Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ii Paper 1 24H b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Differentiate the homogeneity identity with respect to at one to obtain Euler's identityOn , its right side is , so . Thus is a regular value. The preimage theorem says that the nonempty inverse image of a regular value of a smooth map is a smooth submanifold of codimension . Applied to , it gives .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ii Paper 1 24H a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The manifold inverse function theorem states: if is smooth and is an isomorphism, there are open neighborhoods of and of such that is a diffeomorphism. In particular the manifolds have the same dimension at those points.
Choose charts around and around , shrinking the source chart so its image under lies in the target chart. The coordinate map has derivative , an invertible matrix. Apply the permitted Euclidean inverse function theorem to obtain open coordinate neighborhoods on which and are smooth. Pull them back through the charts. The resulting inverse is , smooth by composition. This proves the manifold statement.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ii Paper 1 19F b iii Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ii Paper 1 19F b ii Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ii Paper 1 19F b i Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ii Paper 1 19F a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The permutation representation has basis , , with . Its matrix is a permutation matrix, whose diagonal entry is one exactly at fixed points. Therefore
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ii Paper 1 15C c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Between collisions the momentum is or . In phase space the cycle runs right along the upper horizontal segment from to , jumps vertically to at the right wall, runs left along the lower segment, and jumps back at the left wall. The jumps have . ThereforeDifferentiation gives , exactly the out-and-back period. Under slow wall motion the action is the adiabatic invariant; a convention using is equivalent. HenceCompression raises the energy and expansion lowers it, provided the wall speed is small compared with the particle speed and the change per cycle is small.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ii Paper 1 15C b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The invariant is phase-space volume, or area for one degree of freedom. It does not require an autonomous Hamiltonian. The flow vector has divergence whenever the mixed derivatives agree. If is the Jacobian of the flow with respect to initial coordinates, then . Differentiating its determinant givesThus the change-of-variables formula shows that any region carried by the flow retains its area. This proves Liouville theorem in Hamiltonian mechanics even when depends on time.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ii Paper 1 15C a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Vary and independently, fixing the endpoint positions. Integration by parts givesThe boundary term vanishes, so arbitrary interior variations implyIn the Lagrangian principle only is varied independently, and ; here positions and momenta are independent paths in phase space. The extremality condition is stationarity of the action, not necessarily a minimum. Along Hamiltonian motion,so an explicitly time-independent Hamiltonian is conserved.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ii Paper 1 14E b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Write and . Along a trajectory,Use the unperturbed orbit to compute the leading energy change over one period:Zero averaged energy change gives the nonzero amplitudeThe supplied sign condition makes this real and nonzero. The averaged amplitude equation is , whose derivative at that root is . Its nonzero derivative also makes the root persist as an isolated periodic orbit for sufficiently small positive .
Directly, the planar divergence is . On the leading orbit its integral over is . ThusThe cycle is attracting for and repelling for . Both sign possibilities are allowed by .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ii Paper 1 14E a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Linearizing about the orbit gives , where . The fundamental matrix therefore satisfiesThe Floquet multipliers are the eigenvalues of the monodromy matrix . Differentiating the orbit equation shows that its tangent solves the variational equation. Since , one multiplier is one.
For an invertible fundamental matrix, differentiating the determinant gives . Integration from the identity yields . The determinant is the product of the two multipliers, so the other is
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ii Paper 1 11G ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ii Paper 1 11G i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Choose continuous arguments along the parametrized circle. Their sum is a continuous argument of the product, because multiplication multiplies moduli and adds arguments. Subtracting endpoint values gives
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ii Paper 1 10D b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Assume the present universe is expanding, . The stated energy inequality and the Raychaudhuri equation imply wherever . Therefore for in that positive branch, , andNonnegativity of forces . If the solution remains valid towards the past, its positive branch must thus end in within that time; a positive scale factor extending further would contradict the inequality. HenceThis argument presumes an expanding branch and the stated energy condition throughout it, rather than proving either assumption.
There are two relevant failures of the naive numerical bound. The supplied ten-billion-year Hubble time is an approximate observational input: a smaller inferred present expansion rate gives a larger Hubble time, and comparison with stellar ages must include these uncertainties. More decisively, a positive cosmological constant, or other dark energy with sufficiently negative pressure, has and permits accelerated expansion, so the concavity assumption fails. Observations of acceleration therefore remove this particular upper-bound argument. This is a discussion of the supplied historical estimate, not an assertion that its numerical value is a current measurement.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ii Paper 1 10D a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A comoving coordinate labels a galaxy carried by the homogeneous cosmological flow. Its physical separation at time is , where is the scale factor. Thus , the Hubble law, apart from peculiar velocities relative to this flow. In particular
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ib Paper 4 8D b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Keep the original four-node interpolation polynomial . The correction must vanish at all four original nodes, so a degree-at-most-four interpolant has the formSince and the product at is , matching the new value gives , hence . Expanding yieldsIt takes the values at the five nodes. The same root-count argument proves uniqueness of this interpolation polynomial.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ib Paper 4 8D a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The successive divided differences for nodes areThus the Newton interpolation polynomial isExpanding the products gives the power formThe four values verify the data. Uniqueness follows because the difference of two degree-at-most-three interpolants would have four distinct roots.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ib Paper 4 6B b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
For a normalized wavefunction in the required operator domains and a self-adjoint operator , its expectation value and standard deviation areEquivalently the squared uncertainty is , which is visibly nonnegative. Since the expectation value of a self-adjoint operator is real, expansion of the square and giveFor a state not normalized to one, divide each defining expectation integral by before using this formula.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ib Paper 4 6B a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
For a normalized wavefunction, the probability density and probability current areThe Schrödinger equation and its conjugate, for a real potential, areMultiplying respectively by and and adding their expressions for the time derivatives cancels the potential terms. HenceThe gradient cross-terms cancel when expanding the divergence. ThereforeThis continuity equation expresses local conservation of probability. Integrating over a region says that its probability decreases by the outward flux of the probability current.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ib Paper 4 17B d Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Event is the chosen origin. At , the leading-end world line reaches , soThe Lorentz transformation givesFor example . The squared spatial separation minus squared time separation isequally in the other frame. Thus and have spacelike separation.
In the barn frame, for the trailing end has entered while the leading end has not yet exited, so the whole javelin is inside at each simultaneous time slice. In the javelin frame the barn is shorter than the javelin and there is no simultaneous slice on which it contains the whole javelin. Also precedes there. This is consistent because relativity of simultaneity changes which endpoint events are simultaneous; the ordering of events with spacelike separation is not invariant. The physical intersections of the four world lines are the same in both diagrams.
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