Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 4 11B a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
The parallel axis theorem says that for an axis through a body's centre of mass and a parallel axis at perpendicular distance ,where is the total mass. The displacement is the distance between the two parallel axes; neither axis may be arbitrary in place of the center-of-mass axis. Expanding the squared distances of mass elements gives this formula, since the cross term integrates to zero at the centre of mass.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 4 10B b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
In the rotating-hoop bead problem, use a signed angle in the hoop plane from the downward vertical. The gravitational potential energy is , the rotating-frame speed is , and the distance from the rotation axis is . The centrifugal potential givesGravity is stationary in these rotating coordinates, and the frictionless constraint does no work. Projecting the rotating equation along the hoop, or differentiating its effective potential in the one-dimensional Euler-Lagrange equation, givesIf , the two off-axis positions areTheir unsigned angle to the downward vertical is the same; they lie on opposite sides of the hoop. The second derivative of the effective potential there is . Equivalently, writing gives to first orderThe same holds at . Thus both equilibria are stable, with small-oscillation angular frequency .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 4 10B a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
Apply the rotating-frame derivative formula first to , then to . Since the angular velocity is constant in either frame,The two apparent forces in the rotating equation are the Coriolis force and the centrifugal acceleration multiplied by mass. ThusSet . The supplied gradient identity gives . Taking the scalar product with removes , since it is orthogonal to , and removes the Coriolis force. Therefore the energy balance in a uniformly rotating frame isThe displayed quantity is conserved when the potential is stationary in the rotating coordinates. This includes a static inertial potential invariant under rotations about the chosen axis, such as vertical gravity in part (b). If the word conservative only means a time-independent inertial potential, that extra rotational invariance is needed; a conservative force alone does not imply the claimed conservation.
For an explicit counterexample to that unrestricted interpretation, take unit mass, an inertial force , , no , rotation , and inertial trajectory with initial velocity zero. It satisfies Newton's second law. Substituting into the proposed energy gives , which is not constant for nonzero rotation. The qualified conservation law above is the one used for the hoop.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 3 5E iii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
Every nontrivial subgroup of the quaternion group contains . Indeed, it either contains directly, or contains one of , whose square is .
Suppose acts on an -point set with . Every group orbit has size at most . By the orbit-stabilizer theorem, each point's stabilizer subgroup has order , so it contains . Consequently fixes every point, and the group action is not faithful. An embedding in would give a faithful group action on letters, which is impossible. ThusThe left-regular group action on eight points is faithful by Cayley theorem, so the minimal faithful permutation degree of the quaternion group is exactly eight. The proof allows multiple group orbits; restricting only to transitive actions would not suffice.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 3 5E ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
Choose with stabilizer subgroup . Transitivity means that every point is for some . Its stabilizer subgroup issince exactly when . The kernel of a group homomorphism arising from the group action is the set of elements fixing every point, henceThis is the subgroup core. A group homomorphism is injective precisely when its kernel is trivial. The desired equivalence is therefore exactly the equivalence between a trivial subgroup core and a faithful group action. No finiteness assumption is required in this part.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 3 5E i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
For a group action of on , let be the stabilizer subgroup of , and its group orbit. The orbit-stabilizer theorem is the bijectionIt is well defined because elements in the same left coset differ by an element fixing . Conversely, implies , so the cosets coincide. Surjectivity is the definition of the group orbit. For a finite group, counting the cosets givesTo obtain Cayley theorem, let act on its own underlying set by left multiplication. The map is a permutation, with inverse , and . If is the identity permutation, evaluating at the identity element gives . Thus is an injective group homomorphism. When , labeling this set by letters identifies its image with a subgroup of . Every finite group embeds in the symmetric group on its own elements.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 3 12C ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
For a spherically symmetric function in three dimensions, the radial Laplacian is . On , integrate twice to obtainThe region includes the origin. A classical solution must be regular there, so : the term is singular and is not a solution of the stated full-ball problem. Hence the complete family on the ball isThe boundary cases below use this regular family. Allowing punctured-ball solutions would change the problem and the compatibility calculation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 3 12C i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
For two solutions of the Poisson equation with the same Dirichlet boundary condition, let . Then in and on its boundary. By Green's first identity,Thus is constant on each connected component, and the zero boundary values make each constant zero. The Dirichlet solution is unique whenever it exists. This argument requires the regularity needed for the displayed integration by parts; it does not assert existence for arbitrary rough data.
With a Neumann boundary condition, integrating the Poisson equation and using the divergence theorem instead gives the necessary compatibility conditionOn a disconnected region this condition must hold on each connected component separately. If two solutions have the same normal derivative, their difference is harmonic with . The same Green's first identity again forces . Thus Neumann solutions are unique only up to an additive constant on each connected component. Adding a constant preserves both the equation and normal derivative, so uniqueness without a normalization cannot hold. On a connected region, prescribing the mean value removes this one-dimensional freedom.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 3 11C b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Assume the continuously differentiable irrotational vector field is defined on all of , as in this vector calculus setting. A constructive vector-field potential with the requested negative-gradient convention isSince zero curl means , differentiation under the integral givesThus . This is the Poincaré lemma in its straight-line form, and works on any star-shaped set about the integration base point. Zero curl on a domain with holes would not by itself guarantee a global vector-field potential; the full-space hypothesis matters.
