Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 308 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Take , , use metric and set . The two scalar-field vacua are ; the positive kink joins at the left end to at the right. The square completion for a one-dimensional kink givesThus its Bogomolny bound is . Equality requires ; separating variables, or differentiating the resulting hyperbolic tangent, gives is the translational collective coordinate. The antikink is for the centered odd profile. Differentiating the first-order equation gives the static Euler-Lagrange field equation . Hence the Bogomolny equation really does solve the second-order theory. The two distinct vacua and the above kink require the positive parameters; the degenerate case , or the unstable negative- potential, does not have this topological kink sector.
For a slowly moving kink, put . The saturated first-order equation implies , soThe stress-energy tensor has and . Using in the approximate translate therefore gives and . Equivalently, substitution into the action gives the collective-coordinate effective Lagrangian . These are the translational dynamics of a phi-four kink, withThe displayed remainder orders refer to the exact constant-velocity solution. The uncontracted translated profile is only an approximation: its error as a field starts at , but the static profile is an energy stationary point, so the corresponding static-energy error starts at and does not change the displayed coefficient.
Since the relativistic action is invariant under Lorentz transformations, a Lorentz boost gives the exact moving kink, for ,Its conserved energy and momentum are and , whose expansions agree with the preceding calculation. The width contraction is essential to solving the exact time-dependent equation.
Use the centered profile . An appropriate approximate separated-lump initial condition isIt tends to as and as . Near and it is a positive kink, and near zero it is an antikink; the other two tails cancel to exponentially small accuracy. The condition makes these interpretations accurate. This sum is legitimate smooth initial data, not an exact static multi-kink solution. Its topological charge isand its energy is close to , with exponentially small interactions.
Adjacent kink–antikink pairs attract: the kink–antikink attraction from the stress tensor gives a negative midpoint pressure and hence an inward force on each outside kink. Direct overlap of the two outer kink tails is exponentially smaller than each adjacent kink–antikink overlap. The initial field is odd and its velocity zero, so the equation's reflection-plus-sign symmetry preserves . The central zero remains at and the outer cores move in symmetrically. They collide with the central antikink. Excess energy can excite localized kink oscillations and outgoing radiation; the usual relaxational outcome is a remaining centered kink plus radiation after transient collisions or oscillations. On an infinite line radiation can carry energy away from the core even though total energy is conserved. Conservation of prevents complete disappearance into vacuum, but it does not determine every bounce or exclude a temporarily re-emerging kink–antikink pair. The nonintegrable collision should not be described as exact elastic passage of all three solitons.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 308 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The Skyrme model represents the three pions by a field in the special unitary group ,with Pauli matrices . Near , the three tangent components are the pion fields, with a normalization scale suppressed here. Define . In one useful sign convention with metric , the action consists ofwhere and the last term is optional, with proportional to a common pion mass squared. The first term is a nonlinear sigma model kinetic term, and the second is the four-derivative term of the Skyrme model. For a static configuration of size , the two derivative contributions scale as and , whereas a mass term scales as . This Derrick scaling explains why the four-derivative term can stabilize a finite size instead of allowing collapse.
A finite-energy field configuration approaches a vacuum, conventionally . Compactifying space makes a map . The topological baryon number in the Skyrme model is its degree of a map between oriented manifolds,The sign convention makes the standard decreasing hedgehog have . Smooth evolution with the vacuum boundary condition preserves this integer. A Skyrmion is a localized soliton in such a sector; the unit soliton, after quantization, models a nucleon, and higher positive charges model multi-baryon systems. The topological conservation law is distinct from an ordinary Noether charge of isospin. Classical pion fields are bosonic, so obtaining fermionic nucleons also needs the quantum-statistics choice discussed below.
The derivative theory has global chiral symmetry , acting by . The simultaneous pair acts trivially, so the faithful connected action can also be viewed as on . In the massless theory the choice of vacuum breaks this to the vector subgroup. For fixed , the vacuum-preserving symmetry of the Skyrme model requires and acts by . This is isospin, effectively because and act the same way. A usual common pion-mass term explicitly preserves only this vector subgroup; full chiral symmetry is then an approximate massless-limit symmetry, not an exact symmetry of that term. Independent axial rotations change the vacuum and are not extra localized rigid-rotor coordinates in a sector with fixed boundary vacuum.
