Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2017 / iii / Paper 304 / 1 / iii / Solution

Use a real orthonormal basis of Fourier modes on the time circle:The eigenvalue of $L_{\omega }$ on the constant mode is ${\omega }^2$, and each sine/cosine pair has eigenvalue ${\omega }^2+{\nu }_r^2$. Retaining these modes giveswhere $C_N$ can depend on $N,\beta$ but is independent of $\omega$. Each real Gaussian integral contributes $\sqrt{2\pi /{\lambda }_r}$. Consequently the Fourier-cutoff oscillator functional determinant isA spectral cutoff between successive eigenvalue pairs selects precisely this finite subspace. In comparing two frequencies, the displayed regularization keeps the same number of modes $N$; holding an absolute spectral threshold fixed need not give the same $N$ at finite cutoff.