Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2011 ii Paper 1 21H iv Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 16 1 1 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Use generators for the three one-handles in the generalized Heegaard diagram. Read a downward crossing of the cut from a left-hand hole to its right-hand partner as the corresponding generator. Traverse the attaching curve around the left-hand hole, starting at its outgoing downward strand, and then traverse the attaching curve around the left-hand hole in the same way. Their cut-crossing words areThese are the two relators imposed by the two handle attachments. The remaining boundary is a torus; no third relator should be added. The fundamental group presentation is thereforeThe exponent-sum vectors are and . Thus the abelianization is , with all mapping to its positive generator .
Apply the Fox derivatives and then this abelianization. The resulting Alexander matrix isFor example, the three occurrences of in contribute to the first entry. Every row sums to zero, as the Fox calculus identity predicts.
The cellular boundary in degree one for the infinite cyclic cover is . Its kernel is freely generated by . Expressing the two relation boundaries in this basis gives the two-by-two matrix obtained by deleting column of . Its determinant is the order of the Alexander module of a space. Equivalently, all three maximal matrix minors of agree up to sign. The Alexander polynomial iswhere allows multiplication by a unit in the Laurent polynomial ring. Its value at is .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 16 5 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Replace the open knot complement by the compact knot exterior ; they have the same homotopy type. The abelianizationsends an oriented meridian of a knot to . The connected covering space corresponding to its kernel is the infinite cyclic cover of a knot exterior . Choose a generator of its deck transformation group. Thenis the Alexander module of a knot over . It is a finitely presented torsion module, and its order, equivalently the greatest common divisor of the appropriate maximal matrix minors of an Alexander matrix, is the Alexander polynomial of a knot, up to a unit .
For a fibered knot, the infinite cyclic cover of a knot exterior is . Write the mapping torus with the gluing convention in the question. The deck transformationhas exactly that quotient: and are identified. Choose . Its action on is . If one instead chooses the generator projecting in the positive circle direction, its action is ; this replaces by and produces an associate for a knot.
Choose an integral basis for and let be the matrix of . The Alexander module of a knot has the finite free module presentationThere are no further relations: using and the invertibility of , every Laurent combination reduces uniquely to an integral combination of the chosen basis elements. Taking the order of this square presentation gives the monodromy formulaFor a disk fiber both sides are , using the empty determinant convention.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 14 1 3 Solution 2026-10-07
Call this simultaneous antipodal quotient of two spheres . The simultaneous antipodal map acts freely on , so is a connected closed manifold of dimension four. Each antipodal factor has mapping degree ; their product preserves orientation. Hence is orientable.
The product is simply connected, so this double covering space is the universal cover. Consequentlyusing the abelianization of the fundamental group. The Euler characteristic under a finite covering gives . Its rational first Betti number is zero, and Poincare duality gives and . Thus as well.
The universal coefficient theorem for cohomology now gives andHere because . Integral Poincare duality further gives , and .
Let generate these groups in degrees respectively. The only potentially nonzero positive-degree cup product is . But , while has no nonzero torsion subgroup, so . Every other positive product vanishes by dimension. Thuswith every product of positive-degree elements equal to zero. The degree-three torsion is essential: it would be lost by computing only rational cohomology.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 14 5 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Both relators have zero exponent sums, so abelianization gives , with meridian variables corresponding to . The universal abelian cover has deck transformation group and coefficient group ringThe generalized Heegaard diagram gives a two-dimensional spine with one vertex, three edges and two faces. Its lifted cellular chain complex iswhere chosen lifts of the cells giveThe two columns are the abelianized Fox derivatives of and . The Fox calculus identity gives ; this can also be checked by multiplying the displayed matrices. There is no three-cell in this spine. One may use the lifted spine because its deformation retraction from lifts to the universal abelian cover.
