Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2005/iii/paper-7/1/ii/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 7 1 ii Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Suppose were a left inverse of an algebra element , so . Then , and is invertible for all sufficiently large by the Neumann series. For such , is a product of invertibles, hence invertible. The equation then gives , a contradiction.
If instead , then , so is eventually invertible. Now is invertible, and again , a contradiction. This proves that a noninvertible limit of invertibles has neither type of one-sided inverse. No finite-dimensional assumption is used.
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