Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2005/iii/paper-4/2/i/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 4 2 i Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the course convention that a root system is finite and is a reduced root system satisfying the crystallographic root system condition. These hypotheses are essential for the angle restriction. For roots , the two Cartan integerssatisfy . If are not parallel, the strict Cauchy-Schwarz inequality and integrality give . These values give angles , or , or , and or , respectively. If the roots are parallel, reducedness implies , giving or . ThereforeHere are examples accounting for every angle. In the A1 root system, the pairs and give . Two roots from different summands of give . The six unit vectors at angles form an A2 root system: taking one root at angle zero and another at or gives those two angles. In the B2 root system , pair with or to obtain . In a G2 root system, take short unit roots at angles and long roots of length at angles . A short root at zero paired with long roots at gives the remaining angles.
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