Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ib Paper 1 18D c Solution by
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For the symmetric double-delta potential, take an odd state at , . On odd parity selects . For , decay and continuity give ; extend to negative by oddness. At the jump condition isFor a nonzero state this means , and thereforeOddness makes the jump at follow automatically: both its derivative jump and its required wavefunction value have the corresponding opposite signs.
There is a positive solution precisely when . To see this, rewrite the equation asThe right side decreases strictly from to zero as increases from zero to infinity: its derivative has the sign of . Hence for there is exactly one positive solution, while is a nonnormalizable zero-energy threshold and gives no odd bound state. This verifies the stated sufficiently-small- condition and identifies its exact boundary, consistent with the odd bound state of a symmetric double-delta potential.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ib Paper 1 18D b Solution by
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For a negative energy write , . Away from the delta interaction the decaying solutions are for and for , with the same by continuity. The derivative jump is , giving . Thus the bound state in a delta potential hasThe normalization follows from . This is a genuine square-integrable negative-energy state.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ib Paper 1 18D a Solution by
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The attractive potential has . Its time-independent Schrödinger equation isIntegrate from to . Continuity makes the delta term equal to , while the integral of tends to zero as the interval shrinks. The second-derivative term integrates to the difference of first derivatives. HenceThis expresses the point interaction through a derivative jump while the wavefunction remains continuous.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ib Paper 1 16B b Solution by
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Use the Möbius transformationThe lens's boundary intersections are . Write . Substitution in the inverse gives , andConsequently the two domain inequalities are exactly , or . This algebra proves that maps the lens bijectively onto the quarter-sector, not merely that its boundary curves go to rays.
The map maps this sector bijectively onto the upper half-plane: the argument increases from to , and the positive modulus map is bijective. Its inverse is the fourth-root branch with argument in . Therefore the quarter-sector mapping of a circular lens isIts derivative is nonzero in the lens, since and there. Finally the Cayley transform maps bijectively to the unit disc, because exactly when . A required conformal bijection is thusAll poles and branching endpoints of the construction lie outside the open domain.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ib Paper 1 16B a Solution by
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Let two regular differentiable paths through have nonzero tangent vectors . The chain rule gives tangent vectors and for their images. Multiplication by a nonzero complex number is a positive scaling and rotation: writing scales lengths by and adds the same angle to both tangents. Equivalently,Thus the oriented angle between the paths is preserved, proving is conformal at . The nonzero derivative also gives local invertibility; a zero derivative could multiply angles through branching instead.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ib Paper 1 14G d Solution by
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Take , and . Then is a proper invariant subspace, and the restriction has matrix . In each case annihilates the operator, while any annihilator must vanish at both zero and one. ConsequentlyThis same example works over any scalar field.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ib Paper 1 14G c Solution by
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Invariance of means every power of restricts to the corresponding power of . Therefore is the restriction of , and it is zero. Divide with . Evaluation at gives . By minimality of , , provingThe zero-subspace case has and satisfies the same conclusion.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ib Paper 1 14G b Solution by
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If with , then . The left side vanishes, so .
Conversely, if , write . Then . If were invertible, multiplying by its inverse would imply , contradicting the minimal degree. Thus is not invertible. In finite dimension this means it has a nonzero kernel, furnishing an eigenvector with eigenvalue . Hence the eigenvalues are exactly the roots of the minimal polynomial, with the scalar-field convention stated in part (a).
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ib Paper 1 14G a Solution by
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After choosing a basis of , a linear endomorphism is specified by an by matrix, with freely chosen coefficients. ThereforeThe endomorphisms are linearly dependent. Some nonzero coefficient list gives a nonzero polynomial satisfying .
For nonzero , the minimal polynomial is the monic polynomial of least degree annihilating . It is unique: subtracting two monic least-degree choices would give a lower-degree annihilator. More generally division of any annihilator by gives , with , and evaluation implies . Minimality forces , so every annihilator is divisible by . If , the convention handles the degenerate case.
The arguments work over the underlying scalar field. In part (b), roots in that field correspond to eigenvalues there; to discuss other roots one extends scalars, for example by complexifying a real vector space.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ia Paper 4 7B b Solution by
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Put , so the requested modulus is . The factorial is divisible by , and so is . Also, Wilson's theorem gives . Because and are coprime integers, their product divides the difference. Thus the Wilson factorial congruence modulo a triangular number isThe displayed residue lies in the standard range even at .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ia Paper 4 7B a Solution by
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Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ia Paper 4 6F c Solution by
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In the set of all permutations, let consist of those fixing . For a prescribed collection of fixed points, its intersection has members. Applying the inclusion-exclusion principle to the complement of gives the number of derangements:The convergent power series for the exponential function at therefore gives .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ia Paper 4 6F b Solution by
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Take the finite ambient set and the additive set function . Disjoint subsets have additive cardinality, so (a) applies and givesThis is the finite inclusion-exclusion principle.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ia Paper 4 6F a Solution by
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First, finite additivity of a set function gives , since . Put . Decomposing any subset into its singleton elements and using induction gives . Fix and let be the number of sets containing it. Its total coefficient in the alternating intersection sum is zero if , and otherwise isby the binomial theorem. These are exactly the coefficients in . Summing against proves the required inclusion-exclusion principle for the additive set function, including signed weights.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ia Paper 4 1C iv Solution by
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For any , the surjectivity of supplies with . Therefore is a preimage of under , proving surjectivity of .
For the requested counterexample, take , , , and . The function composition is the identity bijection of the singleton, but is not surjective and is not injective.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ia Paper 4 1C iii Solution by
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Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ia Paper 4 1C ii Solution by
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Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ia Paper 4 1C i Solution by
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Let . Since is surjective, choose with . Since is surjective, choose with . Then . Thus every element of has a preimage, proving that is surjective.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ia Paper 3 8B b Solution by
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Take the half-turn about the -axis, represented by the rotation matrixIt is an orthogonal matrix with determinant , and it fixes the -axis while reversing both perpendicular coordinates. Direct substitution gives , , and . A linear map that permutes the four vertices also preserves their convex hull, which is the solid tetrahedron. Hence this rotation matrix leaves invariant. Its axis joins the midpoints of the two opposite edges and .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ia Paper 3 8B a Solution by
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The three known vertices have pairwise squared distances , so the regular tetrahedron must have every squared edge length equal to . Comparing the squared distance from to with that from to givesEquality forces . Similarly,so . The resulting point has squared distance from each of the other three vertices. Therefore
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