Compare every complete row with the given vector, returning as soon as a match is found. The length check prevents recycling of the vector;
seq_len also handles an empty matrix correctly. This implementation treats a missing comparison as a nonmatch and always returns a Boolean.row.match <- function(X, y) {
stopifnot(is.matrix(X), length(y) == ncol(X))
for (i in seq_len(nrow(X))) {
eq <- X[i, ] == y
if (all(!is.na(eq) & eq)) return(TRUE)
}
FALSE
}For the XXZ spin chain, write and replace each spin by a classical vector of length . A bond is , whose minimum is . For an even periodic chain all bonds can attain that bound simultaneously. The classical ground states of an XXZ spin chain therefore give gives the two easy-axis Néel states and its reversal, with energy .
For the ground states are planar Néel configurations, , with arbitrary : their degeneracy is a circle and their energy is . This includes the easy-plane interval used later. Part (a), however, does not restrict negative to that interval. For , and the lowest states are instead the two uniform -polarized ferromagnetic configurations, with energy . At , a rotation by about on alternating sites maps the classical energy to an isotropic ferromagnet: for any unit vector is a ground state. This special degeneracy is a sphere. At the other boundary, , the ordinary Néel direction is arbitrary on a sphere. These statements concern classical minimizing configurations, not the degeneracy of the exact finite-chain quantum ground state.
Take a uniform nearest-neighbour harmonic chain with displacement , conjugate momentum , mass , spring stiffness , lattice spacing and periodic length . These specify a standard model for the requested notes, not additional numerical exam data. Its Lagrangian and Hamiltonian areVariation gives . For a mode , periodicity requires andThe lattice makes periodic modulo , so choose one Brillouin zone. At long wavelength , where is the sound speed. The continuum limit of a harmonic chain expands and replaces by . Defining mass density and one-dimensional elastic coefficient givesThe momentum density is , and the Hamiltonian density is . Translational invariance of makes total momentum conserved. The continuum approximation describes acoustic wavelengths large compared with ; it is not a justification for extending the lattice dispersion and zero-point sums to arbitrarily large wavevector.[ref]
Applications of Quantum Mechanics by David Tong. chapter 4, §4.1.1, printed pp.103–105: periodic monatomic chain and acoustic dispersion
canonical quantization promotes the coordinates and momenta to operators with and the other equal-time commutators zero. In the continuum, . The nonzero normal modes can be represented by independent phonon operators obeying . A useful lattice expansion iswhere is the centre-of-mass displacement. The corresponding momentum isIncluding the centre-of-mass term restores the full site commutator: the nonzero-mode sum alone gives . Substitution diagonalizes the Hamiltonian,A phonon is one quantum of a collective normal mode, carrying energy and lattice momentum modulo a reciprocal-lattice vector. Reality of relates its Fourier coordinates by ; it does not remove the independent oppositely travelling phonon modes. Using one complete Brillouin zone avoids double-counting real standing-wave coordinates.[ref]
The free centre of mass has no restoring force and must not be treated as an oscillator of zero frequency. Fixing it, weakly pinning it, or specifying a finite centre-of-mass volume defines the corresponding zero-mode factor. With a fixed centre of mass, the internal thermal partition function and occupations areThe internal energy is ; its high-temperature heat capacity approaches . For a large one-dimensional chain at temperatures below the lattice cutoff but above its finite-size mode spacing,This one-dimensional acoustic phonon heat capacity shows that quantization turns classical normal waves into bosonic excitations with a linear low-temperature heat capacity in one dimension. The Euclidean field action is Gaussian, with periodic imaginary-time boundary conditions; its Fourier modes reproduce these oscillators. Absolute displacement correlations require the zero-mode convention, and the lattice regulates short-distance fluctuations.
Use International System of Units, with . The Maxwell equations with charge density and current density areLocally, or in a suitable contractible region, the zero divergence of allows a magnetic vector potential . Faraday's law then makes curl-free, so a electric potential can be chosen withThese formulas automatically satisfy the two homogeneous Maxwell equations. The local topology assumption rules out obstructions to expressing a closed field as a gradient or curl.
