Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 3 7E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
Use the standard implicit assumption that is prime, so is a finite field. The matrices in question form , the general linear group over a finite field. Products stay in the set because determinants multiply, the identity has determinant one, andhas entries in the finite field and nonzero determinant. Together with associativity this verifies the group axioms. The multiplication of matrices with column vectors is a group action because and .
Let be the order- cyclic subgroup. By the orbit-stabilizer theorem, its group orbits on have size either one or . If is the number of fixed vectors, counting all vectors gives . Since the zero vector is fixed, and hence . There is a nonzero fixed vector .
Extend to a basis . In this basis has matrix . From we get ; in the prime finite field, , so . Since has order , it is not the identity, and . Replace by . Then , and in the new basisThus all the order-p matrices in GL2 over the prime field form one conjugacy class. This proof also works at . Primality is essential to the first assertion: for modulus four, has nonzero determinant but no inverse, so the set defined using merely nonzero determinants would not be a group.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 3 6E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
Write a member of the special linear group as with . Its Möbius transformation is , with the usual values at a pole and at infinity. For nonreal ,This follows by multiplying numerator and denominator by . Thus the sign of the imaginary part is preserved, while the extended real line is preserved as a set.
Fixing zero requires . Therefore its stabilizer subgroup and group orbit areTranslations send zero to each finite real point, and sends it to infinity.
For , comparing real and imaginary parts gives and , with . Exactly the same conditions follow from . HenceFor any and , the upper triangular matrixsends to and to . Therefore the two group orbits are the open complex upper half-plane and the open lower half-plane respectively. Along with the extended real line they exhaust the Riemann sphere, so there are exactly three orbits, the real determinant-one Möbius orbits.
Every has the form and acts by . Thus is the entire complex upper half-plane, by the same explicit matrices . Given , choose such that . Then fixes , so and . This proves the triangular-rotation factorization of real determinant-one matrices.
For uniqueness, if , then . An upper triangular rotation matrix must have , soThere are consequently exactly two matrix factorizations, and . Restricting the first diagonal entry of to be positive makes the factorization unique. For example, if and , that unique branch isAngles are understood modulo when counting matrices; allowing unrestricted real angle representatives gives infinitely many labels for those same two factorizations.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 3 5E iii Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 3 5E ii Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 3 5E i Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 3 4C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
A Cartesian second-rank tensor is an isotropic tensor if its components are unchanged under every proper rotation matrix :The Kronecker delta is isotropic because , the orthogonality relation .
No symmetry of needs to be assumed. A half-turn about the first axis has matrix ; invariance under it forces to vanish. A half-turn about the second axis additionally kills and . Thus . Each half-turn is the square of an allowed quarter-turn. A quarter-turn about the third axis interchanges , so they are equal. A quarter-turn about the second axis interchanges , so all three are equal. Consequently the complete family of isotropic second-rank tensors isConversely, every member of this family is invariant because .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 3 3C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
A differential one-form is an exact differential if there is a differentiable function with and , so the form equals . For continuously differentiable , equality of mixed partial derivatives gives the necessary conditionA local differential condition need not by itself give a global potential on a domain with holes; no such issue arises for the explicit primitives here.
For the first form, and direct differentiation givesFor the second, but . These are not equal on any nonempty open subset of the plane, so that form is not an exact differential. Nevertheless,Thus one suitable pair is , . This factorization is smooth even at . On regions where , its reciprocal factor is an integrating factor which turns the original form into .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 3 2E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
A permutation cycle sends to , each successive listed point to the next, and to , fixing every unlisted point. Its length is . For any permutation ,Thus conjugate group elements in the symmetric group have the same cycle length. Conversely, two cycles of the same length are conjugate: send their entries, in cyclic order, to one another and extend this bijection arbitrarily to the unused points. Length-one cycles represent the identity and cause no exception to this conclusion.
An odd-length permutation cycle is an even permutation, since its sign is . Let be such cycles on points and choose with . If is odd, let be the transposition of the two points unused by the listed cycle . Then , and is even withHence all the -cycles are conjugate within . The two spare letters supply the parity correction; they are the reason the same argument need not work with only one spare letter.
In the answer is no. For example, and are conjugated by the odd transposition in . The centralizer of in is exactly its order-three cyclic subgroup: a commuting permutation fixes the unique fixed point and acts as a power of the cycle on the other three points. All these centralizing elements are even. Every other conjugating element differs from by a centralizing element, so it is also odd. There is no conjugator in . Equivalently, the eight three-cycles split into two conjugacy classes of size , illustrating the alternating conjugacy class splitting criterion.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 3 1E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
For a finite group and a subgroup , Lagrange's theorem statesIn particular divides : the left cosets partition , and multiplication by a representative is a bijection from to each coset. Apply this to the cyclic subgroup . Its size is the order of a group element , so every element order divides .
Under the square condition, every group element is its own inverse element. Consequentlyfor all . This proves that a group of exponent two is abelian, including the trivial group.
For the fourth-power condition a counterexample to commutativity is the quaternion groupHere and . Thus its six elements outside have order of a group element four, while and have orders one and two. All fourth powers are the identity, yet .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 3 12C ii Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
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Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 3 11C b Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
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Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 3 10C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
For fixed , andAs runs from zero to one, decreases continuously from one to zero. Thus the map is onto the open unit square and is one-to-one, with smooth inverseIts denominator is positive in the open square. This is a rational square diffeomorphism. Its Jacobian determinant isWriting , the inverse relation gives . ConsequentlyThe second transformation also maps the open unit square bijectively onto the open unit square: for fixed , decreases strictly from one to zero as goes from zero to one, while independently spans . Its positive Jacobian determinant isTo express this in , the composite transformation gives and . Put . Solving these relations givesThe chain rule for Jacobian determinants therefore givesThe requested integrand is exactly the reciprocal of this positive determinant. Apply the change of variables formula using the composite diffeomorphism:Possible singular behavior at the square's boundary does not invalidate the calculation: first integrate over the images of compact interior squares, where all transformations are smooth with nonzero Jacobian determinant, and then increase these domains to the full square. Positivity and monotone convergence theorem justify this limit.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 2 9F iii Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 2 9F ii Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 2 9F i Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 2 8A iv Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 2 8A iii Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 2 8A ii Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
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