Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/ia/paper-2/12f/solution

Let be the indicator random variable of . Then , so linearity of expectation gives
Using variance of a sum and
we obtain
For the circular array, let indicate that bulbs and are both on, with indices read modulo . Then . Non-neighbouring indicators are independent, while
There are individual terms and ordered neighbouring pairs in the double covariance sum, so
The event is exactly . If , Markov inequality gives
If , then implies . By Chebyshev inequality,
Therefore in the second regime.

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