The maximal minors of the Alexander matrix, in row-pair order , areTheir greatest common divisor in is , since have no common nonunit divisor. Accordingly the multivariable Alexander polynomial isThe allowed units are . The single-variable specialization convention can introduce extra factors; the answer here is the genuinely multivariable Alexander polynomial.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 4 5 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
No prime and no presentation of have p-deficiency at least one. Abelianizing the cyclic squaring relations makes each generator zero: for example becomes , so , and the other four relations kill . Thus the abelianization of is trivial and for every prime number . The presentation-independent p-rank of a group bound from the general solution givesfor every group presentation of . This rules out alternative presentations, not just the one displayed.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ia Paper 3 1D i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Suppose every group commutator belongs to . For and , the particular group commutator belongs to . Multiplying on the left by gives . Thus for every ; applying the same inclusion to gives the reverse inclusion. Therefore is a normal subgroup.
We can now form the quotient group. Its group commutators areA group commutator is the identity element exactly when the two elements commute. Hence is an abelian group. Equivalently, the hypothesis says that contains the commutator subgroup, so the quotient factors through the abelianization.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 114 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Use integer coefficients. The mapping-torus homology from Mayer–Vietoris works for every continuous map , without assuming that the mapping torus is a fiber bundle. Project to the time circle and choose two open arcs, one containing the seam and one away from it. The inverse image of the seam arc is a mapping cylinder neighborhood with a deformation retraction to its target copy of ; the inverse image of the other arc is a product with a deformation retraction to . Their intersection has two components, each with a deformation retraction to . Label the upper component first. With the convention that the second inclusion in the Mayer–Vietoris sequence has a minus sign, its homology map isIndeed, the upper component includes into the seam neighborhood by the identity, while retracting the lower component across the seam applies . Put and , and replace target coordinates by . The map becomes . Negating gives a direct sum of and an isomorphism. Canceling the latter summands in the long exact sequence yieldsIn particular, there is a short exact sequenceNo splitting of this short exact sequence is assumed at this stage.
For the torus, take the coordinate loops and as the basis of . Their lifts to have endpoint displacements . Applying changes those displacements to its columns, soThis also follows from the identification of the first homology group with the abelianization of the fundamental group. The Künneth theorem gives , with generator the product orientation class. If are the dual degree-one cohomology classes, then evaluates to one on this generator, andThus the degree-two homology map is multiplication by , as in homology of an integer torus endomorphism. The claim that the torus map is a homeomorphism requires to be a unimodular matrix, equivalently an integer inverse or ; nonsingularity over alone would only give a covering map of finite degree. The particular matrix here is unimodular.
For this matrix, andIts kernel is zero and its Smith normal form is , so its cokernel is . The maps on and are zero. Substituting into the short exact sequences, and splitting the degree-one extension because its quotient is free, gives
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 141 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Use the region labels and curve orientations from part (a). A Dehn presentation of a knot group generator goes from the basepoint above the projection plane through its region and returns through the unbounded region. Equivalently it is dual to the correspondingly labeled disk of the Heegaard diagram. A crossing relator records the signed intersections of its curve with these disks. Setting givesFor example, the overpassing strand at equates the meridian of a knot words and ; at it equates and . The other two crossings equate with and with .
Choose the region-generator direction so that is the shown meridian of a knot . The Alexander numbering of the regions, starting from zero outside and increasing by one on crossing an oriented strand from right to left, isOne can also obtain this directly by abelianization of the relators: , , , and . The last two imply , and the resulting first homology group is freely generated by . Thus , with no extra torsion.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 141 3 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Keep all four relators and all five generators, in the orders and . Under abelianization, these generators become . The Fox calculus rules areFor example, gives the nonzero Fox derivative entries , , , in columns , respectively. After abelianization these are . The full Alexander matrix isThe Fox calculus identity supplies a useful check:Deleting the column, adjacent to the unbounded region across the marked meridian of a knot, givesThus is a representative of the Alexander polynomial of a knot of the figure-eight knot, with its customary ambiguity of multiplication by .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ii Paper 1 19I a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
The commutator subgroup, or derived subgroup, isA linear character is afforded by a one-dimensional representation . Since is abelian, every commutator lies in , so
Let be the quotient map. Every irreducible representation of a finite abelian group is one-dimensional, so each irreducible character of the abelianization inflates to the linear character of . Conversely, the containment makes every linear character of factor uniquely through . Thus inflation of a group representation gives a bijection
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ii Paper 1 19I b ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
In the abelianization, the relation becomes . Together with this forces , soConsequently there are linear characterswhere .