For any sufficiently smooth scalar , the gauge transformationleaves both physical fields unchanged, because curl of a gradient is zero and spatial and time derivatives commute. In such a region this accounts for the freedom between potentials for the same fields.
The Lorenz gauge is . Substitution into the sourced Maxwell equations, using , gives the decoupled wave equationsFor example, Gauss's law gives ; the gauge condition turns this into the scalar equation. The remaining gauge freedom preserving the condition has .
Put for the given wave. Direct differentiation gives and . Integrating Faraday's law in time yields the wave's magnetic fieldOne could superpose a time-independent divergence-free and curl-free magnetic field; the expression displayed chooses no such extra background. It has zero divergence and , so the magnetic Gauss and Faraday equations hold. MoreoverSince the time derivative is nonzero, the vacuum Ampere-Maxwell law holds precisely whenThis verifies all four source-free equations, including both divergence constraints. The sign of selects the direction of propagation.
A wave has circular polarization when, at a fixed spatial point, its transverse electric vector has constant nonzero magnitude and rotates uniformly through a circle. Here and the angle changes at rate , so the wave is circularly polarized. Its magnetic vector is perpendicular to the electric vector, has magnitude under the dispersion relation, and rotates with it. A handedness label additionally requires a convention for the observer's viewing direction.
The Lorenz-gauge potentials for a circularly polarized plane wave give a convenient choice. Take and . Because ,Also . Together with , this proves these potentials satisfy the Lorenz gauge. They satisfy the source-free potential wave equations because every component has the same dispersion relation just obtained.
Take and use the usual common invariant domain for the position operator, momentum operator and their products. Since and are self-adjoint,Expanding the commutator and using givesThe two products areConsequently the quantum harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian operator isThe identity now givesThus . Each ladder image is an eigenstate if it is nonzero; a zero vector is not an eigenstate. The distinction is needed for lowering the ground state. Their squared norms areThese follow by moving the operator to the other side of the inner product with its adjoint operator. The first inequality implies for every eigenstate.
For a lowest-energy quantum state, must vanish, since otherwise it would be an eigenstate with lower energy. The norm formula then forces . Raising never vanishes and producesTo see that there are no other eigenvalues, repeatedly lower any eigenstate. If were not a nonnegative integer, there would be a final nonzero lowered quantum state with energy strictly between and . Its lower image would have positive norm but energy below the lower bound, a contradiction. Thus every eigenstate reaches the ground eigenspace after an integer number of lowerings. On a positive level, lowering is injective by its strictly positive norm factor. The assumed one-dimensional ground eigenspace therefore makes every eigenspace one-dimensional, so the displayed raised quantum states give all eigenstates up to nonzero multiples. If is normalized, their norms are .
For , has eigenvalue , distinct from . eigenstates of a self-adjoint operator with distinct eigenvalues are orthogonal: applying self-adjointness to their inner product gives . ThereforeThe expectation of also vanishes, either by lowering and orthogonality or by conjugating the adjoint relation.
Solving the ladder definitions for and givesso . Both terms have zero expectation by the preceding orthogonality. Since , the oscillator form of the quantum virial theorem isExpectations here are divided by if the eigenstate is not normalized; no normalization assumption was used in the ladder argument.
For a nonzero quantum state and a self-adjoint operator , the expectation value and standard deviation of its measurement areThe squared deviation is also called the variance of the observable. All displayed products are understood on quantum states for which the relevant moments exist. Self-adjointness gives , so is real. Expanding the squared norm gives the variance expression. A norm is nonnegative and is zero exactly for the zero vector, hence precisely when . Thus zero dispersion is equivalent to being an eigenstate.
For bounded , the operator exponential is the norm-convergent power seriesFor a general unbounded self-adjoint Hamiltonian operator, the spectral theorem defines the same notation byThis definition does not require the power series to converge on every quantum state. complex conjugation of the spectral multiplier gives , and multiplication of the phases gives . Thus is unitary, preserves the quantum state norm, and has .
