Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 7 1 g Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Fix the standard Jacobian matrix convention . With column gradients, the commuting velocity derivative for kinetic transport isIf the symbol is instead defined with derivative indices as rows, the printed expression is this same formula. Under the standard convention it needs a transpose.
To prove the claim, put . Differentiating in givesThe terms cancel, so each component of satisfies the transport equation. Multiplication by the smooth coefficient and differentiation preserve the same uniform compact support, hence componentwise. At , . The L2 norm calculation in part (d), summed over components, givesOne can also differentiate the explicit solution: the term cancels the derivative of , leaving the initial velocity derivative transported along the characteristic curves.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 74 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For the optical trap, use the trap-frame coordinate and the force-induced speed . Then . The particle first enters the support at and exits at . Thus the actual support width is . The printed difference is inconsistent with those endpoints and would give zero width for the symmetric example; below use the geometrically correct .
A sufficient escape condition for a translating trap isFor a bounded continuous force this makes the relative velocity strictly negative and bounded away from zero, ensuring finite passage. For an ordinary smooth well, a root of met from the incident side instead prevents passage: the trajectory approaches a trap-frame equilibrium. At the limiting maximum-speed equality, the passage time can diverge. Under the strict condition, passage through a translating optical trap givesThe time is the support-crossing time; gaps where the force vanishes inside that interval are included.
There is an essential qualification to the direction claim. Compact support of alone does not imply positive displacement. For example, throughout the support gives and satisfies the strict passing condition. A smooth negative bump is also a counterexample. The intended optical trap is a localized conservative well with and equal outside potential values. This additional assumption gives . NowIt is strictly positive for a nonzero force on a set of positive measure. This is forward displacement from a translating localized potential. During motion in the trap direction, the relative passage is slower, so the positive-force side acts longer; opposite motion speeds passage through the negative-force side. A complementary energy argument makes the sign transparent:The moving well must supply the viscous energy loss.
For the high-speed passage expansion of a localized trap, require . Expanding the denominator uniformly givesTherefore the localized conservative well hasFor a symmetric well the force is odd, the cubic moment vanishes, and the displacement remainder improves to . For an arbitrary compact force without equal outside potential levels, its signed area instead gives the leading displacement.
For circular motion, let and use the local arclength model, with nonoverlapping support . In each encounter the relative position traverses , while the particle advances . Outside the support the particle is stationary and the trap must traverse the remaining relative arclength . Hence the time between kicks and the repeated kicks from a circular optical trap response areThe last equality uses the single-passage identity. Equivalently, kicks arrive at the relative lap frequency .
The precise small-correction condition for the large-speed approximation for circular-trap kicks is . A sufficient high-speed regime for a localized well is , with fixed: writing , the positive-displacement integral bounds . ThusThe locally straight force profile on a real circular track also presumes a trap width small relative to the radius; supplies the particle-size part of that approximation.
For the triangular optical-trap response, put , and . In the passing regime , the two constant-force halves giveSubstitution into the circular formula yieldsFor , the particle remains locked to the trap and . At the ideal triangular cusp this is understood as sticking, or as the limit of a rounded well; it is not a finite passing kick. The passing branch tends continuously to one at , while at large it behaves as . The zero-speed limiting response is zero. These branches apply to separated kicks, .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 15 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
A Riemannian metric is a smooth field of positive-definite symmetric bilinear forms on the tangent spaces, equivalently a smooth section of with that positivity. Its musical isomorphism isNondegeneracy makes every fiber map an isomorphism. In coordinates the map has matrix , and its inverse has matrix . Smoothness of the inverse follows from the inverse-matrix formula and the nonvanishing determinant. Both maps cover the identity on , giving a smooth vector bundle isomorphism.
For local flattening of a Riemannian metric, choose a manifold chart neighborhood around with closure contained in , and let on . Choose a smooth bump function , with compact support in and equal to one on a smaller neighborhood of . SetThe formulas glue smoothly because the modification is supported strictly inside . A convex combination of positive-definite forms is positive definite. On the metric is exactly , so gives an isometry to a Euclidean open subset. Outside the original metric remains unchanged.
Geodesic completeness means that every geodesic with arbitrary initial point and tangent vector extends for every real affine parameter. On each connected component, the Hopf-Rinow theorem equates this with completeness of the Riemannian distance.
The Euclidean-end claim needs a compact-core interpretation that is absent from its literal hypotheses. Indeed, with , and satisfy those hypotheses. The geodesic reaches the missing unit sphere at and cannot continue within . Thus the printed assumptions alone do not prove completeness.
