Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-biological-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2016/6/d/solution

Assume distinct positive separations, and first label them so . Let , and . The positive contrast is
Its derivative has a particularly simple sign:
It is positive below and negative above, so this is the global maximum. Both end limits and give zero contrast. Thus
To recover the printed expression, factor its sixth-power radicand:
Its sixth root is indeed . The cancellation requires . If , every choice gives zero contrast and there is no unique optimum; the printed expression then has a removable algebraic without a unique maximization conclusion. For unordered , maximize absolute contrast and replace the numerator of the maximum by . A negative signed difference for is minimized, not maximized, by the same interior point. These qualifications are needed to make the statement precise.

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