For initial data in the domain of , differentiating the spectral expression yields . Consequentlysolves the Schrödinger equation with the prescribed initial quantum state. Uniqueness follows by differentiating : the two terms cancel, leaving the constant .
In the two-dimensional energy basis, expand the initial quantum state as . Each energy eigenvector receives its own phase under the operator exponential, givingThis is the general solution because every initial vector has a unique basis expansion.
In that orthonormal basis the other observable has the real symmetric matrixIts conjugate transpose equals itself, so it is self-adjoint. Also and , giving eigenvalues and . Direct substitution gives the normalized orthogonal eigenvectorsAn irrelevant global phase may multiply either vector. With the chosen lower eigenstate initially,The Born rule says that the probability for the higher eigenstate is . Its amplitude is . Using givesThis is the transition probability for a rotated two-level observable. Its time dependence comes from the relative phase between two energy eigenstates. If their energies coincide, or if the measured observable has the energy eigenvectors as its eigenvectors, this transition probability is zero at all times.
Use the Dirac notation convention that the inner product is linear in the ket. Orthonormality of the computational basis givesThe finite geometric sum satisfies if in , and zero otherwise: in the second case it equals . ThereforeThere are such orthonormal vectors in an -dimensional space, so they form a basis. The inverse expansion is verified by the same sum:This is the unitary discrete Fourier transform and its inverse.
For the basis-copying isometry, the images are orthonormal, so is a linear isometry, with . Its matrix elements giveApplying the definition of the adjoint operator, the coefficient of in is exactly this expression. ThusEquivalently . The adjoint of basis copying acts as pointwise multiplication of coefficient functions.
For the Fourier transform of a basis-copying isometry, the normalization matters:Hence . Taking adjoint matrix elements, or expanding both output factors in the inverse Fourier basis, yieldsThe printed formula is missing the factor . There are mutually orthogonal terms in its sum, so without that factor its right side has norm , whereas its left side has norm one because is an isometry. The formula above is the normalized identity consistent with all the preceding definitions. For the distinction disappears, but the no-cloning assertion is substantive for .
The normalized output is not . Its coefficient matrix pairs every Fourier label with ; tracing out either factor gives . Thus it is a maximally entangled state, while two clones of a pure Fourier quantum state would have pure reduced quantum states. A copier for the computational basis therefore does not copy the Fourier basis.
More generally, suppose a linear isometry with a fixed blank input could clone every normalized quantum state. Its restriction to would define a linear map with on every computational basis quantum state. Linearity forces , which has just been shown to fail on Fourier quantum states. This proves the no-cloning theorem in the pure-quantum state isometric setting.
The inner-product proof makes the obstruction independent of the chosen basis. If an isometry cloned two quantum states with overlap , preservation of inner products would give , or, allowing irrelevant output phases, . Distinct nonorthogonal rays have , which is impossible. Even allowing an output environment does not help: unitary evolution would give , the same contradiction. Arbitrary unknown quantum states cannot be cloned, although any fixed orthonormal basis can be copied and a one-dimensional quantum state space is trivial.
Differentiate and substitute the equation for . The result isPutting removes the first derivative and gives , where . For the general solution isThe initial spinor fixes , and the first-order coupled equation fixes the second initial datum . Thus , , andTheir squared magnitudes sum to one. If both and vanish, the initial amplitudes simply remain ; the formulas have that continuous limit.
Source convention correction. For positive , the printed expression for lacks the factor required by the stated basis and initial vector. A concrete test is its derivative at : the printed expression gives , whereas the Schrödinger equation gives . Multiplying only by a phase changes the relative quantum phase. One may change the overall phase of the entire spinor, but must then transform and its initial amplitude as well. The printed modulus nevertheless gives the correct transition probability.