Here is the intended compact-core completeness for a Euclidean end. Write for the end coordinates and assume additionally thatis compact for every sufficiently large . Choose such an beyond the metric transition and large enough to include the initial point of a geodesic. Its speed is constant. On every segment outside , the Euclidean radius changes at a rate at most , so over a finite parameter interval it cannot exceed . The full segment therefore stays in the compact set . Its velocities also stay in a compact subset of , since their metric norm is fixed and the base set is compact. The smooth geodesic ordinary differential equation consequently extends past any supposed finite endpoint. The reversed-time argument is identical. This proves completeness under the compact-core condition, and explains exactly what the exterior-of-a-ball counterexample lacks.
For upward stability of Riemannian completeness, lengths of all curves satisfy , hence . A -Cauchy sequence is therefore -Cauchy and has a limit because is complete. Smooth positive-definite metrics induce the manifold topology. More explicitly, on a small coordinate ball around , has a bounded largest matrix eigenvalue, so the coordinate straight segment gives . Thus convergence to is also in . That distance is complete, and Hopf-Rinow yieldsFor disconnected , apply this argument on each component.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 49 2 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Use , select the retarded source field with no added homogeneous radiation, and work to leading order in the weak-field approximation and long-wavelength source approximation. The retarded fundamental solution of the Linearized Einstein equations in Lorenz gauge in linearized gravity isFor , the denominator is to leading order. The delay is , where . In the usual slowly evolving source regime, its characteristic time obeys , so the source-size part of the delay is negligible:The stress-energy conservation equation is required at the approximation order used; it follows from the divergence of the gauge-fixed field equation. Compact support removes the integration by parts surface terms. Since and in this signature,Combining these identities gives the retarded quadrupole fieldFor an ordinary nonrelativistic bound source, makes . More generally the size relative to the variation timescale must also be small; speed alone does not exclude a rapidly varying small-amplitude motion.
The radiation boundary condition for linearized gravity is essential for a statement about the full field. Without it, the displayed implication is false: take and add , , all other components zero. This weak plane gravitational wave satisfies both the homogeneous wave equation and Lorenz gauge in linearized gravity, while every is zero. The proved formula is for the retarded source contribution, with the standard slow-source qualification. Its transverse–traceless projection gives the physical radiative strain.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 60 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The space of test functions is : its elements are smooth functions with compact support. For a fixed compact set , put and use the seminorms . The space of test functions carries the usual test-function inductive limit topology of these spaces. In particular, a sequence converges precisely when its supports eventually lie in one compact set and every derivative converges uniformly. Thus means that a common contains their supports and for every .
A distribution is a continuous linear functional on this space of test functions, and denotes their space. We use complex-linear, bilinear pairings . Equivalently, for every compact set there are and a nonnegative integer such thatThe usual weak convergence of distributions is if for every test function. This specifies the convergence used below; it does not require convergence in any norm.
The distributional derivative is defined byThe derivative map sends continuously to itself, with . The preceding continuity estimate therefore proves that is again a distribution. This definition extends the ordinary derivative of a smooth function, by integration by parts.
Choose the translation of a distribution convention . Its action on a test function isFor fixed , the translated test functions have translated compact support and unchanged derivative sup norms, so this defines a distribution. For the differentiability of distribution translations, apply the Taylor theorem in integral form:All supports lie in one slightly enlarged compact set for , and the same identity for every derivative proves uniform convergence. The continuity of now givesThe minus sign in the translation parameter is necessary for this convention.
For (a), choose a test function with . If , then is a test function, since the zero integral makes it vanish beyond both ends of the compact support. If , then . Decompose to obtainConversely, these constant regular distributions have zero distributional derivative. This also proves the general fact that a distribution with zero derivative is constant.
For (b), choose a cutoff function equal to one near zero. Every test function decomposes asThe quotient extends as a smooth function at zero, and it has compact support. If , the definition of multiplication of a distribution by a smooth function gives . Conversely, . Thus the kernel of multiplication by a coordinate is exactlyIn particular, derivatives of the Dirac delta distribution are not additional solutions: .
