coprime indices, the coefficient divisors split independently in the displayed formula, proving when . Induction with the prime-power recurrence gives . Combining the primes provesIn particular the modular Hecke algebra is commutative and is generated by the prime operators.
For cusp forms the Petersson inner product isCusp decay makes it finite and positive definite. The Hecke operators are self-adjoint for the Petersson inner product. To see the change-of-variables mechanism, fix a double coset and put . Representatives of give left representatives . Unfolding the sum in changes the integral over to the integral over of . The substitution preserves and has ; these factors move the slash from to . Refold over to get the reverse double coset. Since scalar matrices act trivially, has the same slash action as its adjugate , an integral matrix of determinant . The adjugate involution permutes all the double cosets in . The common real factor is unchanged, giving .
Since is finite dimensional, commuting self-adjoint linear operators have a common orthonormal basis of Hecke eigenforms: diagonalize one operator, restrict the others to its eigenspaces, and repeat until these spaces cannot split further. If is a nonzero common Hecke eigenform with , the coefficient at gives . Were , every positive coefficient would vanish, contrary to being cuspidal. Normalize ; then , and the Hecke multiplication relations yieldThe eigenvalues are real by self-adjointness. Their multiplicativity and prime-power recurrence give the Euler product of a Hecke eigenform, initially in an absolutely convergent half-plane:The Mellin transform in Question 5 supplies its analytic continuation and functional equation.
Finally, for positive even , , by subtracting the constant coefficient times the normalized Eisenstein series. The divisor identityfollows by multiplying the geometric sums at each prime; it and the constant-coefficient formula prove . Thus has an Eisenstein series eigenline and a basis of cuspidal Hecke eigenforms. Odd and negative weights have no forms, , and on the operator is the scalar . These statements fix the normalization and describe the exceptional small weights as well.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 33 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be the orthogonal projector onto the quantum code , and choose an orthonormal basis for it. The necessary and sufficient Knill--Laflamme condition is that one matrix , independent of the logical labels, satisfiesEquivalently, . This makes the information in the error label independent of the encoded quantum state. It applies to the whole linear span of the errors, and hence to every noise quantum channel with Kraus operators in that span.
Here is a proof of both directions. For necessity of the Knill-Laflamme condition, let be Kraus operators of a common recovery, so . Since recovery after must return the pure input state, every vector is parallel to . A linear operator on the code which sends every vector to a multiple of itself is scalar: apply it to two basis vectors and their sum to force the two multipliers to agree. Therefore with no dependence on . It follows thatThis proves necessity without assuming in advance that the physical errors have orthogonal syndromes.
For sufficiency, is positive semidefinite: for any normalized code state and coefficients , . Diagonalize by a unitary change of the error basis to get operators with . If , is a linear isometry from the code to an error-image subspace, and distinct such images are orthogonal. If , then . A projective measurement of these image subspaces followed by recovers every logical state. Complete the recovery on the unused orthogonal complement in any trace-preserving manner. For a coherent error , the measurement branch contains ; the branch probability is independent of the logical state, and discarding the syndrome leaves the original state. This is constructive recovery from the Knill-Laflamme condition.
For the usual family of distinct unitary Pauli errors modulo scalar phase, nondegenerate quantum code correction means that different physical errors have orthogonal image subspaces. The precise condition isFor nonunitary errors, replace the unit diagonal by positive norm factors. In an arbitrary error basis the Gram matrix need not initially be diagonal; its positive-eigenvalue modes give the independent syndrome spaces just constructed. A kernel of exhibits a linear combination of errors acting as zero on the code. In particular two distinct physical errors with the same action on the code cannot be distinguished and give degenerate correction, as in part (c).
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 33 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Here the number of errors means the number of affected physical qubits: assume that all errors supported on at most qubits are jointly correctable. It does not mean the cardinality of an arbitrary selected error list. Let be any Pauli operator of weight at most . Split its support into disjoint sets , each of size at most , and write . Each Pauli factor is Hermitian, so take , to get , up to an irrelevant scalar phase if different Pauli representatives are used. The Knill--Laflamme condition givesThis is precisely quantum error detection: a projective measurement with outcomes either detects departure from the code or leaves the accepted logical state unchanged up to a scalar. Some errors can be harmless scalars on the code, particularly for degenerate correction; detection is not required to flag such an error with certainty.
Any linear operator supported on at most qubits is a linear combination of Pauli operators on those qubits, so its code compression is scalar by linearity. ThusThis is correction implies detection at twice the weight. The premise about all locations and all error types is essential: merely correcting one selected operator gives no universal statement about every operator of twice its weight.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 33 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
A measurement in quantum mechanics with outcomes is specified, in the single-operator-per-outcome description, by linear operators satisfying . Its effects form a positive operator-valued measure. The two measurement postulates are the Born rule for outcomes and the conditional state update:For a density operator the corresponding formulas are and . More general quantum instruments have multiple operators for each outcome and sum these terms. For a projective measurement of an observable , take ; the outcome value is and the postmeasurement state lies in its eigenspace. A POVM alone specifies probabilities, whereas the measurement operators or instrument also specify the backaction.
For quantum teleportation, Alice and Bob initially share the Bell pair . Alice also holds the input , with . The shared entanglement is a resource; the two transmitted classical bits alone could not transfer an arbitrary unknown quantum state.
Alice applies a controlled-NOT gate with as control and as target, then a Hadamard gate to . Starting from , direct expansion givesFor example, the four receiver vectors are , , , and . Thus the gate calculation fixes the ordering of the Pauli corrections, including the last branch's sign.
Alice measures in the computational basis, obtaining . The Born rule gives each outcome probability , independent of the input amplitudes. Bob's normalized conditional state is . Alice sends the two outcome bits. Bob applies the inverse, , and henceThe same circuit is a Bell-basis measurement on Alice's two qubits, expressed using ordinary gates followed by computational-basis measurements. It restores the state without Alice or Bob knowing .
By linearity, the calculation also holds when the input is entangled with a reference: each outcome has branch map , and after correction every branch is one-half of the identity map. Summing the four corrected density operators gives exactly the original input density operator, with all reference correlations preserved. This is teleportation as an identity channel on a reference. Without the two classical bits Bob must average the four uncorrected states, giving , so the process cannot signal before the message arrives. The Bell pair is consumed and Alice retains no copy of the unknown state, in accordance with the no-cloning theorem.