Write . Each term has cancelling components, so . In the formula for , the first three terms contribute . The two ladder products exchange the two terms and contribute another . ThereforeThis spin state is symmetric; the accompanying spatial state must be antisymmetric for two electrons. A labelled product alone is not an eigenstate of spin exchange: its exchanged vector is orthogonal to it. Thus it cannot supply a definite exchange symmetry when multiplied by a fixed symmetric spatial factor.
This does not prohibit opposite spins in different spatial orbitals. For example, with orthonormal orbitals , the Slater determinantis a valid antisymmetric two-electron state. What fails is treating persistent particle labels as physically distinguishable identities without the required antisymmetrization.
The spherical harmonics satisfyCommuting or past therefore givesFor a nonzero result these are the eigenvalue equations with unchanged and shifted magnetic quantum number. Taking the squared norm, using , fixes the conventional coefficient:At the appropriate endpoint the coefficient is zero. The zero vector is not itself an eigenstate.
Use the Dirac notation convention that the inner product is linear in the ket. Orthonormality of the computational basis givesThe finite geometric sum satisfies if in , and zero otherwise: in the second case it equals . ThereforeThere are such orthonormal vectors in an -dimensional space, so they form a basis. The inverse expansion is verified by the same sum:This is the unitary discrete Fourier transform and its inverse.
For the basis-copying isometry, the images are orthonormal, so is a linear isometry, with . Its matrix elements giveApplying the definition of the adjoint operator, the coefficient of in is exactly this expression. ThusEquivalently . The adjoint of basis copying acts as pointwise multiplication of coefficient functions.
For the Fourier transform of a basis-copying isometry, the normalization matters:Hence . Taking adjoint matrix elements, or expanding both output factors in the inverse Fourier basis, yieldsThe printed formula is missing the factor . There are mutually orthogonal terms in its sum, so without that factor its right side has norm , whereas its left side has norm one because is an isometry. The formula above is the normalized identity consistent with all the preceding definitions. For the distinction disappears, but the no-cloning assertion is substantive for .
The normalized output is not . Its coefficient matrix pairs every Fourier label with ; tracing out either factor gives . Thus it is a maximally entangled state, while two clones of a pure Fourier quantum state would have pure reduced quantum states. A copier for the computational basis therefore does not copy the Fourier basis.
More generally, suppose a linear isometry with a fixed blank input could clone every normalized quantum state. Its restriction to would define a linear map with on every computational basis quantum state. Linearity forces , which has just been shown to fail on Fourier quantum states. This proves the no-cloning theorem in the pure-quantum state isometric setting.
The inner-product proof makes the obstruction independent of the chosen basis. If an isometry cloned two quantum states with overlap , preservation of inner products would give , or, allowing irrelevant output phases, . Distinct nonorthogonal rays have , which is impossible. Even allowing an output environment does not help: unitary evolution would give , the same contradiction. Arbitrary unknown quantum states cannot be cloned, although any fixed orthonormal basis can be copied and a one-dimensional quantum state space is trivial.
Past exam of the random matrix theory course of the University of Oxford 2025 1 c ii Solution 2026-10-25
Let be row of , viewed as a real vector. These are independent standard Gaussian random vectors, and . The trace expression for the empirical spectral measure givesWe need the norm momentsFor completeness, has the chi-squared distribution with degrees of freedom. By independence and the Gaussian integral, its moment-generating function is for . Differentiating at zero once, twice and three times proves these three identities.
For the first moment,For the second moment, if , conditional expectation given gives , hence an unconditional value . Separating equal and unequal row indices yields
For the third moment, the summand is . There are three disjoint cases.
- If are all different, average over first. Its covariance matrix is the identity, so the conditional expectation of the last two factors is . The summand's expectation is therefore . There are such triples.
- If exactly two indices agree, cyclic symmetry reduces the calculation to . The product is , whose conditional expectation given is . Its expectation is , and there are such triples.
- If all three indices agree, the product is , with expectation . There are choices.
