Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2011 ia Paper 1 8B a i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 29 5 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
For a prime , the divisor sum defining the real weight is . If , the second term vanishes and the first is one. Thus , while for every integer because is real and the sum is squared.
Put . With the Fourier transform convention in the question, Fourier inversion givesThe function is smooth and has compact support. Using integration by parts times, with zero endpoint terms, provesChoose an integer to obtain for . In particular every polynomially weighted absolute integral of is finite.
For the double integral, useDifferentiating the second formula gives . absolute convergence from the rapid decay permits Fubini's theorem. The derivative energy constant for a smooth sieve cutoff is thereforeThere is no complex conjugate in this integral: the two factors both become , which is real. The constant is positive; in fact the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality applied to gives .
Here is the basic structure of the smooth divisor-square sieve asymptotic, with enough uniform estimates to specify the error. Write and . Expand the square and count multiples of the least common multiple in an arbitrary interval of length :The sum is effectively restricted to . Each count is , independent of the interval's position, so the total error is .
The Fourier representation of a smooth Selberg weight readsHence, with ,The four local terms correspond to the prime dividing neither divisor, only the first, only the second, or both. This is the Euler product for a smoothed divisor-square correlation. Factor it aswhereThe local factors of are when for small fixed . Thus is a holomorphic function near , and evaluating each local factor at zero gives exactly one. Consequently and there.
The pole expansion now yieldswhen . Integrating the error against the rapidly decreasing transforms gives . The complementary tails are harmless uniformly: absolute values in the original divisor series giveAny prescribed power decay of is available, so these tails and the tails of the limiting kernel are after choosing sufficiently many applications of integration by parts. The same absolute bound justifies the original exchanges of infinite sums and integrals. Using the evaluated double integral,We conclude, uniformly over all interval locations,This proof does not assume that the interval starts near the origin.
Finally choose this one fixed smooth cutoff. primes above in contribute one each to the nonnegative weight, and at most primes lie below . Thereforefor all sufficiently large , uniformly in . The bounded range follows by increasing the fixed constant and using the trivial interval bound . Thus the short-interval prime upper bound from a smooth divisor weight is
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 2014 ia Paper 1 1B c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
For a real line , with , choose and . Direct multiplication gives , so every line has the required form with .
For a circle of centre and radius , expand its modulus equation:Thus the required circle parameters are . Conversely, completing the square in the circle form gives , which describes a genuine circle when . The complex conjugate terms make both equations real-valued.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 ia Paper 1 1B a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Write . Using the complex conjugate, the squared complex modulus on the left is . Squaring the equality and dividing by , which is nonzero, givesCompleting the square identifies the candidate circle:Its centre is on the real axis and its radius is in the complex plane.
It remains to exclude extraneous points introduced by squaring. On this circle, , so the original right-hand side satisfiesThus taking the nonnegative square root recovers the original equality at every point of the circle. This is a circle from an affine complex-modulus equation, with the sign check essential to the geometric conclusion.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ib Paper 3 8B a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
For a particle of mass , the probability density and one-dimensional probability current areThe Schrodinger equation and its complex conjugate, for real , giveThe potential terms cancel precisely because is real. Thus , the continuity equation for probability. Integrating over an interval says that its probability changes by the incoming current minus the outgoing current.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 111 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use the following normalization for Fourier analysis on a finite group. Choose one unitary irreducible representation from each equivalence class, including the trivial representation. For a scalar function , putThis convention uses , rather than , in the Fourier transform on a finite group; it makes the normalized convolution on a finite group preserve multiplication order.
The needed representation theory consists of Maschke's theorem and unitarization of a finite-group representation, together with the Schur orthogonality relations:The regular representation contains copies of each , so . Thus the scaled matrix coefficients , and also their complex conjugates, form an orthonormal basis of all scalar functions on . These facts imply Fourier inversion on a finite group and the Parseval identity on a finite group in the formsand henceIn particular, the transform is an isomorphism onto the direct sum of the matrix algebras , with the displayed weighted Hilbert-Schmidt inner product.
Define the normalized convolution on a finite group bySubstituting and using the group representation identity yields the convolution theorem on a finite groupUnlike normalized convolution on a finite group on an abelian group, this product need not commute. If , then . For left translation of a group function and right translation of a group function and ,For an abelian group, every irreducible representation is one-dimensional; this reduces to Fourier analysis on a finite abelian group with characters relabelled by their inverses. These formulas establish the basic scalar theory, with all normalizations and multiplication orders fixed.
