Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2012/iii/paper-70/2/c/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 70 2 c Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
First prove necessity. If polynomials with integer coefficients converge to in the supremum norm, their values at and are convergent sequences of integers. Each such sequence is eventually constant, since a convergent sequence is Cauchy and two distinct integers are at distance at least one. Its limit is an integer. Thus .
For sufficiency we also need uniform convergence of the Bernstein polynomial to . Here is a direct argument. For , write . The binomial distribution has and . For every , uniform continuity of and the Chebyshev inequality giveFirst make small and then large; the bound is uniform in . Hence .
If the endpoints are integers, part (b) gives . Each coefficient multiplying in is an integer. Expanding by the binomial theorem therefore gives integer coefficients in the ordinary monomial basis. The triangle inequality proves . Thus the integer endpoint condition is necessary and sufficient for integer-coefficient polynomial approximation.
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