Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 342 3 d Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Two local gapped Hamiltonians are topologically equivalent when a continuous path of local Hamiltonians joins them without closing the bulk gap. The Bogoliubov--de Gennes Hamiltonian has energiesFor , this gap can close only atThe whole region is connected and gapped, so its parameters can be continuously deformed to . Therefore
Writingshows the topological distinction. As crosses the Brillouin zone, traces an ellipse. It encloses the origin once when , giving nonzero winding number of a one-dimensional Bogoliubov--de Gennes Hamiltonian. For it does not enclose the origin and has winding zero. Changing this integer requires the ellipse to pass through the origin, exactly the bulk gap closing.
Kitaev-chain ellipse and its winding around the origin
. For chemical potential zero the Bogoliubov--de Gennes vector traces an ellipse enclosing the origin once. For chemical potential minus 3t the translated ellipse misses the origin and has winding number zero. Details.