Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2009/iii/paper-21/4/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 21 4 Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Being constant on the two-element orbits is equivalent to . In characteristic zero, comparing monomial coefficients shows that precisely the terms of even total degree survive. Thus a vector space basis isSet , , . The two basis types are and , so they prove . Hence is a finitely generated algebra. It is an integral domain as a subring of the integral domain .
The generators satisfy . To prove this is the whole relation ideal, reduce any polynomial in modulo the monic relation toIts image in is . The first summand has both exponents even and the second both odd; their distinct monomials are linearly independent. Thus the image vanishes only when both are zero. ConsequentlyThis gives the requested closed embedding and the quadratic cone invariant ring presentation.
The associated morphism of algebraic varieties is explicitlyIt is surjective. For , if , choose with using algebraic closedness and put . Then . If , the relation forces ; take and choose . This covers every point of . Except over the origin, the two preimages differ by the simultaneous sign change, consistent with the orbit description.
Finally the gradient of is , so the Jacobian criterion makes every nonzero point smooth. At the origin, the maximal ideal modulo its square has the three independent classes of , since the defining relation is quadratic. The tangent space there has dimension three, while has dimension two. Therefore
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