Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ii Paper 3 23F Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Let be the universal covering map. Since the complex plane is a simply connected domain, the lifting criterion for a covering space gives a holomorphic lift between one-dimensional complex tori such thatFor every , the difference belongs to the discrete period lattice . It depends continuously on , so it is constant. Differentiating shows that the derivative is -periodic. It is bounded on the compact closure of a fundamental parallelogram, and periodicity makes it bounded on all of . The Liouville theorem therefore makes constant, and henceThus every holomorphic map has an affine lift of a holomorphic map between one-dimensional complex tori. If “map of complex tori” means an identity-preserving map, choose ; then , so is the required linear map. Without that convention the statement must say affine, since a nonzero translation in a group of the torus lifts to .
The Weierstrass elliptic function of isThe subtracted term gives the Normal convergence of the Weierstrass elliptic-function series away from . PutThe Laurent coefficients of the Weierstrass elliptic function at zero giveSet and . Direct substitution shows that the principal part and constant term ofvanish at zero. Since is an elliptic function, translation gives the same cancellation at every point of the period lattice. Every apparent isolated singularity is therefore a removable singularity, so is an entire function. It is periodic and hence bounded on the translates of a compact fundamental parallelogram. The Liouville theorem gives , which proves the Weierstrass elliptic differential equation
Finally suppose that is a biholomorphic group homomorphism. Its identity-preserving lift has the form by the first part. Since the inverse map also lifts linearly,Choose a -basis of . Multiplication by is then represented by a unimodular matrix . As a real-linear transformation of , it has determinant ; hence and . The characteristic polynomial of and the Cayley-Hamilton theorem giveThis already has the required form with and . Moreover , so forces . Thus is a root of unity, of order , , , , or , completing the description of an automorphism of a one-dimensional complex torus.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ib Paper 1 9G Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
The structure theorem for finitely generated modules over a principal ideal domain applies because every Euclidean domain is a principal ideal domain. It says that a finitely generated -module is isomorphic towhere the nonzero nonunits are unique up to multiplication by units. They are the invariant factors.
For , multiplication by is the linear map . Since is finite-dimensional over , is a finitely generated torsion module over the polynomial ring , so it has no free summand. Choosing each invariant factor to be monic givesThe basis of each cyclic summand makes multiplication by a companion matrix. Concatenating these bases therefore puts in rational canonical form.
On , a polynomial annihilates multiplication by exactly when it is divisible by . It follows that the minimal polynomial and characteristic polynomial areThe second identity follows blockwise from the characteristic polynomial of a companion matrix. Since every divides , the product annihilates every cyclic summand. Thus , which is the Cayley-Hamilton theorem.
For the displayed matrix, the given generators of are the columns ofElementary row and column operations over give the Smith normal formConsequently the nonunit invariant factors areand, as a check,
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 ia Paper 1 6A a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Using the convention of the question, the characteristic polynomial and characteristic equation areForone hasDirect multiplication givesentry by entry. Thus , verifying the Cayley-Hamilton theorem for matrices.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 ia Paper 1 6A d Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
For arbitrary , apply the nonsingular result to for a sequence of nonzero avoiding the finitely many singular values. Both the characteristic coefficients and the adjugate entries depend polynomially on the matrix entries, so the limit gives
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 ii Paper 1 20G b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
PutUsing , multiplication by on the ordered basis is determined byIts matrix, with these coordinate vectors as columns, isThe characteristic polynomial isBy the Cayley-Hamilton theorem, this monic integer polynomial annihilates , so is an algebraic integer.
LetThe element is also integral because it satisfies the monic polynomial . Hence . Sincethe lattice has index two in . The given power-basis discriminant isso the discriminant-index formula for an integral lattice gives
If , thenBecause is prime, the square can divide only when . Thusso is an integral basis of the cubic field of discriminant minus 307.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ia Paper 1 8B Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-09-25
For the standard basis vector , matrix multiplication selects the th column, soConsequentlyand the columns of are .
Suppose first that are linearly independent, and defineThen is invertible. The first columns of are the last columns of . By the Cayley-Hamilton theorem,This is exactly the last-column rule for the companion matrix , so
Conversely, suppose , or , and write the columns of as . Comparing the first columns givesHenceSince is invertible, its columns are linearly independent. Taking therefore makeslinearly independent. Thus is similar to exactly when it has the stated cyclic vector.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ib Paper 3 9F a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
The minimal polynomial is the unique monic polynomial of least positive degree such that . The Cayley-Hamilton theorem says that satisfies its characteristic polynomial, so such polynomials exist. Dividing any two monic candidates of least degree shows uniqueness.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ia Paper 1 6C c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
The Cayley-Hamilton theorem states that a square matrix satisfies its characteristic polynomial. If a matrix is diagonalisable, ; applying to the diagonal matrix gives zero and hence .
