Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 17 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
A tangent vector at is a derivation at a point: a real-linear map on germs of smooth functions satisfyingAddition and scalar multiplication preserve this identity, defining the tangent space as a vector space. A derivation annihilates constants. In a manifold chart centered near , the local factorization , with , gives . The factorization follows by integrating the first derivatives along a straight segment in a sufficiently small coordinate ball. ThereforeConversely these coordinate derivatives satisfy the derivation identity, so they really give a basis rather than merely a spanning family.
The cotangent space is the dual vector space . Its basis is characterized by . If , the chain rule gives the cotangent coordinate transitionThe cotangent bundle is the disjoint union , with projection . For each base manifold chart , defineIts inverse sends to . On overlaps the transition is , with the displayed fibre-linear transformation. Its coefficients and inverse are smooth, so these maps give a smooth atlas in dimension . Give the total space the topology obtained by transporting the product topology through these charts. Different base points are separated by disjoint base neighborhoods; distinct points over the same base point are separated within one bundle chart. A countable base smooth atlas and countable product bases give second countability. Thus the total space is a Hausdorff, second-countable smooth manifold. The same charts are vector bundle trivializations, since is product projection and their fibre changes are invertible linear maps.
The intrinsic canonical one-form on a cotangent bundle isIn the bundle chart it is . This definition is coordinate independent, hence its exterior derivative is the globally defined smooth differential two-formThis sign follows the fibre-first order in this problem; the equally common position-first symplectic form is . The volume formnever vanishes. A smooth manifold is orientable exactly when it admits a nowhere-zero top-degree form; its positive ordered bases determine a consistent orientation. Consequently is an orientable smooth manifold, even when is not. This is cotangent bundle orientation. In dimension zero the same conclusion uses the nowhere-zero zero-form .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 116 5 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Fix a reference path from to . By path connectedness, a path can be joined to it by a smooth homotopy strip withSmooth homotopies may be used by the relative smoothing theorem; piecewise smooth homotopies give the same integrals. Orient the square by and define the Lagrangian path-area functional byHere denotes the functional called in the question. The minus sign is the convention for which downward gradient flow is -holomorphic on the standard oriented strip.
For relative symplectic-area independence, glue two choices, with one orientation reversed, along their common reference and final paths. The resulting oriented surface is a relative -cycle in . Since , it bounds a relative -chain: as an absolute chain, for a chain supported in . The symplectic form is closed, and it restricts to zero on each Lagrangian submanifold. Using piecewise smooth relative chains, Stokes theorem givesEquivalently, integration of the closed symplectic form defines the zero pairing on the zero relative homology group. The two strips therefore define the same value of .
Choosing a different reference path changes every value by the negative area of one fixed connecting strip, independent of . Changing the initially assigned reference value also adds a constant. Path connectedness ensures that this is one global constant, rather than an independent constant on each component.
For the first variation, let be a variation vector field along , with and . Differentiate the defining strip integral. Stokes theorem, or the variation formula for the integral of a closed differential form, reduces it to the final edge; the side edges give zero because their variations and tangent vectors lie in the Lagrangian submanifolds. With the chosen sign,If this vanishes for every admissible , it in particular vanishes for every field supported in . Nondegeneracy of the symplectic form, together with the fundamental lemma of the calculus of variations, forces in the interior and hence everywhere by smoothness. Conversely, a constant path makes the displayed integral zero. The constant must lie in both endpoint submanifolds. ThusNo transverse-intersection assumption is required; the critical set can be empty or have positive dimension.
A compatible almost complex structure is a smooth bundle map such thatThese conditions makea Riemannian metric. Its symmetry follows from the -invariance and skew symmetry of , and its positivity is the final compatibility condition. It also satisfies .
