Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ii Paper 1 22H b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
Given , choose a sequence with , which is possible by part (a). The bound givesso is a Cauchy sequence. Since is a Banach space, it converges. DefineThe same estimate shows that this limit does not depend on the approximating sequence. Passing to the limit proves linearity andso . It agrees with on . If two bounded extensions existed, their difference would vanish on the dense subspace and, by continuity, on its closure . Thus the extension is unique. This is the extension of a bounded linear operator from a dense subspace.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ii Paper 3 21H a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Write for the open unit ball. Because is a linear map, the hypothesis scales toFix . Choose numbers and such thatthen .
Set . Inductively, if , the scaled density statement lets us chooseand we put . The geometric series givesBecause is a Banach space, exists and lies in . Since is a bounded linear operator, it is continuous, whileTherefore . As was arbitrary,This is the dense open-unit-ball image criterion.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ii Paper 3 22H b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
The Uniform boundedness principle states that if is a Banach space and a family of bounded linear operators is pointwise bounded, then .
Suppose in the normed vector space . For each , define the evaluation functionalThe completeness of the dual space says that is Banach even when is not. For each , the scalar sequence converges to and is therefore bounded. Uniform boundedness givesBy the canonical embedding into the bidual and the Hahn-Banach theorem, . Hencewhich proves that a weakly convergent sequence is bounded.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 2 22I a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
The Baire category theorem says that a complete metric space cannot be a countable union of nowhere dense sets, equivalently that every countable intersection of open dense sets is dense. To prove it, let be open dense subsets and let be nonempty and open. Choose nested closed ballsstarting inside . The centres are a Cauchy sequence; completeness gives a limit lying in every ball, hence in . Thus the intersection is dense.
Choose a countable sequence with . Since for , every with lies in some . For integers , setPointwise convergence and Fatou lemma for series show that is closed in . It has empty interior: inside any ball, add a sufficiently long finite block whose norm is tiny but whose norm is larger than . Therefore every is nowhere dense. Since is a Banach space, Baire gives
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 2 22I c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
For , define by . The map is linear, andshows , so is continuous. The granted equality is the canonical embedding into the bidual.
Suppose, contrary to the claim, that exactly the same linear functionals are continuous for and . Their common continuous dual has two operator norms, say and . Both dual spaces are Banach, even if the second normed space is not complete. The identity maphas a closed graph: convergence in either operator norm implies pointwise convergence on , so two limits must agree. The closed graph theorem makes the two dual norms equivalent.
Applying the isometric bidual formula for each primal norm then gives constants such thatThis says the two norms are equivalent norms, contrary to the hypothesis. Their continuous duals must therefore differ as sets, so a linear functional belonging to one and not the other is continuous for exactly one of the two norms.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 4 22I a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A family is equicontinuous if for every and there is a neighborhood of such thatfor every and every . The Arzelà-Ascoli theorem says that, for a compact Hausdorff space , a subset of has compact closure in the uniform norm if and only if it is equicontinuous and pointwise bounded. On compact , equicontinuity and pointwise boundedness together imply uniform boundedness.
For necessity, a compact closure is totally bounded. Given , choose a finite -net . The finitely many continuous functions are simultaneously continuous near each point, and comparison with a nearby proves equicontinuity of the whole family. Evaluation at any fixed point is a continuous map or , so compactness also gives pointwise boundedness.
Conversely, equicontinuity gives, around each , a neighborhood on which every oscillates by less than . Compactness supplies a finite such cover with selected points . Pointwise boundedness makes the set of vectorsa bounded subset of a finite-dimensional normed vector space, so it has a finite -net. Choose one function of for every nonempty cell of this net. If two functions have evaluation vectors in the same cell, then comparison at a selected and the two oscillation bounds show that their uniform distance is less than . Thus is totally bounded. Since is a Banach space, its closure is complete; a complete totally bounded metric space is compact, proving the theorem.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 4 22I b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
Write with every equicontinuous. Its closure is still equicontinuous, because uniform limits preserve the same oscillation inequalities. The Baire category theorem applied to the Banach space shows that some has nonempty interior. Hence there are and such that the open ball lies in .
Fix . Equicontinuity of gives a neighborhood of on which every member of changes by less than . If were distinct from , the normality of a compact Hausdorff space and the Urysohn lemma would give with , , and . Both and belong to , yeta contradiction. Thus , so every point is isolated and is a discrete space. A compact discrete space is finite, since its cover by singleton open sets has a finite subcover.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 iii Paper 105 3 ii Solution Created 2026-09-28 Updated 2026-10-03
The preceding estimate gives constants such that, whenever ,Choose so that , and then choose so that . If , the closed ball is mapped into itself.
For , factor the cubic gradient nonlinearity asThe same Sobolev embedding theorem and the Holder inequality implyThe elliptic estimate therefore yieldsShrinking further makes , so is a contraction mapping of the closed ball. This ball is complete because is a Banach space. The contraction mapping theorem gives a fixed point , and its defining equation isThus the nonlinear elliptic boundary value problem has a solution for sufficiently small .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 iii Paper 326 4 1 Solution 2026-09-29
A Gaussian measure on a real separable Banach space is a Borel probability measure such that is a one-dimensional normal distribution for every continuous linear functional . Its mean and covariance operator of a Gaussian measure are characterized byandfor all .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 iii Paper 319 1 a Solution 2026-09-28
The infinitesimal generator of a semigroup is the linear operatorwith generator domainFor example, the Bochner integralbelongs to for every and , since .
