Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2017/iii/paper-103/1/c/vii/solution

There is a separate problem with the printed linear-span assertion, when denotes the usual centralizer of a subalgebra. Let be the sum of all transpositions in . Direct expansion in the group algebra gives
Thus commutes with and satisfies . For it contains nonzero coefficients on three-cycles involving , whereas every element of is supported only on the identity and transpositions. Therefore is an explicit counterexample to the asserted equality.
One correct description of the entire preimage is obtained by putting . Equivariance gives , and is the identity on that center. It follows that
A useful corrected two-dimensional statement restricts the support to the identity and the transpositions : invariance under conjugation by then forces their coefficients to be equal, yielding exactly . This additional support restriction is absent from the PDF.

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