Use the formal metric on the path space,The variation formula becomesThus a formal downward flow satisfiesPut the standard complex structure on the strip, with . The J-holomorphic curve equation says , which is equivalent to the displayed flow equation because . The converse is identical: a smooth J-holomorphic curve on the strip with the specified Lagrangian boundary conditions gives a formal downward trajectory of .
As a sign check, along such a strip,The drop in therefore equals the positive symplectic area swept out by the strip. The word formal matters: the calculation gives the interior equation and its Lagrangian boundary conditions; it does not assert that arbitrary smooth initial paths produce a well-posed ordinary flow on the smooth path space. In particular, the expression need not satisfy the endpoint tangent restrictions for an arbitrary initial path. The claimed correspondence concerns smooth solutions of the strip equation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 311 4 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Consider a real Klein-Gordon field on a prescribed globally hyperbolic spacetime, obeying with metric signature . A curvature coupling can be included as . A Cauchy hypersurface and compactly supported smooth data determine a unique solution; appropriate falloff can replace compact support. The real solution space has conserved symplectic formConservation follows by integrating the divergence-free current , with no boundary flux. On complex solutions the conserved Klein-Gordon inner product isIt is indefinite on the full complex solution space.
Choose a complete positive-norm mode subspace, with modes satisfyingEquivalently choose a compatible complex structure on the Klein-Gordon solution space. The mode labels may be continuous, in which case sums and Kronecker symbols become integrals and Dirac delta functions. Construct the one-particle Hilbert space from these modes and its bosonic Fock space. Promote the field to the operator-valued distributionFor a foliation with spatial metric determinant , the conjugate momentum density is . Mode completeness gives the equal-time canonical commutation relationsThe Fock vacuum obeys , and counts particles in the chosen mode. For local products and a renormalized stress-energy tensor, physically admissible states are further restricted by the Hadamard condition. The field algebra exists without a preferred Fock vacuum.
A different admissible mode splitting can mix positive and negative norms:Orthonormality imposes the canonical identities for a bosonic Bogoliubov transformationThe same field then hasWithout a preferred notion of positive frequency, a nonstationary spacetime supplies no distinguished mode splitting: particle number and vacuum depend on the choice of modes, although the field equation and field algebra do not. With infinitely many modes the Bogoliubov transformation need not be unitarily implementable; finite total mixing requires a Hilbert-Schmidt operator .
For a stable strictly stationary spacetime, a chosen future globally timelike Killing vector field gives a preferred time translation. Choose modes withWhen the corresponding conserved Killing energy is positive and the spectral problem has suitable boundary conditions and no problematic zero modes, this gives the preferred vacuum state in a stationary spacetime and particles relative to . Positive-frequency mode mixing within that same subspace leaves the Fock vacuum unchanged. Rescaling by a positive constant changes the frequency units but not their sign.
Stationarity alone, if it only means a Killing field timelike near infinity, is insufficient for a global unique particle interpretation. In the Kerr ergoregion, is spacelike, so positive frequency relative to does not automatically select a positive-norm subspace throughout the geometry; superradiance illustrates the difficulty. Additional vacuum and boundary choices remain necessary. The customary stationary answer therefore assumes a suitable timelike stationary flow and a stable positive-energy quantization; it does not assert that every stationary black-hole extension has one globally preferred vacuum.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 313 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
A Poisson bivector is a smooth antisymmetric contravariant two-tensorwhose bracket on smooth functions,satisfies the Jacobi identity. Bilinearity and antisymmetry are immediate, and the product rule makes the bracket a derivation in each argument. Together these properties define a Poisson manifold. Unlike a symplectic form, the Poisson bivector need not be nondegenerate.
Apply the Jacobi identity to the coordinate functions. Since ,Changing to and rearranging the three summands gives the printed coordinate Jacobi condition for a Poisson bivector:This is also sufficient: expanding the Jacobiator of three arbitrary smooth functions, all terms involving second derivatives cancel in pairs by antisymmetry. The remaining coefficient of is the coordinate-function Jacobiator displayed above.