The representations from part (i), denoted , are irreducible: the two eigenspaces of are its only invariant lines, and exchanges them. The character of a representation agrees for two parameters exactly when their squares agree, so and there are pairwise nonisomorphic two-dimensional representations. Their squared dimensions sum toThe sum of squares of irreducible degrees proves that no others exist. Hence the complete list isThis is the classification of the Irreducible representations of G6n.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ii Paper 3 19I ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
For , every group of order four is abelian. Now let be odd. Degree divisibility and the sum-of-squares formula show that every nonlinear irreducible character has degree two: the other divisors and have squares larger than .
Let be the number of linear characters and the number of degree-two characters. The linear characters are precisely the characters of the abelianization, soThe degree-sum formula givesso . Among the divisors of , this forces or . In the latter case and all degrees are one. In the former,Thus the degrees areunless they are all one.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 149 2 a Solution 2026-10-03
Let be the abelianization map. Its image is again a -approximate group. Apply the large-progression form of the Freiman-Green-Ruzsa theorem to . It gives a finite subgroup , elements , and lengths , withand
The large lifted product from a coset progression applied to this progression givesBriefly, choose a section of on . Multiplication by that section is multiplicative up to ; lifting successively the subgroup part and each progression direction therefore places every element of in the displayed product. The fiber-counting lemma for a quotient map gives , which proves the estimate.
SetThe intersection of an approximate group power with a subgroup shows that each is a -approximate group contained in . The preimage of a cyclic subgroup of has step less than . The same is true of the preimage of the finite subgroup because is a torsion-free group. Consequently each has step less than , and the displayed estimate is the required conclusion.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ii Paper 2 19I b iv Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
The subgroups and each have order eight, their elements commute across the two subgroups, and their intersection is exactly . ThereforeSince , the abelianization has order and is generated by the four commuting involutions represented by . It is isomorphic to , so it has sixteen one-dimensional complex representations, obtained by independently sending to and sending to .
These characters contribute to the sum of squares of irreducible degrees. The given irreducible representation has degree four and contributes another . Part (a) and show that no other irreducible representations exist. Thus the complete list is the sixteen linear characters and the given four-dimensional representation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 2 19F Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
Write the nonabelian group of order 21 asreplacing by gives the same group. Conjugation by splits the six nonidentity elements of the normal subgroup into the two classesEach of the two other cosets is one conjugacy class:Thus the class sizes are , so there are five irreducible characters.
The abelianization is , giving three linear characters. Put and , and defineThe two nontrivial orbits of characters of the normal induce two irreducible characters of degree three. Their values vanish outside , and summing each orbit gives on the two nonidentity classes. The resulting character table isThe degree checkand character orthogonality relations verify that this is the complete table.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 4 21F a ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Write the closed oriented surface of genus as , where is a closed disk, is a slightly enlarged once-punctured surface, and is an annulus. Thus is contractible, is homotopy equivalent to the circle, and is homotopy equivalent to the wedge sum of circles. The boundary circle represents the product of the commutators in the fundamental group of , so its image in the first homology group, which is the abelianization of that group, is zero.
The relevant part of the Mayer–Vietoris sequence is consequentlyThe degree-zero part says that the connected space has , while the groups above degree two vanish. Hence
Suppose . This completion is an abelian group, so every finite quotient of is abelian. Consequently the quotient map to the abelianization inducesThe group is a finitely generated abelian group. If its free rank is zero, is finite. If its free rank is positive, and hence have a nontrivial quotient for every sufficiently chosen prime . But has no nontrivial finite quotient of order coprime to . Both cases are impossible, so .