The space-time symmetry is the Poincaré group, comprising translations and Lorentz transformations, including spatial rotations. Parity acts as , since pions are pseudoscalars. For a static finite-energy solution, translations change its position; spatial rotations and isorotations change its orientation. These transformations generate collective coordinates, but a particular field can be unchanged by certain combined transformations.
For the usual low-charge minimum branches of the standard model, the relevant shapes and density symmetries are the following. These are not claims about every field of a given degree, all excited solutions or arbitrary modified pion potentials.
Schematic Skyrmion configurations
. Schematic shapes of the Skyrme baryon density at low charge: sphere, torus, tetrahedral shell and cubic shell. They show shape and symmetry, rather than numerically computed density isosurfaces. Details.For , the Skyrmion hedgehog ansatz isIts Skyrme baryon density is spherical. Indeed . A spatial rotation rotates the pion direction, so the field itself is invariant under a compensating isorotation, not under every spatial rotation alone. Its proper combined stabilizer is a diagonal .
For , the toroidal two-Skyrmion has a ring-shaped density with an axial hole and full density symmetry . The proper combined field stabilizer is an -type group: its continuous subgroup pairs axial spatial rotation by with isorotation by , and it also has discrete transverse half-turns. The angular approximation makes the axial factor two explicit. A static two-baryon minimum is consequently not simply two separate round unit lumps.
For , the tetrahedral three-Skyrmion has a tetrahedral shell with four face-hole directions and full density group . Its proper rotational group is , the tetrahedral symmetry group of order 12. The actual field symmetries again pair these rotations with isorotations.
For , the cubic four-Skyrmion has a cubic shell with six face-hole directions. Its full density group is , the symmetry group of a cube, and its proper group is , the rotational symmetry group of a cube of order 24. Cubic and octahedral symmetry name the same point group; this particular density shape is cubic. Reflections in these full density groups should not be confused with the proper rotation-isorotation group used for angular-momentum quantization.
As a concrete independent check on these shape symmetries, the rational map approximation for Skyrmions useswith and . Representative maps areTheir degrees are , and with the stated radial boundary conditions their baryon numbers equal these degrees. The angular Jacobian of a rational map is . It vanishes at branch directions. has uniform angular density; has its two branch directions on the axial poles; the Wronskian of a rational map for is proportional to , giving tetrahedrally arranged holes; has branch directions , giving the six cube-face directions. Also pairs a spatial quarter-turn with an isospin half-turn. These give illustrative approximate fields, not exact analytic solutions or a proof of global energy minimality.
To quantize, first distinguish the model's group from the chosen soliton's stabilizer subgroup . A family of the same static energy isIgnoring translations for the moment, , and different rigid orientations form the Skyrmion collective-coordinate orbit . The connected stabilizer dimensions are for the four shapes, so their orientation-orbit dimensions are ; adding translations gives . For the unit hedgehog, treating rotation and isorotation as six independent modes would double-count its locked orientation. For higher charges, arbitrary separation of constituent lumps is not an exact flat moduli space in this non-Bogomolny theory.
Let the orbit coordinates depend slowly on time. Integrating the kinetic terms gives a collective-coordinate effective Lagrangian , with positive kinetic metric after removing redundant stabilizer directions. Its angular blocks are the spatial, isospin and mixed inertia tensors. Collective-coordinate quantization produces a rotor Hamiltonian on this orbit, with translations giving center-of-mass momentum. The global symmetry supplies states transforming in spin- and isospin- group representations, and the associated conserved angular momenta. Inertia tensors determine energy splittings; group symmetry alone does not specify those tensors or their numerical energies.
