Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 63 4 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Sum the spectral filtering of Hamiltonian terms over the original finite decomposition. The total Hamiltonian operator commutes with its own evolution, soThe absence of all ground-to-excited matrix elements, proved in part (a), makes each filtered term block diagonal relative to and its orthogonal complement. ThereforeA filtered term may act on the whole system, since unitary time evolution spreads its original support. Neither commutation with nor preservation of its ground-state expectation asserts that the global ground state minimizes each individual term. In particular, this construction does not generally turn a frustrated decomposition into a frustration-free Hamiltonian.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 305 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Let , . In the rest frame, the CPT theorem interchanges these states up to irrelevant phases. For the weak Hamiltonian operator , with , and its antiunitary CPT symmetry operator ,Its diagonal matrix elements are real by Hermitian conjugation, soIn the specified phase convention, the CP symmetry operator on this two-state subspace is . If the weak interaction preserves CP symmetry, , givingIndependently, Hermitian conjugation gives for this . Hence CP symmetry makes the off-diagonal element real in this convention; that conjugation relation alone does not imply CP symmetry.
For neutral meson mixing described by the decay-effective Hamiltonian operator , the effective matrix is generally not a Hermitian matrix. The CPT constraints on neutral-meson mixing still give equality of the complex diagonal entries, expressing equal masses and total decay widths, and CP symmetry gives equality of the off-diagonal entries in the specified convention. One must not additionally impose on this decay-effective matrix.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 305 3 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The tree-level Feynman diagrams contain an unchanged spectator quark, of up quark flavour and the two possible weak charged current transitions of the charm antiquark:
For , and . The spectator quark combines with into the kaon , while forms the pion . The Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix factor is .
For , and . The spectator quark combines with into the pion , while forms the kaon . The Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix factor is .
Neglecting neutral D-meson mixing and assuming comparable strong interaction matrix elements, the relative direct decay widths areHere is the Cabibbo angle. The second process is doubly Cabibbo suppressed: it contains two small Cabibbo suppression factors in its amplitude. The Cabibbo angle estimate assumes similar Quantum chromodynamics matrix elements; it is not an exact rate equality.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 305 3 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Both the D meson and kaon are spin-zero pseudoscalars. The strong interaction states obey parity symmetry in quantum field theory. Consequently an axial current matrix element between them would have to be a pseudovector formed from only and , which is impossible: an totally antisymmetric tensor would require more linearly independent vectors. ThusLorentz covariance then leaves two linearly independent vectors for the vector current matrix element, giving the pseudoscalar-to-pseudoscalar form factorsThe vanishing axial current here follows from strong interaction parity symmetry in quantum field theory, not parity symmetry in quantum field theory of the weak interaction.
To obtain the requested decay formula, use naive factorization of a nonleptonic meson decay: approximate the four-quark matrix element by the product of the current matrix element and the vacuum-to-pion matrix element. This is an additional hadronic approximation; tree-level weak vertices alone do not establish it, and nonfactorizable Quantum chromodynamics effects can change the result. The vacuum-to-pion vector current matrix element vanishes by parity symmetry in quantum field theory, while the specified pion decay constant normalization givesThe cancels the in the four-fermion interaction. Up to an irrelevant overall phase, the scattering amplitude is thereforeFor , , so only survives. Integrating the two-body decay phase space in the D meson rest frame givesHenceThis coefficient uses exactly the stated pion decay constant convention and the stated massless-pion approximation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 305 4 c i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Use the massless collinear parton approximation in a high-energy frame: , , and with . This neglects target-mass corrections to the parton model; it does not literally set a stationary massive target to a massless particle in the earlier flux formula.
For a quark of dimensionless charge , the electromagnetic vector current matrix element is . The spin average and gamma-matrix trace giveIntegrating the three-momentum Dirac delta function in the parton hadronic tensor leavesSince , this isFor the massless Electron momenta, and . Substitution into the leptonic tensor givesand likewise . These Ward identities eliminate every term with an exposed index in the contraction. ThereforeHere means equality after contraction with the leptonic tensor. The shortened tensor is not itself conserved; the omitted terms restore current conservation in the full hadronic tensor.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 324 4 a i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The usual sufficient input promises for the HHL algorithm are efficient quantum state preparation of the nonzero vector , efficient access to a sparse matrix with at most nonzero entries per row, and a condition number after an efficiently known normalization. Both the positions and values of the nonzero matrix elements must be computable coherently in polynomial time. More generally, efficient Hamiltonian simulation can replace the sparsity promise. We assume is invertible; if zero eigenvalues occur, one must instead restrict to their orthogonal complement and specify the desired inverse on that support.
With and a known bound , choose . The HHL controlled reciprocal rotation then succeeds with probabilityThis is the required inverse-polynomial lower bound. In the usual approximate algorithm, inverse-polynomial requested error also gives polynomial runtime under these input promises. The original HHL paper states the dependence on sparsity, conditioning, and accuracy.
There is a qualification for a literally exact version. Representability of the eigenvalues in bits does not itself make exact quantum phase estimation efficient: using requires controlled powers corresponding to evolution times as large as . Under the paper's idealization we may describe their exact action, but polynomial runtime for that exact circuit additionally requires efficient implementations of those controlled powers, or equivalent efficient exact spectral access. Assuming an operation executes exactly does not bound its cost. This distinction is recorded in cost of exact phase estimation on a dyadic spectrum.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ib Paper 1 15A Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
A stationary state has the formFor a time-independent quantum observable , the global phases cancel in the expectation value:It is therefore independent of time.
For the infinite square well,The possible energy measurement results arewith respective Born rule probabilities and . Normalization gives .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 ib Paper 3 6C ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
At time the state isDirect evaluation of the radial integral gives the matrix elementsandIt follows thatThus oscillates sinusoidally about . Its angular frequency is
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ii Paper 2 15D b ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Inner-product preservation between programs for and givesfor all . If , this identity forces every matrix element of to be the same scalar multiple of the corresponding identity matrix element. Hence , contrary to physical distinctness. Therefore
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 323 2 iii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Each rank-one density operator isTaking their tensor product and averaging over the independent choices of the fourth roots of unity givesThis is the claimed expansion in matrix elements.
Pseudoscalar-to-pseudoscalar form factor Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
Between spin-zero pseudoscalars, Lorentz covariance decomposes a vector current matrix element into , with . Strong interaction parity symmetry in quantum field theory makes the corresponding axial current matrix element vanish.
Sparse matrix 2026-09-24
A sparse matrix has few nonzero matrix elements in each row or column compared with its dimension. Algorithms normally require an efficient oracle that lists the positions and values of those entries.