To prove that is a closed linear operator, suppose , , and . For vectors in the generator domain,Passing to the limit in the Banach space givesAfter division by , strong continuity makes the right side converge to as . Hence and , so is closed.
For , define the Bochner integralIt converges absolutely becauseIntegrating the semigroup difference quotient shows that and . The same computation for gives . Thus the Laplace-transform formula for a semigroup resolvent proves
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 iii Paper 319 1 c Solution 2026-09-28
Let be a Cauchy sequence in the graph normThen and are Cauchy sequences in the Banach space , so for some ,Because is a closed linear operator, and . It follows thatThus every Cauchy sequence converges in , and
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 iii Paper 319 1 e Solution 2026-09-28
The familyinherits the identity, semigroup property, and strong continuity from , whileIts difference quotient satisfiesfor . Conversely, existence of this limit implies existence of the generator limit for , so andThis is the exponentially shifted semigroup construction.
The Hille-Yosida theorem in the uniformly bounded case says that a linear operator on a Banach space generates a C0-semigroup with if and only if:
- is a closed linear operator whose domain is a dense subset of the Banach space;
- ;
- for every and integer ,
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 iii Paper 319 1 h Solution 2026-09-28
Let and define the map suggested by the variation-of-constants formula:The strong continuity of the evolution family and the continuity of imply that maps into itself. Because is unitary and ,
Equip with the exponentially weighted supremum normThis equivalent norm makes a Banach space. Using that is a globally Lipschitz function and that the unitary operator preserves the norm,Choose . Then is a contraction mapping, so the Banach fixed-point theorem gives a unique fixed point . This fixed point is exactly the required mild solution of an abstract Cauchy problem:The weighted-norm argument works on the whole prescribed finite interval, so no subdivision of is needed.
The assertion is understood for every and for a topology in which sequentially closed sets are closed, in particular the norm topology of a Banach space. Suppose first that is sequentially lower semicontinuous and converges to . Thenso and the sublevel set is closed. Conversely, if all sublevel sets are closed but lower semicontinuity fails, there are and a real with a subsequence satisfying . Closedness of would put in that set, a contradiction. This proves the closed-sublevel-set characterization of lower semicontinuity.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ii Paper 2 22G a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Let be a Cauchy sequence in the operator norm. For each ,so is a Cauchy sequence. Completeness of the Banach space permits the definition
. Pointwise passage to the limit proves that is a linear. A norm-Cauchy sequence is a bounded sequence, say , and therefore
, so is bounded. Finally, letting in
gives
. Thus in operator norm and
is Banach.
. Pointwise passage to the limit proves that is a linear. A norm-Cauchy sequence is a bounded sequence, say , and therefore
, so is bounded. Finally, letting in
gives
. Thus in operator norm and
is Banach.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 319 1 a Solution 2026-09-28
A C0-semigroup on a Banach space is a family such thatfor every . Its infinitesimal generator of a semigroup iswith generator domain
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ii Paper 1 22F a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
The open mapping theorem states that every surjective bounded linear map between Banach spaces maps open sets to open sets. Equivalently, there is such that
The closed graph theorem states that a linear map between Banach spaces is continuous if and only if its graphis closed in .
Assume the open mapping theorem and suppose is closed. As a closed subspace of the Banach space , the graph is itself Banach. The coordinate projectionis a bounded linear bijection. By the open mapping theorem, is bounded. The other coordinate projection is bounded, andThus is bounded and hence continuous. This is the closed graph theorem from the bounded inverse theorem argument.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 105 3 c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
PutThe assumed energy estimate for the linear wave equation and the first nonlinear estimate give, for ,Choose and then choose so small that . Then maps the closed ball into itself.
For , the difference solves the linear equation with zero Cauchy data and forcing . The second nonlinear estimate therefore givesShrinking once more makes the coefficient strictly smaller than one. Since is a Banach space and its closed ball is complete, is a contraction on .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 106 4 c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
If is a reflexive Banach space, its closed unit ball is weakly compact. A bounded linear map is weak-to-weak continuous, so is weakly compact in . Compact subsets of a Hausdorff space are closed, hence is weakly closed and therefore norm closed.
Now suppose the two norms on have the same continuous dual as a set. Each is a Banach space in its dual norm. The identityhas closed graph: if in the first dual norm and in the second, evaluating at each gives . The closed graph theorem makes bounded, and the same argument for makes the dual norms equivalent. Thus there are withThe dual formulafrom the Hahn--Banach theorem transfers these inequalities to the original norms. Hence and are equivalent.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 107 3 f Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
The Leray-Schauder fixed point theorem says that a continuous compact map on a Banach space has a fixed point if the homotopy setis bounded. If with , multiplying the equation for by shows that solvesThe case gives . Therefore it is enough to prove one uniform estimate for all solutions of this family and all . The theorem then yields a fixed point , which solves the original quasilinear problem.
Initially the construction gives . This makes and Lipschitz, so composing the original coefficients with the jet of produces coefficients. A second application of the global Schauder estimate gives . The fixed-point theorem is an existence result and supplies no uniqueness.