The topology and the static stabilizer supply further collective-rotation constraints for a Skyrmion. The degree- configuration space has fundamental group , related to . Choosing the nontrivial Finkelstein-Rubinstein constraints character gives fermionic unit baryons. Wavefunctions live on the appropriate cover, and a lifted stabilizer operation obeysThe sign depends on whether the actual field-configuration loop is contractible, not just on whether the density looks symmetric. A spatial rotation or isorotation has sign in this fermionic choice, soThus odd baryon number requires half-integer spin and isospin; even baryon number requires integers. Discrete or continuous combined stabilizer symmetries impose additional restrictions on the allowed pairs and body-fixed rotor states. They must not simply be omitted, or replaced by trivial invariance under every density symmetry. The trivial character is a possible bosonic quantization but would not produce a fermionic nucleon. Improper field symmetries, implemented using the model parity transformation, can additionally constrain parity labels; scalar-density reflection symmetry alone is insufficient to infer those labels.
For example, the two-Skyrmion axial stabilizer can be written in body-axis conventions as , with the spatial and the isospin generators. A transverse spatial half-turn accompanied by an isospin half-turn has the nontrivial sign in the Finkelstein-Rubinstein constraints. The integer-spin scalar state is therefore excluded despite even . A spin-one, isospin-zero state with zero axial body projection has the required minus sign under that half-turn; the spin-zero, isospin-one channel can also satisfy the constraints. Their relative energies require the inertia tensors.
For the unit hedgehog, these requirements reduce to rotational quantization of a unit Skyrmion: one orientation with has . With the energies are , where is its moment of inertia. Since , the purely rotational hedgehog band has positive parity; vibrational excitations need not share it. The multiplet models the spin-half proton/neutron isospin doublet; gives the Delta baryon multiplet. The familiar lowest rotor assignments for are respectively . These assignments incorporate the corresponding field-stabilizer constraints and standard inertia ordering, not a prediction from density shape alone. Deformations, vibrational modes, radiation and binding dynamics lie beyond the rigid approximation. The two symmetry roles are therefore
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 301 4 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
A Lorentz transformation preserves the quadratic form of the Minkowski metric for every four-vector. Substituting givesThe coefficient difference is a symmetric matrix, and a symmetric quadratic form that vanishes on every vector is zero: evaluating it on basis vectors and their sums recovers each coefficient. ConsequentlyThis is the defining metric-preservation relation of the Lorentz group.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 302 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Use anti-Hermitian representation matrices for the unitary representation, so . Absorb the gauge coupling into the connection, consistently with the transformation law in the PDF. The appropriate gauge covariant derivative isThis has a plus sign because the inhomogeneous part of the connection transformation is . Its variation isThus gauge covariance of a scalar covariant derivative givesThe cancellation uses that is a Lie algebra representation, including its commutator identity.
The gauge field strength isIt is the curvature appearing in . The index positions in the PDF are related by the constant Minkowski metric; lowering the index in its transformation law gives the convention used here.
Take signature , let be a real symmetric gauge-invariant internal form, and let be the positive Hermitian form preserved by the unitary matter representation. One consistent Lorentz transformation scalar Lagrangian density isHere , , and give a simple stable potential. The coupling is in the kinetic normalization because it was absorbed into ; it is not inserted again into . Taking a zero or another gauge-invariant potential is also possible. A positive nondegenerate gives the usual physical gauge kinetic energy, as for a compact gauge algebra. More generally the invariance calculation below applies to any symmetric invariant bilinear form on a Lie algebra, including the Killing form.
Under the infinitesimal gauge-field transformation law,Invariance and symmetry of give the cancellation. For matter, both and transform by , so anti-Hermiticity givesfor either pairing used in the Lagrangian. Its potential is a function of the invariant scalar norm. Therefore , establishing gauge invariance of this Yang-Mills theory coupled to a scalar. Contraction of spacetime indices with the Minkowski metric gives Lorentz invariance.
For the Adjoint representation, define the Lie algebra structure constants byInternal superscripts here are basis labels, as in the paper; spacetime indices alone are raised with the Minkowski metric. The adjoint covariant derivative and curvature have componentsThese formulas involve no extra factor of , because the generators use the Lie-algebra convention rather than Hermitian physics generators.
To make the Killing-form sign explicit, write and . The literal contraction requested in the paper corresponds to . For a compact real form of a complex semisimple gauge algebra, its actual positive inner product has , since the Killing form is negative definite. With a complex adjoint scalar, the fully expanded Killing-form Lagrangian for an adjoint scalar isAll repeated internal labels are summed; explains the absence of from the quartic term. Invariance is equivalently the component identity . For a real adjoint scalar, omit complex conjugation and insert in the scalar kinetic and quadratic mass terms; the same invariance proof applies.
