Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2007/ii/paper-4/2f/solution

The two-dimensional Brouwer fixed-point theorem states that every continuous map from a closed filled triangle to itself has a fixed point. Use the triangle , which lies in a two-dimensional affine plane. Strict positivity of the matrix entries ensures for every . Therefore
is a continuous self-map of , in fact into its interior. Its fixed point satisfies , where . Since lies in the interior, has an eigenvector all of whose entries are strictly positive. This is positive matrix eigenvector from simplex normalization; it uses strict positivity, not merely nonnegative entries.

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