For a Lie algebra, the natural global space carrying the proposed linear bracket is its dual space . If is the chosen basis, define its linear coordinate function by . The Lie-Poisson bracket iswhere are elements of . On a general manifold the same coordinate expression gives a local construction; a global one requires compatible transition rules. The use of supplies that compatibility intrinsically.
Here and . The left side of the coordinate Jacobi condition for a Poisson bivector is thereforeThe final coefficient is the negative of the coefficient of in the Lie algebra identity . Thus the Lie-Poisson bracket satisfies the Jacobi identity.
It remains to find the Lie algebra structure constants for the printed rotation fields. Distinguish their original spatial coordinates from the coordinates on the dual space. Use the conventional Lie bracket of vector fields. Their component vectors are , and , respectively. For example,Similarly,The negative sign is essential: these are the fundamental fields of a left rotation action with the stated Lie bracket of vector fields, and consequently have the infinitesimal left-action sign convention discussed above. The first field here has component , as printed in the PDF.
The Lie-Poisson bracket on the dual space consequently hasFor the evolution convention , the Hamiltonian function has derivatives . Substitution gives the quadratic rotational Lie-Poisson dynamicsThese are Euler-type Hamilton's equations on a noncanonical Poisson manifold. When , and with positive principal inertias, they are the Euler equations for a torque-free rigid body in body angular-momentum coordinates. As a check, is conserved by antisymmetry of the Poisson bracket, and is a Casimir function of a Poisson manifold. Direct differentiation of in the three equations cancels the terms . The Hamiltonian flow therefore lies on both an energy level and a sphere, a symplectic leaf of this signed rotational bracket.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 102 4 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
In the defining representation of the symplectic Lie algebra , the weights are . Their highest weight, for the root basis of part (b), is thereforeThe flip on the tensor square commutes with the action of , giving with dimensions and .
If is a highest-weight vector of weight , then is a highest-weight vector of weight in the symmetric square. By Weyl complete reducibility theorem, this ensures an irreducible summand occurs. Its dimension is by part (b), exhausting the symmetric square.
Let denote the preserved symplectic form. The symplectic contraction of an exterior square is the nonzero equivariant mapwhere the target is a trivial Lie algebra representation. Thus its kernel has dimension . Choose a weight vector of weight in a symplectic basis, with . The vector belongs to this kernel and has weight . It is a highest-weight vector: none of , for , is a weight of , whose weights are and zero. Hence the kernel contains ; its dimension exhausts the kernel. Weyl complete reducibility theorem supplies a complementary invariant line .
The resulting tensor-square decomposition of the defining sp4 representation is
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 140 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Moser theorem says that if is a compact smooth manifold without boundary and , , is a smooth family of symplectic forms with constant de Rham cohomology class, then there is a smooth isotopy , with , such thatThus the endpoints are symplectomorphic. The hypothesis is a whole path of symplectic forms, not merely equality of the endpoint de Rham cohomology classes.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 140 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
A symplectomorphism is a diffeomorphism, so it preserves the genus of a surface. It also preserves the orientation determined by the symplectic form and, by integration of a pullback of a differential form, preserves the symplectic area.
Conversely, equal genus of a surface gives a diffeomorphism . We can choose to preserve the orientations determined by : if necessary, compose with an orientation-reversing diffeomorphism of the standard closed orientable surface of that genus of a surface, obtained by reflection of a symmetric handle model. On put . Both and are positive volume forms for the same orientation, and their integrals agree. By top-degree de Rham cohomology, .
The family consists of positive volume forms, hence symplectic forms in dimension two, with constant de Rham cohomology class. Moser theorem supplies with . ConsequentlyTherefore the genus of a surface and symplectic area classify compact connected symplectic surfaces.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 140 2 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
For , differentiation gives and . Thus is an anti-symplectic involution of the symplectic vector space . By part (a), its eigenspace is a Lagrangian subspace.