Now write and , where . The characteristic roots of a constant-coefficient differential equation are the distinct roots of a polynomial of , with multiplicities . The distributional regularity of a constant-coefficient ordinary differential equation can be proved without assuming regularity in advance. Put and . Since the are coprime polynomials, polynomial division and Bezout identity give polynomials such thatFor example, invert modulo , sum the resulting expressions, and absorb a remaining multiple of into one coefficient. For , the kernel decomposition for coprime polynomials therefore givesThe Leibniz rule for multiplication of a distribution by a smooth function implies . Repeatedly using a distribution with zero derivative is constant shows that a distribution with th derivative zero is a polynomial of degree at most : subtract the polynomial primitive of its constant st derivative, and induct on . Consequently the most general exponential polynomial solution of a constant-coefficient differential equation isEvery displayed term is annihilated by , so all coefficients are allowed. For the linear independence of these functions, on a relation, apply ; on times a polynomial of degree less than , each remaining factor acts invertibly on that polynomial space. Hence the th polynomial must vanish. Every distributional solution is an analytic function, and in particular a classical solution. For real coefficients and real-valued distributions, take complex conjugate coefficients at conjugate characteristic roots of a constant-coefficient differential equation, or equivalently use the corresponding real sine and cosine forms.
For the last equation, the operator is : the coordinate multiplies the result of differentiation. The kernel of multiplication by a coordinate says precisely thatChoose the retarded fundamental solution of a constant-coefficient ordinary differential operator , where is the Heaviside function and is the analytic solution of withSuch exists uniquely by the elementary initial value problem for a constant-coefficient ordinary differential equation; alternatively the residue construction in the next solution gives it explicitly. The distributional jump formula for a Heaviside product isIt follows by induction from , using integration by parts. With the chosen initial derivatives, every lower-order jump term vanishes and the leading coefficient gives . Subtracting reduces the last equation to the homogeneous one. Thus the coordinate-degenerate constant-coefficient differential equation has exactly the solutionsThere are independent constants. For , derivatives through order match at zero, while the derivative of order may jump; for , the function itself may jump. An arbitrary distribution concentrated at zero cannot be added, because its image under the nonzero leading derivative would contain a nonvanishing highest derivative of the Dirac delta distribution.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 60 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
An oscillatory integral defines a distribution by cancellation, even when its oscillatory integral amplitude is not integrable in frequency. We use symbol class , where is open and . An oscillatory integral amplitude belongs to this class if it is smooth and, for every compact set and all multi-indices ,In symbol calculus, spatial derivatives preserve the order and frequency derivatives lower it. The fixed number is independent of ; this will produce a finite global order of a distribution, although continuity constants may depend on .
A phase function is real and smooth on , is positively homogeneous of degree one in , and has nonzero total differential there:This positive homogeneity is required at nonzero frequency; arbitrary smooth low-frequency modifications give the equivalent version homogeneous only for large . In particular, smoothness at zero is not an additional requirement on a general homogeneous phase function. The integral over bounded frequencies is a smooth function of : spatial derivatives of the phase have size near zero, uniformly on compact spatial sets and frequency directions.
Choose a cutoff function equal to one near zero. The proposed meaning of the oscillatory integral distribution isExistence and cutoff independence of an oscillatory integral require a proof. Split using a fixed frequency cutoff function, with supported in a bounded ball and zero for . The low-frequency part is already absolutely integrable. On nonzero frequency setThe positive homogeneity and nonvanishing total differential of the phase function imply for : normalize to the compact unit sphere in frequency. Direct differentiation gives .
The coefficients of have symbol class order , and its frequency coefficients have order zero. If these coefficients are and , the formal transpose of a differential operator isThus the symbol order reduction by a phase integration operator is : the first sum has an order- coefficient, and the second contains a frequency derivative. In applying this to , every application also differentiates at most once. Repeated integration by parts, in both and , consequently gives for an integer There are no spatial boundary terms because has compact support, and the frequency cutoff removes frequency boundary terms. Derivatives of are bounded uniformly by constants times on their annular support. The transformed integrand is therefore bounded in absolute value byThis is integrable in frequency dimensions. Pointwise the transformed integrand tends to , so the dominated convergence theorem establishesThe limit is independent of the expanding cutoff, the fixed splitting cutoff, and the admissible , since each formula is the limit of the same truncated integral. Derivatives landing on the expanding cutoff can also be estimated directly by , which tends to zero. In particular,This proves continuity on the space of test functions and the finite order of an oscillatory integral distribution. The same works for all compact sets. When , is possible and the original frequency integral is absolutely integrable; cancellation is needed for general .
The singular support theorem states thatBy positive homogeneity, frequencies can be restricted to the unit sphere, so this projected set is closed locally in . More precisely, the stationary-direction bound for singular support restricts the frequency directions to the closed conic support of an oscillatory amplitude; using a closed directional support avoids losing limits occurring at arbitrarily high frequency. The simpler displayed bound is sufficient here.
