Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2006/iii/paper-9/4/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 9 4 Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Write , with positive integers , and put . Polynomial substitution respects congruence, so implies inductively for every . Since ,Equivalently one can factor each by and telescope. If is identically zero, then is the identity and is also zero, so the assertion still holds in the sense that the latter is a polynomial multiple of the former.
For the holomorphic cycle, the chain rule giveswith indices cyclically understood. These are the same product at every point. If its modulus is less than one at one point, it is less than one at every point. Taylor expansion of each return map gives a contracting neighborhood of its fixed point, exactly as in question 1. Hence every point of the holomorphic cycle is attracting for whenever one is; a zero factor makes every return periodic-orbit multiplier zero.
For the quadratic family, factor the second-iterate fixed-point equation:The first factor gives fixed points. A root of the second is also fixed only if subtracting the two factors gives , so and . If , the second factor has discriminant and has two distinct roots, neither fixed. They are exchanged by , since each is fixed by but not by , and form an exact two-cycle. Therefore the unique parameter with no exact two-cycle isAt this parameter,Thus the four finite solutions counted with multiplicity are once and three times: there are only two distinct finite solutions, both already fixed by . The periodic-orbit multiplier at is three (nine for ), so it is repelling. At the periodic-orbit multiplier for is minus one; for it is one. Indeed, with , the local first-return expression for is , and its square is . This is a parabolic return with a triple fixed-point root. The two-cycle has merged into this fixed point; the triple root is not three distinct periodic points. In the Mandelbrot set picture this is the period-two bulb's attachment to the main cardioid.
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