Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 29 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let denote surface measure on a sphere on and volume measure on the unit ball. The Poisson mapping theorem can be proved directly here: counts of image points in disjoint sets are counts of the original process in their disjoint preimages. They are therefore independent Poisson variables, and their means are the volumes of those preimages.
For the radius map, a measurable set has meanThis follows from spherical coordinates or by subtracting concentric-ball volumes. The disjoint-preimage argument proves that the radius image is a Poisson process with this mean measure of a point process. There is no mass at zero or at one.
The original process has no point at the origin almost surely, since its mean count there is zero. Thus division by in the direction map is well-defined almost surely. For a measurable surface set , spherical coordinates giveAgain disjoint surface sets have disjoint cone preimages, giving the required independent Poisson counts. Both pushforward measures are diffuse, so there are almost surely no image collisions; they describe the indicated point sets as well as counting measures.
The two image processes are not independent. They have exactly the same total number of points,Indeed,This alone disproves process independence.
More generally, split the original points into those whose radius lies in and direction lies in , those satisfying only the first condition, and those satisfying only the second. Counts in these three disjoint regions are independent. The count shared by both images is Poisson with mean , soThe fact that Poisson polar projections share their total count explains the dependence despite the product polar intensity . Conditional on , the points are independent uniform samples from the ball. Their radius density is and their direction law is , independently for each point. Thus the two image configurations are independent conditional on ; unconditionally the shared nonconstant count couples them.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 29 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For , let be the probability law of a seed displacement from its tree. For the literal circular support, it is normalized arclength on . The conditional mean measure of a point process isWe prove the conditional Poisson assertion directly by joint probability generating functions.
Fix disjoint bounded measurable sets . For a tree at , put and . Conditional on its seed count, the allocation among these sets and their complement is multinomial distribution. Averaging over the Poisson seed count givesThus this tree contributes independent Poisson counts of means to the disjoint sets. Different trees contribute independently. Only trees within distance of the bounded union of the can contribute, and there are almost surely finitely many of them. Multiplying their probability generating functions givesThis is precisely the joint probability generating function of independent Poisson counts with the displayed means. Also is locally finite, because each bounded set can receive seeds from only finitely many trees. This proves the conditional Poisson point process assertion and the Poisson offspring clusters directed by their parent process construction.
In arclength notation the directing measure is , where is arclength on the circle centered at . If “circle” is used to mean the filled disc instead, take ; thenThe generating-function proof and the following unconditional conclusion hold for either reading. The circular version has a singular conditional directing measure, giving the random directing measure of a Cox process formulation.
Unconditionally this is a Cox process, specifically a Poisson-offspring Neyman-Scott process. Its mean measure of a point process is nevertheless spatially uniform. With , the Campbell first-moment formula and translation invariance givesince . Uniform mean alone does not establish a Poisson law.
For a bounded set of positive area, the conditional count has mean and variance . The law of total variance givesA Poisson integral of a deterministic function has variance : for a simple function on disjoint sets this follows from independent Poisson counts, and square-integrable approximation gives the general formula. Here and it has bounded support, soThe strict inequality holds when , because implies . A Poisson random variable has equal mean and variance. Hence the unconditional process is not a Poisson process in the nontrivial model. If or , there are no seeds and the process is the degenerate empty Poisson process. The overdispersion of nondegenerate mixed Poisson counts quantifies the additional clustering induced by the random parents.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 29 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For , the one-parameter Poisson-Dirichlet distribution is a probability distribution on decreasing random mass sequences. A precise construction uses a Poisson random measure on with intensityArrange its points as and put . The intensity is diffuse, so there are almost surely no ties. There are infinitely many points because the intensity has infinite mass near zero, but their sum is finite almost surely: the Campbell first-moment formula gives . Also almost surely, since the probability of having no points is zero. DefineIts law is , also written . In particular, is the largest component; the ordering is part of the definition.
The Laplace functional of a Poisson random measure determines the total:For the integral identity, differentiate the integral with respect to , obtaining , and use its value zero at . Thus has the Gamma distribution with shape and rate one, and density .