To prove the bound, take outside the displayed stationary set. On a sufficiently small spatial neighborhood and all unit frequency directions, is bounded below. The frequency-only operatorsatisfies , and its formal transpose lowers symbol class order by one. A spatial derivative of order of has amplitude order at most . Applying the frequency integration by parts more than times makes that derivative absolutely integrable, uniformly on smaller compact sets. Every spatial derivative therefore exists and is continuous there. The oscillatory integral distribution is a smooth function near , proving the singular support assertion.
For the linear transport equation, use spacetime , frequency , andThis is a valid phase function, because at nonzero frequency; the oscillatory integral amplitude is in symbol class order zero. The Fourier representation of the Dirac delta function gives the transport of a Dirac point mass:Its rigorous spacetime distribution pairing is . Consequentlywhere the endpoints vanish since a spacetime test function has compact support in . At each fixed , , so weak convergence of distributions gives as . This is the required initial trace.
Finally, , so the singular support theorem confines singularities to . In fact equality holds: is a nonzero order-zero distribution on that trajectory and vanishes off it. A smooth function supported on this set of empty interior must vanish, so cannot be smooth in any neighborhood of a point of the trajectory. ThusThe method of characteristics also proves uniqueness among solutions with a distributional initial trace: the change of variables turns the linear transport equation into . Such a distribution is constant in ; pairing with spatial test functions reduces this assertion to a distribution with zero derivative is constant. Its initial trace fixes , so the moving Dirac delta distribution above is the unique solution. There is transport of the singularity along the characteristic and no smoothing.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 6 5 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The shear is a smooth diffeomorphism with determinant one and sends compact sets to compact sets. Thus are locally integrable functions. On a compact time interval and compact label set , the integral is finite. The Fubini theorem, followed by a countable exhaustion of time intervals and label sets, shows that for almost every .
To transform the weak equation, choose , where and . Including a velocity cutoff in ensures the required compact support. The transport derivative of this test function is . Change variables to the characteristic labels to obtainThe fundamental test-function identity makes the bracket zero almost everywhere. Choose a countable dense family of time test functions on each bounded interval and extend by continuity; there is then a single negligible label set outside which as one-dimensional distributions.
For each remaining label, subtract the primitive . The distributional derivative of is zero, so it is a constant almost everywhere. Choose the resulting absolutely continuous representative along free characteristics, . The fundamental theorem of calculus givesThe representative qualification is essential: an arbitrary locally integrable representative can be modified on one time slice without changing the distributional equation, and would not satisfy the identity for every pair of times.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 6 5 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Interpret as the velocity operator appearing in the equation and in the stated quadratic-form hypothesis. Let . Smoothness turns the distributional equation into the usual equation. Multiply it by and integrate; for complex functions use the real part of the inner product. Spatial integration by parts gives , while the coercivity hypothesis at each givesThus is nonincreasing. The coercive energy estimate for kinetic transport isNo division by is required, so the zero solution causes no exception. Compact spatial support, or sufficient decay to eliminate the boundary flux, is enough; compact support in time is unnecessary.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 6 5 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Strict positivity throughout phase space is incompatible with compact support. The following calculation uses positive smooth rapidly decaying solutions with all displayed integrals justified; nonnegative cases use the corresponding entropy limits where justified.
Write and use integration over . The two symmetrized weak collision identities areandThey follow from particle interchange and the angular exchange for elastic collisions. They are the weak identities needed here; no invalid fixed-angle Jacobian is used.
The collision invariants , and obey . Momentum follows from , and energy from . HenceFor the Boltzmann H functional , the spatial transport contribution is a boundary divergence and the term is zero. Set , . The second weak identity with gives the Boltzmann H theoremIndeed this integrand with its negative sign is for , which is nonpositive. The kinetic H functional decreases; the physical entropy with opposite sign increases.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 64 1 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use a bounded BV extension operator for the bounded Lipschitz domain. Extend to , supported in one fixed compact set, with . Such an extension is obtained by reflection in Lipschitz boundary charts, a partition of unity and a fixed cutoff function. A naive zero extension must also charge its boundary-trace jump; it cannot discard that contribution.
Let bound these norms and let be their mollifications. The BV mollification error estimate givesThe variation measure here is on . The printed lemma's needs this correction unless it also assumes all the derivative mass lies in : a nonconstant bump supported outside disproves its literal wording. The correct estimate follows by averaging the BV translation estimate over a mollifier supported in .