For the given field, the second component requires . Integration in gives . Its derivative is , and its derivative is . Comparison with the other two components forces . HenceIts negative gradient is exactly the given field. Because this vector-field potential is smooth everywhere, commutation of mixed partial derivatives gives , verifying irrotationality. All such vector-field potentials differ by a constant on the connected domain.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 3 11C a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
Use the Einstein summation convention and the contraction of two Levi-Civita symbols. For the first cross product term,The last term cancels . Interchanging gives the analogous cancellation with . The surviving terms are by the product rule. This proves the dot-product gradient identityThe proof only requires continuously differentiable vector fields; neither field needs to be an irrotational vector field.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 2 9F iii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
Let and . Since they are independent, applying the product rule for moment-generating functions to givesAll factors are finite and strictly positive for every real by the stated hypothesis. Applying the same identity to and dividing yields , orThe centered unit-variance Taylor expansion from part (ii) gives and the same expansion for . Consequently .
For the first step of dyadic rigidity of a moment-generating function, take logarithms, which are allowed because . For each fixed and every integer ,Since , the right side tends to zero: it is . Thus for every , and the moment-generating function is even.
The original identity now becomes . Iterating this time with the correct fourth-power scaling givesNear zero, , so the right side tends to . ThereforeThis is the moment-generating function of a standard normal variable. By the uniqueness theorem for moment-generating functions, each of and has the standard normal distribution. The proof establishes the Gaussian characterization by independent sum and difference directly from the two functional identities and the first two moments.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 2 9F ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
Finiteness of the moment-generating function on an open neighborhood of zero gives its differentiability there. Using the permitted interchange of differentiation and expectation,Hence , and . The second-order Taylor expansion with its Peano remainder givesHere is the raw second moment, not the variance: . This distinction matters before specializing to a centered variable.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 2 9F i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
The moment-generating function is at real for which that expectation is finite; . For independent random variables, the joint law factorizes, soThis is the transform form of independence. Its ordinary finite-valued interpretation applies where both factors are finite, with the transform of a zero multiple equal to .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 2 8A iv Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
Use the shift derivative of a step response, writing with . Differentiate with respect to the forcing location:The possible delta term vanishes because , while . Therefore, as a distribution and also as the ordinary piecewise response,Moving the start of a unit step differentiates its forcing into a negative impulse. The zero initial conditions and linearity ensure that the corresponding responses obey the same identity, including the zero-frequency cases.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 2 8A iii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
The step response of a damped oscillator is the time integral of its causal Green function of a damped oscillator. Put and define for . Then and its oscillator equation has constant right side . Integrating explicitly givesThis formula applies when . It is a convolution of the causal impulse response with the shifted Heaviside step function, so the response is zero before the forcing starts and has the stated zero initial data.
The integral definition also handles the degenerate parameters without division ambiguities. For ,for , . These are the continuous zero-frequency limits of the step response.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 2 8A ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
Before the impulse the zero initial data force . An impulse modeled by the Dirac delta function requires continuity of : a jump in would introduce an unwanted derivative of a delta in . Integrating the equation across then gives the velocity jump .
The causal Green function of a damped oscillator isThe jump conditions give the causal impulse responseHere is the Heaviside step function. For , interpret the quotient continuously as , giving . Both initial values are zero because .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 2 8A i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
For the damped harmonic oscillator, the characteristic roots are . For , the real general solution isIf the frequency parameter is zero, the characteristic root is repeated and the complete limiting basis is , so . No sign restriction on is needed for these formulas, although corresponds to decay.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 2 11F iii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
For , substitute in the probability generating function. The moment-generating function of isThe domain follows from convergence of the generating series; at or above that positive threshold the expectation diverges, even though a rational continuation can be written.
Conditioning on survival, the probability mass function from part (ii) becomes a positive-integer geometric distribution:Its conditional moment-generating function is , tending to for fixed . We can prove the required limit directly, without invoking a continuity theorem. Set . For every , the strict upper tail is exactlySince and ,At both tails equal one. This is the exponential limit of surviving geometric branching. Conditioning is essential: the unconditional variable has probability of being zero, whereas the rare surviving population has size of order .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 2 11F ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
The geometric family law on the nonnegative integers has probability generating functionIts expected value is , so this is a geometric-offspring critical branching process. Starting from , verify the rational iterate by induction. If , thenwhich has the same form with replaced by . Thus, for ,The stated disk is the actual power-series convergence domain, not merely a place where the rational continuation can be evaluated. Its simple pole is at .
The extinction probability at generation is the constant coefficient:For later use, expanding the remaining geometric series givesIn particular . At the initial population is one deterministically; its PGF is , and the displayed radius involving is used only for .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 2 11F i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
For a Galton-Watson process, condition on the number of children of the initial individual. The descendants of these children over the next generations are independent copies of . The probability generating function of their total, conditional on , is . Averaging over the family-size law givesThis is the branching-process generating-function iteration. Conditioning instead on the last generation gives ; both orders agree because is the th iterate of the same function . The argument holds on the usual PGF domain , with larger domains available when the corresponding expectations converge.
There are unlisted articles, also show them or only show them.