Past exam of the random matrix theory course of the University of Oxford 2025 1 c i Solution 2026-10-25
First , so the spectral theorem for real symmetric matrices gives real eigenvalues and an orthonormal basis of eigenvectors. Moreover, for every real vector ,Thus is a positive semidefinite matrix. For any nonzero eigenvector with eigenvalue ,This matrix is a scaled example of the Wishart distribution.
Past exam of the random matrix theory course of the University of Oxford 2025 2 c iii Solution 2026-10-25
The correlation function of a point process is even and tends to zero as . Its derivative factors asConsequently its local maxima occur at , and its local minima at . The heights are
The three peaks of the GUE one-point correlation function
. Original plot of the exact correlation function of a point process calculated above. Filled markers indicate local maxima at ; hollow markers indicate the local minima at . The total area is three. Details.For an interval , is the expected value of the number of eigenvalues in . Thus equally short intervals have the highest expected counts nearwith the central peak highest. Each exchangeably labelled eigenvalue has the same marginal probability density function . The three peaks should not be interpreted as three separate marginal densities for ordered eigenvalues.
In this case the most likely joint configuration also lies at these three positions. On the ordered chamber, the logarithm of the joint probability density function, up to a constant, isIts stationary equations are , satisfied by . For every nonzero real vector , the second directional derivative isThus is strictly concave on this convex chamber, proving that the stationary configuration is its unique global maximum. Permuting the labels gives the other maxima on .
Past exam of the relativity course of the University of Cambridge 2012 Paper 1 2 b Solution 2026-10-20
tidal forces measure differences in gravitational acceleration across an extended region. Neighboring freely falling particles each have zero four-acceleration, but their separation need not accelerate uniformly. Let be the tangent to a reference timelike geodesic and its infinitesimal separation from a neighboring one, chosen from an affinely parametrized geodesic congruence. Using the Riemann curvature tensor convention specified in Solution 3,Changing the overall curvature convention changes this displayed sign. The covariant derivatives compare vectors by parallel transport, avoiding a coordinate-dependent subtraction of accelerations.
In the Newtonian limit, expand the force field at two nearby points:For , a local orthonormal frame aligned with the radius givesThere is radial stretching and transverse compression; the trace vanishes outside the mass. Two freely falling test masses and a measurement of their changing separation implement gravity gradiometry. Their common acceleration drops out, while a relative acceleration proportional to separation remains. A local inertial frame removes Christoffel symbols at a point, but cannot remove nonzero curvature over a finite region.
Point-mass tidal deviation
. Details. Past exam of the relativity course of the University of Cambridge 2015 Paper 1 2 a Solution 2026-10-20
A tidal force is a difference of gravitational acceleration across an extended region. In Newtonian gravity, . Two neighboring freely falling particles separated by have, to first order,For a point mass, . In a local orthonormal radial/transverse frame,A small freely falling cloud stretches radially and compresses transversely. Outside the source the three eigenvalues sum to zero, consistently with ; within matter the trace is . These are accelerations of separations, not the much larger common acceleration of the cloud's centre.
Original local tidal map: a freely falling cloud stretches along the radial direction and contracts in both transverse directions
. Details. In general relativity, freely falling test particles follow timelike geodesics. A freely falling frame can eliminate the connection at one event, but not the Riemann curvature tensor throughout a finite laboratory. Let be the geodesic tangent and a connecting vector for neighboring geodesics with . In the explicitly chosen curvature conventionthe geodesic deviation equation isIt follows by commuting , using and zero torsion. In a parallel-propagated orthonormal frame, its spatial components directly describe measured relative acceleration. The weak-field, slow-motion limit recovers the Newtonian Hessian above. Reversing the curvature sign convention reverses the displayed curvature side, without changing the physical stretching. The equivalence principle removes locally uniform gravity, while geodesic deviation measures the residual tidal field. The connection between parallel transport, curvature and neighboring geodesics is developed systematically in the standard geometric construction.[ref]
Lecture Notes on General Relativity by Sean M. Carroll. Section 3, Curvature: parallel transport and geodesic deviation; translate the chosen curvature sign consistently
Past exam of the relativity course of the University of Cambridge 2015 Paper 1 2 c Solution 2026-10-20
Ordinary component differences at neighboring points depend on how the local bases vary. The covariant derivative corrects for that variation:Each upper tensor index adds a connection term and each lower index subtracts one. A scalar has , while the derivative of a tensor transforms as a tensor with one additional covariant index. The Christoffel symbols themselves are not tensor components; their inhomogeneous transformation cancels that of the ordinary derivative.
