Past exam of the communication Theory course of the University of Oxford 2007 1 c Solution 2026-10-31
Independence gives . The given exponential convexity inequality therefore yieldsTaking complementary probabilities provesThe strict positivity of the entries of makes all logarithms appearing in this finite expectation well defined.
Past exam of the communication Theory course of the University of Oxford 2007 1 b Solution 2026-10-31
Conditional entropy is . Factor the joint probabilities as and expand their logarithms. This gives . Applying the same identity within each conditional law given and averaging gives .
Put and . Since is a function of , the conditional chain rule givesBy Gibbs inequality, the first term is at most . When , determines . When , there are at most possibilities for given , so its conditional entropy is at most . ThereforeFor , rearrangement provesThe printed division presupposes . For its denominator is zero, and the meaningful statement is the stronger undivided inequality . For the variables agree surely.
Past exam of the communication Theory course of the University of Oxford 2007 1 a Solution 2026-10-31
Use the convention . On the positive support of , the given logarithm inequality givesThe logarithm is strictly concave, so its supporting line at one has equality only there. More explicitly, the given global bound forces by differentiation at one, and vanishes only at one. Equality above therefore requires on the positive support, and no mass of outside it. Thus equality holds exactly when .
For the uniform distribution , the divergence is . Its nonnegativity gives , with equality precisely for the uniform law.
Past exam of the calculus of variations course of the University of Oxford 2011 3 a Solution 2026-10-31
A scalar Tonelli existence theorem states: if is continuous, convex in , and has a uniform superlinear lower bound with , and at least one fixed-endpoint admissible absolutely continuous function has finite energy, then the energy attains its infimum in the fixed-endpoint class. One may take nonnegative and convex. The lower bound makes derivatives uniformly integrable; endpoint control then gives uniform compactness of a minimizing sequence, and convexity supplies the required lower semicontinuity.
For the specified functional, the integrand is continuous, nonnegative, and convex in the derivative, withThe affine function has the required endpoints and finite energy. Thus a global minimizer exists. In fact any finite-energy minimizer belongs to , since its derivative's 52nd power is integrable.
It is unique. The admissible class is convex, and the integrand is strictly convex in : and are strictly convex, with the latter multiplied by . If two distinct admissible finite-energy functions minimized the energy, their midpoint would have strictly smaller energy. Distinct continuous representatives differ on a set of positive measure, so the strict integral inequality really applies. This contradiction proves uniqueness.
Past exam of the calculus of variations course of the University of Oxford 2011 2 a Solution 2026-10-31
The variational terminology refers to the size of a neighborhood, rather than weak versus strong convergence in a Banach space. The definitions in the two numbered children giveThe second implication holds because smallness in implies smallness in the uniform norm. Reverse implications need not hold.
For differentiable in its slope variable, define the Weierstrass excess functionThe strengthened Weierstrass condition means that some givesIt requires support at nearby heights and nearby reference slopes, while the trial slope is arbitrary. Requiring this only exactly on the curve is the unstrengthened necessary condition.
A standard Weierstrass sufficient condition assumes the usual smoothness of , , the weak Euler-Lagrange equation, a coercively positive second variation, and the strengthened condition above. Explicitly, for some ,for zero-endpoint variations. Then is a strong local minimizer. If the excess is strictly positive for throughout the tube, the strong minimum is strict. The second-variation hypothesis supplies a neighboring field of extremals. Its slope gives the comparison identityfor uniformly close admissible . This explains how the condition controls competitors with large derivatives.
Past exam of the calculus of variations course of the University of Oxford 2011 1 a Solution 2026-10-31
For the supporting inequality, assume first that is convex and fix . For ,Subtract , divide by and let . Differentiability givesConversely assume this inequality for every pair. Put and apply it with base point to both and . Multiply those two inequalities by and and add. The gradient terms cancel, proving . Thus the supporting inequality characterizes a differentiable convex function.
For the integral inequality let . Apply the supporting inequality at to and integrate. Its affine term has integral , yieldingThis is Jensen's inequality. Since is integrable, the supporting affine lower bound has integrable negative part, so the right side is well-defined as an extended real integral. If its positive part is infinite, the inequality remains valid.
Past exam of the calculus of variations course of the University of Oxford 2010 3 b Solution 2026-10-31
Use the direct method in the calculus of variations. The affine function is admissible with finite energy, and the energy is nonnegative since is even. Thus is finite. Choose a minimizing sequence with uniformly bounded energy. ThenThe fixed value and the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality give and . Hence the sequence is bounded in and uniformly bounded and equicontinuous.
By reflexivity and the Arzelà-Ascoli theorem, pass to a subsequence with in and uniformly. The two limits coincide; uniform convergence also preserves , . Since all functions stay in a common bounded interval, uniform convergence gives uniformly, and therefore convergence of the potential integrals. The derivative term is lower semicontinuous for weak convergence, soAdmissibility gives . Thus
There are unlisted articles, also show them or only show them.