The PDF's identification of the Killing form with an inner product thus requires a sign convention. It also requires nondegeneracy if it is to give ordinary kinetic terms: on an Abelian gauge factor the Killing form vanishes, so an additional invariant metric is needed there. These qualifications do not alter the covariance identities or the formal gauge invariance of the displayed Killing-form contractions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ii Paper 1 36D Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Use the Minkowski metric and define the electromagnetic field tensor byAs a rank-two Lorentz tensor, it transforms under a Lorentz transformation asTwo independent quadratic electromagnetic field invariants are
With , , and , the components areDirect contraction giveswhere the sign of changes if the opposite spacetime orientation is chosen. Since both are complete tensor contractions, and are Lorentz scalars.
For a constant uniform field, the relativistic Lorentz force is a constant-coefficient linear ordinary differential equation. Its solution is the matrix exponential
Now implies that the field is a null electromagnetic field:The stated axes allow us to choosePut . On the coordinates, the mixed tensor divided by isThe particle starts with four-velocity , so the exponential terminates after its quadratic term and givesIntegrating with the particle initially at the origin gives the relativistic trajectory in a constant null crossed fieldEliminating yieldsIf the original positive direction is opposite to , both the sign of and the displayed signed coefficient reverse.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ii Paper 3 38E a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
The Lorentz transformation isIt is a boost along the -axis from the frame in which the black hole moves to its rest frame. Direct matrix multiplication shows that replacing by gives its inverse.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ii Paper 3 38E b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
PutThe rest-frame metric can be written as . The Minkowski term is invariant under the Lorentz transformation, while . ThereforeandThese substitutions give precisely
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 309 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
At each point, apply the indefinite-signature version of the Gram-Schmidt process to any local coframe, choosing one timelike and three spacelike one-forms. This produces an orthonormal coframe in spacetime satisfyingIt is unique only up to a local Lorentz transformation. The torsion-free connection 1-forms are then determined by Cartan's first structure equation and metric compatibility,Cartan's second structure equation gives the curvature 2-formsand contraction gives the Ricci tensor .
For the displayed metric, takeThen and . The nonzero connection forms are thereforewith . A second application of the structure equations givesEquivalently,so this is a constant sectional curvature spacetime with . In four dimensions,The Vacuum Einstein equations with a cosmological constant are , and henceThe metric is the contracting flat slicing of de Sitter spacetime with curvature radius one.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 ii Paper 1 37C a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Withthe electromagnetic field tensor is the antisymmetric tensorUnder a Lorentz transformation , the four-potential transforms as a four-vector and thereforeThus is an antisymmetric rank-two tensor under Lorentz transformations.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ia Paper 4 12C a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
A four-vector is an object whose components transform between inertial frames by a Lorentz transformation,Lorentz transformations are defined bywhere is the Minkowski metric. ConsequentlyThus the Minkowski norm of a four-vector is the same in every inertial frame.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ia Paper 4 4C a ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
As , . The spatial transformation is therefore , whileUnder the stated condition , the fractional correction is smaller than and tends to zero. Thus the Lorentz transformation has the nonrelativistic limit given by the Galilean transformation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ib Paper 3 15D a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ii Paper 1 38D c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
IntroduceThenwhich is the Minkowski metric. Since ,so these coordinates cover exactly the interior of the future light cone of its vertex . The slices are future hyperboloids. Their spatial isometries are precisely the proper orthochronous Lorentz transformations of Minkowski spacetime that fix .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 301 1 Solution 2026-09-28
A continuous symmetry is a family of transformations depending continuously on parameters for which the action is unchanged, possibly up to a spacetime boundary term. For an infinitesimal field variation , a Noether current obeyswhen the Euler-Lagrange field equation holds. Its Noether chargeis conserved provided the flux vanishes.
