Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/ii/paper-2/21f/b/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ii Paper 2 21F b Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Writing the square coordinates modulo one, the curve has the parametrizationIt is therefore the torus knot, or trefoil, on the common boundary of the two solid tori. Applying the Seifert-van Kampen theorem to the complements on the two sides gives one generator for the meridian of one solid torus and one generator for the other; the boundary slope identifies two turns of the first with three turns of the second. HenceThis group is nonabelian: imposing the additional relation gives a quotientwhich maps onto the nonabelian group by sending to a transposition and to a three-cycle. An abelian group cannot have a nonabelian quotient.
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