For each fixed , convolution gives uniform boundsThe mollifications have common compact support and are uniformly equicontinuous. The Arzelà-Ascoli theorem supplies a uniformly convergent subsequence at each scale . A diagonal subsequence converges at every one of those scales. For two late members of that subsequence,First choose large , then late ; the sequence is a Cauchy sequence in . Its limit belongs to the BV space because the total variation seminorm on a domain is sequentially lower semicontinuous. Uniform derivative bounds and integration by parts give . Restriction to proves the required weak-star convergence in BV.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 64 3 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The structure theorem for functions of bounded variation is the measure representation of the distributional derivative: for there is a unique finite vector Radon measure withfor every . It also has a polar decomposition of a vector measure with for -almost every point.
To prove it, let . The test-function definition of total variation seminorm, applied to both signs, gives . Compactly supported smooth vector fields are uniformly dense in , so extends uniquely to a bounded functional there. The Riesz-Markov-Kakutani representation theorem, applied componentwise, gives the unique vector measure . The operator norm of is exactly the defining variation supremum; the vector-measure dual norm is , proving equality. Conversely any finite measure satisfying the identity bounds that supremum, so this also characterizes membership in the BV space.
The Radon-Nikodym theorem applied to the components relative to gives ; the definition of the variation measure forces almost everywhere. If is smooth, ordinary integration by parts gives . Compact support of the test field removes any boundary contribution; no boundary regularity is needed for this representation statement.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 67 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use complex-linear distribution pairings, without conjugation. Write for the space of test functions. The smoothing convolution with a test function isOn a compact set of values, all the translated test functions have support in one compact set. Continuity of the distribution therefore permits differentiation in , giving for every multi-index. In particular this convolution is a smooth function, even if is not tempered.
For the first associativity identity, integration against and the distribution pairing can be interchanged: the integrand has a common compact support in , depends smoothly on the integration variable, and satisfies the finite-order continuity estimate there. ConsequentlyThe common-support argument matters: a general distribution cannot be paired with arbitrary noncompact functions.
For convolution of distributions with a compactly supported factor, first take with compact support and defineThe inner pairing is interpreted using a cutoff function equal to one near . It is smooth in and has support in . To see continuity, restrict to a fixed compact support . The order of a distribution estimate for controls derivatives of the inner function by finitely many derivatives of , and its support lies in the fixed compact set . Applying the corresponding estimate for givesThus is a distribution, not merely a formal iterated pairing.
Choose an additional cutoff function in equal to one on a neighborhood of . The resulting joint kernel is compactly supported in both variables, so the tensor product of distributions permits reversing the pairings. One justification is to approximate that smooth compact kernel, in all the required derivative seminorms, by finite sums of products of one-variable kernels; the two orders agree on such products and their continuity estimates pass to the limit. Reversing consequently gives . If rather than has compact support, use the same construction with the roles reversed; pairing against a smooth function is then legitimate.
Evaluating the resulting smoothing convolution with a test function givesIf has compact support, is itself a test function; if has compact support, its action on the smooth inner convolution uses a cutoff. This explains the meaning of the formula in either case. It also proves uniqueness: , and reflection runs through all test functions. When both factors have compact support, the same definition gives , their Minkowski sum.
The Schwartz space consists of smooth functions for which every seminorm is finite. A tempered distribution is a continuous linear functional on this space. Fix the angular-frequency Fourier transform conventionThe Fourier transform isomorphism of the Schwartz space makes the dual definition continuous. For a compactly supported distribution, a fixed cutoff function near its support extends the action to smooth functions by . A finite-order estimate controls this by finitely many Schwartz space seminorms, so both compactly supported factors are tempered.
Their Fourier transform of a compactly supported distribution is the smooth function . Applying the compact-support convolution definition to the exponential givesThe convolution theorem has no extra factor with this normalization.
For the spherical surface measure convolution, put . Rotate the polar axis to the direction of ; rotational invariance of surface area givesAt the removable value is , the total sphere area. Hence .
For , angular integration in Fourier inversion now givesThis conditional integral can be made rigorous by first inserting and then taking in tempered distributions. The supplied sine identity gives an integral of when , and zero off that interval. Thusas a regular distribution. To justify the limiting density as well as the signs, expand the product of sines into four sine terms and use . The four arctangents are uniformly bounded; the regularized inverse is bounded by a constant times , which is a locally integrable function in three dimensions. Dominated convergence theorem therefore identifies the distributional limit with the displayed density.
Changing the two endpoint sphere values does not change the regular distribution; this includes the source's closed-interval representative. At a jump, symmetric Fourier inversion instead takes the half-value. If , the singularity at the origin remains locally integrable and is not a point mass. As a normalization check,exactly the product of the original sphere areas.