Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 ii Paper 2 28B a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
The linearized perturbation obeys , so its fundamental matrix satisfiesThe Floquet multipliers are the eigenvalues of the monodromy matrix . Differentiating the orbit equation shows that is a solution of the variational equation. For a nonconstant periodic orbit this tangent solution is nonzero and periodic, giving one multiplier equal to .
The Liouville formula for a fundamental matrix gives . Since , the product of the two multipliers is . The other multiplier is therefore exactly this exponential.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 2 31A Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Compatibility of the auxiliary system, computed on a fundamental matrix of solutions, gives the zero-curvature conditionIndeed equality of the mixed derivatives gives . A single possibly zero vector solution would not justify the matrix identity; compatibility means a full fundamental family.
Put . Using the zero-curvature condition gives . At , and hence . Uniqueness of the initial-value problem gives , or . Periodicity implies , so the monodromy matrix obeys the Lax equationCyclicity of the trace yields for every .
There is a genuine factor-of-two error in the printed sine-Gordon pair. Assign the second printed matrix to and the first to :Direct multiplication givesThus the printed matrices encode .
For the stated Sine-Gordon equation, explicitly repair the first prefactor by taking , that is . Its zero-curvature condition becomes . For this corrected pair, is conserved for every . Since is entire in , so are and these traces. Their Taylor coefficients in supply an infinite family of first integrals, by the identity theorem extending conservation through . At a fixed spectral parameter the higher traces of a matrix are related by the Cayley-Hamilton theorem; no independence of the resulting first integrals is claimed.