Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 1H Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
An integral positive definite binary quadratic formis reduced whenwith when or . Its discriminant is .
For , reduction gives , so or . Since , is even. If , then forces , and . If , then ; integrality ofleaves and , and the boundary convention retains only . Hence the complete list is
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 19F Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
Maschke's theorem says that if is a finite group and the characteristic of a field does not divide , then every finite-dimensional -representation of is semisimple.
To prove it, let be an invariant subspace of a representation , and choose any linear projection . Average its conjugates:The scalar exists by the characteristic assumption. Reindexing the sum shows that commutes with every . Since each summand restricts to the identity on , so does ; hence is an equivariant projection onto . Its kernel is an invariant complement, and induction on decomposes into irreducible representations.
The isometry group of is the infinite dihedral groupLet be a nonfaithful finite-dimensional complex representation. Its nontrivial normal kernel contains for some , by the stated hint, so factors through the finite quotientMaschke's theorem decomposes this quotient representation into irreducibles. To bound their dimensions, choose a -eigenvector with eigenvalue in an irreducible constituent. The relation givesso is invariant under both generators. Irreducibility makes it the whole constituent, whose dimension is therefore at most two. This proves the result on nonfaithful representations of the infinite dihedral group.
For the requested representation of , let its generator act on the polynomials of degree at most one by translation:In the basis ,This is a nontrivial Jordan block, so it is not diagonalizable. A direct sum of one-dimensional subrepresentations would make diagonalizable, proving that this nonsemisimple translation representation of the infinite cyclic group has the required property.
Finally, on defineThen and , so these operators define a quadratic-polynomial representation of the infinite dihedral group. In the basis they areHere but , so consists of one size-three Jordan block. If were a direct sum of subrepresentations of dimensions at most two, then would be block diagonal with Jordan blocks of sizes at most two, a contradiction. Thus this representation has the required failure of decomposition.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 18G b Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
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Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 16H iii Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 16H ii Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
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Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 15D Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
Take a fixed comoving region, whose physical volume is . Its energy is , so the first-law relation givesDifferentiating with respect to cosmic time and using the Hubble parameter yields the cosmological perfect-fluid continuity equation
For the barotropic equation of state , separation gives the constant-equation-of-state density scalingSubstituting this into the flat Friedmann equation and integrating the expanding branch gives, for ,For , the density and Hubble parameter are constant and instead .
Conformal time is defined byAt radiation–string equality, let each component have density at . Since radiation in cosmology has and a cosmic string network has ,ConsequentlyThusOn the expanding branch, integration givesChoosing the Big Bang to occur at gives the radiation--cosmic-string Friedmann solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 14E iii Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 14E ii Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
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Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 13J iii Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 13J ii Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
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