Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 343 1 c Solution 2026-09-28
Normalize the stated Pauli matrices asThe factor changes only the overall normalization at fixed . In the spin-one Cartesian basis, the associated periodic uniform matrix product state isThis is the Pauli-matrix representation of the Affleck--Kennedy--Lieb--Tasaki state.
The Pauli matrix multiplication lawshows that products on two neighboring sites span all of , so the tensor is an injective matrix product state after blocking two sites. More geometrically, its two-site image is the scalar plus antisymmetric subspace of , namely the total-spin and sectors. By the Two-site support of the Pauli-matrix Affleck--Kennedy--Lieb--Tasaki tensor, the missing subspace is the five-dimensional symmetric traceless sector.
Let be the orthogonal projection onto that sector. The parent Hamiltonian of a matrix product state isEach term annihilates , so this is a frustration-free quantum Hamiltonian and the MPS is a ground state. Writing and using the eigenvalues in the three total-spin sectors gives the explicit projectorThis is the Affleck--Kennedy--Lieb--Tasaki parent Hamiltonian. Injectivity implies that its periodic ground state is unique for every sufficiently long chain.