For the Levi-Civita connection,These express metric compatibility and zero torsion. Along , parallel transport is the initial value problemIt preserves inner products for the Levi-Civita connection. Parallel transport of the tangent itself gives the affinely parametrized geodesic equation, .
Transport generally depends on the path. On a round sphere, transport a tangent vector around the triangle bounded by two meridians degrees apart and the intervening equatorial arc. All three sides are geodesics; the enclosed spherical area is . The returning vector is rotated by degrees, with sign set by traversal orientation. Locally this holonomy is controlled by curvature, even though the connection can be made zero at a single point. A vector can therefore have changing coordinate components while remaining parallel, and constant components do not generally mean parallel transport.
Original spherical-triangle transport: a tangent initially pointing along the first meridian returns rotated by ninety degrees
. Details. Past exam of the relativity course of the University of Cambridge 2015 Paper 1 3 Solution 2026-10-20
Use Cartesian coordinates with and . Spatial dot and cross products below use the Euclidean three-metric. The alternating tensor is given the orientation .
Vector and covector transformation. The vector is independent of coordinates, and the chain rule gives . Likewise the one-form is independent of coordinates. Comparing coefficients provesTheir contraction is unchanged because the forward and inverse Jacobians cancel. Here lowering an index uses the metric, not an identification of the numerical upper and lower components.
Why antisymmetrization matters. Write . Differentiating the covector law givesThe last term obstructs the general tensor transformation law. It is symmetric in , so it cancels from . ThereforeEquivalently is the exterior derivative of the electromagnetic four-potential one-form. The statement that is not a tensor needs a qualification: under affine Cartesian Lorentz transformations it does transform tensorially, because the second derivatives vanish. The failure concerns arbitrary nonlinear coordinate changes, including curvilinear coordinates in flat spacetime. This distinction is precisely the difference between general covariance and covariance under the restricted inertial-frame transformations.[ref]
Lecture Notes on General Relativity by Sean M. Carroll. Section 2, Manifolds, equations 2.26–2.27: the extra second-derivative term and its cancellation under antisymmetrization
Electric and magnetic components. Choose , so , and . ThenThus the lower-index field tensor isThis is a derived component representation of the field, with the source's sign convention.
Raised indices and the first invariant. Raising both indices changes the time-space signs and leaves the spatial block unchanged:In the scalar contraction, each independent antisymmetric pair is counted twice, givingUnder a Lorentz transformation each inverse transformation from a lower index cancels its matching transformation from an upper index, leaving the same scalar. In particular a plane electromagnetic wave has in these units and makes this invariant vanish, while a pure electric field makes it negative.
The printed dual convention. The PDF explicitly defines , with no . Each independent pair therefore contributes twice: for example . The complete result isThe time-space pairs contribute and the spatial pairs contribute another . The conventional Hodge dual includes and would instead give the contraction ; it must not silently replace this paper's definition. With fixed orientation the latter contraction is a pseudoscalar: invariant under proper Lorentz transformations but odd under orientation reversal if compared using a fixed alternating symbol.
Energy density and flux. Substitution into the given mixed stress-energy tensor yieldsFor the first formula, and . For the second, . The minus sign on arises from its lowered spatial index; it does not reverse the physical energy flow. Raising that index gives , and symmetry gives , with the Poynting vector in units. Thus is energy density and represents energy flux. In SI coordinates , restore and , with . This keeps the mixed-index signs and the units distinct.



