Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2018/ii/paper-2/24i/b/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ii Paper 2 24I b Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Write a polynomial by its coefficients. Evaluation of and of each first partial derivative at is polynomial in these coefficients and in the coordinates of . Consequently the bad incidence locusis Zariski closed, and is Zariski open. Here a hypersurface is regarded as smooth at an ambient point outside it automatically.
In fact is empty. For homogeneous of degree , the Euler homogeneous function theorem saysIf , its left side is zero while its right side is , which is nonzero because . Thus every nonzero level is covered by the smoothness of a nonzero homogeneous level set, andwhich is certainly nonempty and Zariski open.
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