Noether theorem gives the implication from a differentiable global variational symmetry to an on-shell conserved current. A conserved current gives a conserved charge only under suitable boundary and convergence conditions. Conversely, a conserved charge generates a continuous symmetry through Poisson brackets classically or a commutator quantum mechanically when a regular Hamiltonian formulation exists. Currents can be changed by identically conserved improvement terms, and inverse Noether statements require regularity and the exclusion of such trivial currents, so the three notions are related but not literally in one-to-one correspondence.
For spacetime translations, the canonical stress-energy tensor isForraising the second index gives the symmetric tensorTranslation invariance gives four conserved currents , one for each fixed , and the four conserved charges are the four-momentum is the energy and is the spatial momentum.
The Lorentz transformation variation of a scalar is generated solely by its argument. The corresponding Lorentz current isUsing and symmetry of ,In particular, conservation of the boost chargeimpliesThe quantity denoted in the question is therefore the conserved momentum component , assuming the same vanishing boundary flux.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 306 1 b Solution 2026-09-28
An infinitesimal Lorentz transformation is with . Applying Noether theorem to this continuous symmetry gives the conserved Lorentz currentIts Noether charge is . Substituting the open-string mode expansion and using orthogonality of the cosine modes yieldsThe first term is orbital angular momentum; the sum is the contribution of the string oscillators.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 301 4 a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
In the Weyl representation of the gamma matrices,A Lorentz transformation acts as with . In this basis a boost is block diagonal and gives and .
For boosts, the two exponentials cancel in ; for rotations, the unitary rotation and its inverse cancel. Hence this bilinear is a Lorentz scalar. The Pauli matrices obey the identityshows that acquires the right-handed boost matrix and the usual rotation matrix, so it is right-handed.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 307 3 Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
With , define the Pauli-Lubanski pseudovector byFor a translation and a Lorentz transformation , a left-handed Weyl spinor transforms asEquivalently, the active field at a fixed point uses .
The Clebsch-Gordan decomposition isIndeed,The symmetric spinor is the representation, while its antisymmetric part is the Lorentz scalar .
In the conventions used below, the nonzero brackets involving the supercharges areand . These equations, together with the Poincare algebra, are the four-dimensional Super-Poincaré algebra without central charges.
During the time light crosses a telescope of length , Earth moves sideways by approximately . The telescope must tilt towards Earth's motion so that both ends intercept the ray. Thus the annual stellar aberration amplitude at a transverse sightline is .
Taking one orbital year as days and treating the orbit as circular,This is the instantaneous shift relative to a stationary heliocentric observer, not the doubled peak-to-peak annual excursion. The exact Lorentz transformation for a ray transverse in that frame gives , with the same first-order result.
Take and metric signature . The four-current, four-potential and four-gradient areThe first two transform as contravariant four-vectors under an inertial-frame Lorentz transformation, within a consistently transformed electromagnetic gauge. The lowered-index gradient is a covector. Their contraction is a Lorentz scalar:Indeed, and , so the two matrices cancel in the contraction. Local charge conservation in one inertial frame implies local charge conservation in every inertial frame. Integrating over a region gives the charge change equal to minus its outward current flux; global conserved charge requires no flux through the system boundary.
Use metric and common spacetime origins. A four-vector transforms as under a Lorentz transformation. A Lorentz invariant is a scalar unchanged by that transformation. Since ,The wave phase labels the same stage of a physical oscillation at a spacetime event, independently of the observer's coordinates. Equal-phase wavefronts and interference phase differences are physical; fixing a common phase origin makes the continuous phase a Lorentz scalar. For a plane wave,The gradient of a scalar is a covector; raising its index gives the four-wavevector . Under an boost,For vacuum light, , givingA photon has four-momentum , with . For two photons separated by angle ,In the centre-of-momentum frame the least possible pair energy is , when both final particles are at rest. Thus the threshold has ; above it, excess energy supplies their kinetic energy. ThereforeThe kinematic equality is a limiting threshold; nonzero production phase space requires energies above it. For parallel photons no finite threshold is available, whereas head-on incidence minimizes the required energy:The blackbody-peak photon pair-production estimate, using the frequency-spectrum blackbody peak, at , gives , or . If “peak” means the wavelength-spectrum peak, instead gives . The spectral convention changes the prefactor, not the conclusion that photons of order a few are needed for this idealized peak-photon threshold.