We use the Mecke formula for a Poisson random measure in its point-removal formHere the process inside the expectation on the right has the original law. To justify this identity, first take finite intensity. Conditional on a Poisson count , its points are independent samples from normalized intensity. Expanding the expectation as a sum over and singling out one of the points replaces by ; the remaining points have the original Poisson law. For sigma-finite intensity, restrict the selected point to a finite-intensity set, condition on the independent outside process, and then exhaust the space. monotone convergence theorem proves the formula for nonnegative ; absolute integrability allows signed .
Apply it with . For the polynomial in question, on , so and all signed interchanges are justified. Integrating over the gamma law of the remaining total givesSet and , so , and the Jacobian is . The integrand factors as . The integral defining the Gamma function cancels , yieldingFor example, setting gives for integers .
The same nonnegative calculation identifies the mean measure of Poisson-Dirichlet components for arbitrary nonnegative test functions. Write . If , at most one component exceeds , so . Hence the identity directly gives the upper part of the probability distribution of the largest component of a Poisson-Dirichlet partition:Its density on is . For , this tail is , and . On the other hand, selecting index with conditional probabilities weights the mean measure of a point process by . Thus has density , the law of a size-biased distribution. That beta law describes the selected component.
For completeness, the whole probability distribution of can also be specified; below one half the expected count is not itself the tail probability. Repeating the point-removal formula for ordered distinct jumps gives the factorial moment densities of Poisson-Dirichlet components:Indeed, integrate over selected jumps and the remaining gamma total , then put , . The Jacobian is ; the factors and the Jacobian leave , whose Gamma function again cancels the normalizing constant. Since , the finite binomial identity for the indicator of now gives, for ,The term is one; an empty integration region contributes zero. This is inclusion-exclusion, since . Extend this cumulative distribution function by zero for and one for . For only the terms can contribute, recovering the simpler formula above.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 28 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Here is the one-parameter Kolmogorov continuity theorem. Suppose a real-valued stochastic process on satisfies, for some , and finite ,Then it has a continuous modification of a stochastic process whose paths are Hölder continuous of every positive exponent . A modification means equality almost surely at each fixed time, not an a priori simultaneous equality at all times. Other compact time intervals follow by rescaling; the vector-valued version uses a norm in place of absolute value.
For the proof fix and use the dyadic grids . Let be the largest adjacent increment on this grid. The union bound and Markov inequality giveThe right-hand side is summable. The Borel-Cantelli first lemma shows that, outside a null set, an almost-surely finite random constant can absorb the finitely many early grids so that
We now use dyadic increment chaining. For two distinct dyadic points , choose with . Approximate them from below by , for . Each refinement moves by zero or one grid step, while are at most two grid steps apart. The sequences eventually equal the original dyadic points. Telescoping giveswhere a deterministic finite absorbs the geometric series and . Thus the sample function on the dense union of dyadic grids has a unique Hölder-continuous extension to . Define this extension to be on the probability-one event, and set it to zero on the exceptional null set.
For a fixed , take dyadic . The moment condition gives in probability, while the constructed extension gives almost surely. Uniqueness of a probability limit yields almost surely. This proves the required modification property. Performing the argument for a countable increasing sequence of exponents tending to gives one version with all smaller positive Hölder exponents, since its extensions agree on the dyadic points.
For Brownian motion, Gaussian increments give, for any integer ,Use and . The theorem gives every exponent . For any , choose large enough. Intersect probability-one events over integer and compact intervals to obtainThe usual continuous Brownian version has the same property: its continuous paths agree with the constructed version on a countable dense set and hence everywhere, outside one null set. The Hölder constant depends on the compact interval. This is the precise local meaning of Brownian Hölder regularity; it is not a uniform Hölder bound on the entire unbounded time axis.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 27 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
A cyclotomic Euler system must relate units at many auxiliary conductors, not just the successive layers of one p-power tower. A useful axiomatization is the root-of-unity Euler system. Fix a finite set of excluded primes containing , and let be the roots of unity whose orders are prime to every prime in . A system is a nonzero-valued function with three properties. It is even and Galois equivariant:It satisfies the distribution relation at every prime :Finally, if , it satisfies the local congruenceThe values in this congruence are required to be integral at the prime; in the unit example below they are local units. Evenness puts the values in the maximal real cyclotomic subfields. Equivariance identifies conjugates, distribution gives exact norm identities, and the congruence supplies information at newly introduced primes. These are the three distinct inputs used in the descent, rather than a single norm-coherence assumption.
