Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2023/prelims/mathematics-iii/9/a/ii/solution

The centered regressors make the first normal equation read . Define
The remaining equations are and . Provided , matrix inversion gives
By the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, . If , the two regressor columns are linearly dependent, and their separate slopes are not uniquely identifiable. One still has well-defined linear least squares fitted values, but cannot use the displayed divisions by .

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