In the local manifold chart supplied in the question, is linear, so its fixed-point set is the intersection of the chart with this eigenspace. Therefore the fixed-point set is an embedded submanifold andEvery such tangent space has half the ambient dimension and the symplectic form vanishes on it. Hence every nonempty fixed-point set is a Lagrangian submanifold. The fixed-point set itself need not be connected.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 140 4 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Let be the cotangent bundle projection and its canonical one-form on a cotangent bundle, defined by . Use the symplectic form , so in local coordinates .
The graph map is a smooth embedding, with , and henceIts image has dimension , half the dimension of . By the definition of a Lagrangian submanifold,This is the graph of a closed one-form is Lagrangian criterion. The opposite conventional sign for the symplectic form gives the same criterion.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 140 5 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
A compatible almost complex structure is a smooth bundle map such that, for all tangent vectors ,It determines the Riemannian metricIndeed, the invariance of the symplectic form under and its antisymmetry imply , so is symmetric; the positivity condition makes it positive definite. A compatible triple consists of this symplectic form, this compatible almost complex structure, and this Riemannian metric. Useful equivalent identities are and .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 140 6 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Use the paper's Fubini-Study form normalization , the Hamiltonian vector field convention , and the Lie algebra generator whose circle action is . Write . The normalized moment map for the torus action isThe moment map image is the filled triangleIndeed, the three quantities are nonnegative and add to one, and any such triple is realized by choosing their square roots as homogeneous coordinates.
For the diagonal circle action, a point in the fixed-point set satisfies for every . If , the projective scaling must be one, forcing . If , all coordinates are scaled together. ThereforeBy part (b), the diagonal moment map isThe factor follows from the specified Fubini-Study form, not the integral normalization in the linked general article. For example, in one affine complex coordinate the symplectic form is , whose interior product of a differential form with is . Choosing the generator rescales all moment maps by ; reversing the defining sign reverses their signs. The negative level in parts (d) and (e) uses the convention displayed here.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 140 6 e Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The level equation is . In particular , so the global affine coordinates on this level are . They identify it withThe diagonal circle action becomes and is free: at least one coordinate is nonzero, so fixing a point forces . Since the circle is compact, the Free proper Lie-group action theorem makes the quotient a smooth two-dimensional smooth manifold.
The map is the Hopf fibration. It is onto the complex projective line, and two unit representatives determine the same complex line precisely when they differ by a scalar of modulus one, hence by a circle orbit. Local sections, for example , show that the induced identification is a diffeomorphism. ThereforeThis identifies the symplectic reduction as a smooth manifold; no computation of its reduced symplectic form is needed.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 306 2 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The real canonical variables describe the center-of-mass position and total momentum of the open string. The nonzero string oscillators are complex Fourier modes with ; the Lagrange multipliers obey . The Virasoro constraints satisfy , so the multiplier term is real.
For each , the oscillator kinetic term differs from the manifestly real expressionby . Thus the written action is real up to a boundary term, which does not change its symplectic form or bulk dynamics. Adding the corresponding endpoint term makes reality exact.
The independent nonzero Poisson brackets areAll brackets between these independent center-of-mass and oscillator variables vanish. The dependent zero mode is , so, if it is used, .
The Fourier coefficients of the Virasoro constraints areTheir Poisson brackets areThey form the classical Witt algebra, with no Virasoro central extension. In particular they are first-class constraints, closing on the constraint surface, and generate the remaining worldsheet diffeomorphisms rather than independent physical excitations.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 4 15B c ii Solution 2026-09-29
For the harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian ,This rotation preserves the symplectic form , so it is a canonical transformation for every . Where , solving for the initial variables givesand hence the type-2 generatorIts derivatives give the displayed transformation and . At the canonical rotation remains perfectly regular, but its projection to is singular, so no type-2 generating function in those variables exists there; another generating-function chart covers those isolated times.