If , every eigenvalue satisfies , so all eigenvalues are zero and the characteristic polynomial is . Cayley--Hamilton then gives .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ib Paper 2 8F Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-10-03
Over , choose a basis in which is upper triangular, with diagonal entries . For the standard invariant flag ,The factors commute, so applying their product in descending order sends successively into . Hencewhich proves the theorem.
Put . Since commutes with , repeated use of the product rule givesBy linearity, for every polynomial ,
Let and suppose . For ,Assume inductively thatBoth and are polynomials in, or commute with, , so . Apply the derivation to and multiply on the left by :Since , this saysThe induction is complete. Taking and givesThus is nilpotent, which is the Jacobson lemma for a commuting commutator.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 101 1 c Solution 2026-09-28
Suppose for a contradiction that . Compose the given injective module homomorphism with the standard injection that appends zero coordinates. This gives an injective endomorphism of the finite free module whose matrix has a zero final row.
Its characteristic polynomial has zero constant term, so the Cayley-Hamilton theorem givesInjectivity lets us cancel . Repeating this argument eventually gives the identity endomorphism equal to zero. That would imply , contrary to . Hence . This proves the rank inequality for an injection of finite free modules.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 ia Paper 1 6C c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Cayley-Hamilton theorem says . Since is nilpotent, all eigenvalues and hence every non-leading coefficient of vanish, so and .
Direct matrix multiplication givesConsequently , the Cayley-Hamilton theorem for its characteristic polynomial . Rearranging gives , so
Direct matrix multiplication givesSubtracting verifies . This is also the Cayley-Hamilton theorem for the characteristic polynomial .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2002 Paper 1 4 Solution Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
Nilpotence and eigenvalues. If with , then . Thus forces for every eigenvalue. Conversely, if all complex eigenvalues, counted with algebraic multiplicity, vanish, the monic characteristic polynomial is . The Cayley-Hamilton theorem then gives . HenceThis is the criterion for a nilpotent matrix.
Symmetric case. Here a symmetric matrix is understood to be real. The spectral theorem gives with orthogonal and real diagonal. The previous result makes every diagonal entry zero, so . Alternatively, choose , so . For every real vector ,It follows that . Repeat until . This uses positivity of the quadratic form . The restriction to real symmetric, or complex Hermitian matrices, matters: a complex matrix satisfying only need not have this positivity.
The parameters and powers. The first two columns of coincide, so for all . The sum of its principal two-by-two determinants, each a minor of a matrix, isTogether with , this givesFor every eigenvalue to vanish both remaining coefficients must be zero. ThereforeDirect multiplication at these values givesIndeed the first row of multiplied by is , and the second row is its negative.
Geometry of repeated application. For any parameters the image of a linear map lies in the span of and , since . Thus it lies in a fixed plane through the origin, independently of the input. When are independent its normal is ; if they coincide, the image is a line and is still contained in a plane.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2006 Paper 1 5 Solution Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
A matrix is diagonalizable if some invertible makes diagonal, equivalently if it has a basis of eigenvectors. If and for , then , so every eigenvalue is zero. There is at least one zero eigenvalue: otherwise and hence would be invertible. A diagonalizable nilpotent matrix has an all-zero diagonal form and therefore is zero itself.
For the specified matrices, direct determinant expansion givesThe Cayley-Hamilton theorem gives . Its entry is nonzero for every real , so is not diagonalizable for any . The matrix has three distinct real eigenvalues and is therefore diagonalizable over . For an explicit check, take columns , , in ; then .
Real special linear group of degree two 2026-10-14
This Lie group consists of real two-by-two matrices of determinant one. Its Lie algebra is the space of traceless real two-by-two matrices. Its Exponential map of a Lie group is not onto: by the Cayley-Hamilton theorem, for traceless , and its exponential has trace either or , hence never less than . The determinant-one matrix is therefore outside its exponential image.
Under rotation by a rotation matrix, a symmetric second-rank tensor transforms by conjugation, so its traces of powers are invariant. For a three-dimensional traceless second-rank tensor, the Cayley-Hamilton theorem implies . In two dimensions its eigenvalues are , so . These identities organize the Landau-de Gennes free energy.
A two-by-two matrix with zero trace satisfies by the Cayley-Hamilton theorem. Over the complex numbers, either and its two distinct eigenvalues make it diagonalizable, or . A matrix commutator has zero trace, so this alternative applies to it. Diagonalization over the real numbers need not follow when .
Square-zero criterion for a two-by-two matrix Created 2026-10-14 Updated 2026-10-18
For a real or complex two-by-two matrix , the Cayley-Hamilton theorem reads . Hence exactly when . Conversely, if for any positive integer , every eigenvalue is zero and the same identity gives . Thus a nonzero nilpotent matrix of this size has nilpotency index two.
Trace criterion for a two-by-two idempotent 2026-10-25
For , the off-diagonal equations in are . Thus either or the trace is one. The condition alone is not sufficient: has trace one but is not an idempotent matrix. For a two-by-two matrix of trace one, idempotence is equivalent to zero determinant, by the Cayley-Hamilton theorem.