Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/ii/paper-1/25f/a/i/solution

Write
The equation splits the analysis into two cases. If , the remaining equation is , giving the cuspidal cubic
It is irreducible because is irreducible in : as a quadratic in , it could factor only if were a square in .
If , the other equations become
Their solutions are , which already lies on , and the two points
Thus the irreducible components are
Equivalently, the radical ideal of the cusp with two isolated-point components is

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