Here is a concrete system extending the units in Q2. Fix a nonzero integer prime to and let contain and the prime divisors of , but not . PutEvery value is defined and nonzero: the excluded primes make invertible modulo the order of , and that order is odd. The quotient is the same Laurent polynomial used in Q2. Replacing by changes both numerator and denominator by a minus sign, so it is even; its rational coefficients give Galois equivariance.
For the distribution axiom, makes odd and prime to . Both exponents and permute , and . The calculation in Q2 therefore holds with replaced by :Raising to proves the axiom. At removable points it holds by evaluating the regular Laurent polynomials, so it includes and .
For the congruence axiom, a root of order reduces to one at every prime above . The integral Laurent polynomial thus gives . These values are local units when has order prime to : its reduction retains that order, and, unless , both and remain nonzero; at the value is the unit . The stated power preserves the congruence. Thus satisfies all three Euler-system axioms, and its values at are precisely . Products, Galois translates, suitable field norms and integral group-ring powers produce the other cyclotomic-unit systems needed in the theory.
The distribution relation explains the Euler factors. If , has order and is a primitive th root, the conjugates over run through the nontrivial th roots. Removing the single factor with from the distribution product givesWe use arithmetic Frobenius, so . This is the cyclotomic Euler norm factor at a new prime. At a higher power of a prime already dividing the conductor, all translates occur, and the ordinary successive-layer norm relation has no missing-factor quotient. A mere p-power compatible sequence therefore contains only part of the Euler-system information.
To explain the axiomatic method, fix a p-power modulus and auxiliary primes with , split in the chosen real base field. For the cyclic auxiliary Galois group of order , choose a generator and defineSubtracting consecutive coefficients gives the concrete identityThis is the Kolyvagin derivative operator for a cyclic group. Apply products of these operators to Euler-system values at squarefree auxiliary conductors. The norm relations control the apparent failure of invariance modulo ; Kummer descent, using Hilbert 90 and retaining roots-of-unity corrections where present, turns the derivative data into classes over the base field. They have controlled valuations and are unramified away from the selected auxiliary primes and the excluded set. The local congruence relates the valuation component at a newly added prime to the finite residue-symbol component of the preceding class, with the sign and normalization determined by the chosen generator. This finite-to-singular relation is precisely the additional information not obtainable from norm compatibility alone.
The Chebotarev density theorem supplies auxiliary prime ideals in specified ideal classes while satisfying the splitting and congruence conditions. Reading the controlled valuations as principal-ideal relations successively bounds the p-primary elementary divisors of the ideal class group by the divisibility of the initial cyclotomic-unit class. On suitable nontrivial character components this gives the finite bound ; passing through the norm tower yieldswhere divisibility is between characteristic generators, so the associated ideal containment is reversed. The Euler-system divisibility for real cyclotomic class modules requires the usual local conditions and control of finite errors; it is not a claim that arbitrary compatible units automatically annihilate every class group. The cyclotomic unit index formula, together with the global norm-defect comparison, gives the reverse equality. Q3's exact sequence then proves the main conjecture.
This account separates the theorem inputs from the explicit calculations: the distribution and congruence identities for cyclotomic units are verified above, and the derivative operator is computed directly; the Chebotarev/Kummer descent bounds and the global index comparison are the deeper arithmetic steps. Their usefulness is that the descent uses the axioms rather than a special closed formula for each individual auxiliary unit.
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