Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2005/iii/paper-24/2/ii/solution

Put and let be the identity class of . With the product-cell orientation used in part (i), form the folding map , which is identity on each summand. The top cell of is attached by the product of the two inclusions, so folding gives the attaching map . Thus there is a cellular map
which is the fold on the lower skeleton and degree one on the top relative cell.
Let be the classes from the two factors, and let restrict to the generator of the bottom sphere. Orient the top class so that . Then . Since and is even, graded commutative algebra gives
The map is an isomorphism in degree , because of its degree-one top-cell map. Therefore . By the definition of the Hopf invariant this proves
The shifted Lie convention in part (i) multiplies the geometric bracket by , so it gives the same square and the same invariant. Reversing the orientation chosen for the attached top cell would reverse both its generator and the numerical sign convention; with the standard orientation the value is the stated positive two.

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