Now suppose every nontrivial irreducible representation has . If is a mean-zero function, its component at the trivial representation is zero. The Parseval identity on a finite group gives, for each other ,Using the convolution theorem on a finite group, the Hilbert-Schmidt norm inequality , and the Parseval identity on a finite group once more gives the product mixing in a quasirandom group estimateWrite for the subset density values of , respectively, and let , be balanced subset indicators. Since both are mean-zero functions, . Their squared norms are and . Also , so the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality yieldsIf , the final bound is strictly smaller than . Thus the normalized number of pairs with is positive. Equivalently,This is the desired conclusion for a quasirandom group; the strict inequality ensures positivity rather than merely a nonnegative lower bound.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 124 4 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Expand the two Dirichlet polynomials, keeping the complex conjugate on . The diagonal contributes exactly . If , the exponential integral iswhose absolute value is at most . Thus the mean-value formula isThis also covers .
For , integration of over gives ; the analogous inequality holds with exchanged. Hence . This gives the requested first bound .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 318 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
During the positive half-period, write and , with . Then . Its two eigenvalues are , and corresponding eigenvectors are and . Since , they are independent. Thus the general half-period solution isUsing the even and odd terms in the matrix exponential, . Because , the fundamental matrix of a linear differential equation givesThe lower-left denominator is , as printed in the PDF. In the negative half-period and . The analogous matrix exponential has the stated , replacing by its complex conjugate . Both matrices satisfywith in the second determinant. Equivalently, their generators have zero trace, so the determinant of each matrix exponential is one.
At each complete period the state is multiplied by the monodromy matrix of a periodic linear system , so . The determinant is therefore . Let and . Multiplying the two matrices and taking the trace givesThe ratio sum vanishes because the two ratios are and . With , the hyperbolic-function identity for consequently yieldsFor , : differentiating gives , since this derivative has derivative and vanishes initially. The characteristic polynomial is . Hence the two Floquet multipliers are positive, distinct and reciprocal, with dominant multiplier and growth rateThe finite-time propagation within each half-period is bounded independently of the number of cycles, so it does not change this asymptotic Floquet growth rate. The expression is the maximal rate, attained for generic nonzero initial data. The exceptional initial state in the reciprocal multiplier's eigenspace decays with rate ; the zero state stays zero. Thus a vanishing mean alpha effect does not preclude dynamo action in this periodically switched Parker dynamo wave model.
As , , , and . ThereforeIn particular, at the rate is asymptotic to , as required. The growth calculation uses the product , rather than averaging the two generators: the two generators do not commute.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 321 3 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Put . The two amplitude equations have coefficient matrixIts determinant gives the dispersion relationWriting , its squared growth rates areand the four growth rates are both square roots of each displayed value. DefineFor , the discriminant is positive, the sum of the squared rates is , and their product is ; both squared rates are negative. These modes have purely imaginary . For , the squared rates form a nonreal complex conjugate pair; their square roots include roots with positive real part. This is overstability, meaning growing oscillations. For , at least the plus squared rate is positive because , so a real growing root exists. Consequently every is exponentially unstable.
Take the maximizing mode , so . It is unstable wheneverThis is also the threshold for the onset of exponential growth among all lattice modes, since . At equality the maximizing mode has repeated imaginary roots and can have algebraic growth; it is a marginal collision of oscillatory modes, not a strict-decay assertion. The mode has , an epicyclic motion sector and a zero-frequency epicyclic guiding center sector with possible secular shear drift. These neutral or algebraic behaviors are distinct from the strict exponential instability established by the requested inequality.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 328 1 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use the Bromwich inversion formula in the real variable , with :When the relevant Laplace transforms and spatial integral transforms are explicit, every sample of this integrand can be evaluated directly, without a time-stepping approximation to the partial differential equation. Split the initial condition integral at : the two pieces of are linear combinations of , so truncated spatial exponential transforms suffice. For real data the negative-frequency half is the complex conjugate of the positive-frequency half.
A practical numerical integration is to truncate to , apply an adaptive quadrature rule, and independently increase and refine the quadrature. Choose large enough to remain to the right of all singularities, but avoid an unnecessarily large . Evaluate hyperbolic function ratios in scaled form; for example,This prevents overflow when is large. The boundary contributions at an interior point are damped by or , with . Near an endpoint more frequencies are needed; at the endpoint itself use the prescribed Dirichlet boundary condition. The initial condition resolvent has a generally only tail. Treat its oscillatory tail accurately, subtract a known transform with the same leading term, or evaluate that contribution separately with the heat kernel.
An equally useful check is the eigenfunction expansion. DefineThe causal modal formula isIt follows either from the heat kernel formula or directly from integration by parts against a sine eigenfunction. Exponential-transform formulas evaluate the time integral explicitly when available. The initial condition contribution has a Gaussian function cutoff in for each positive time. Nonzero endpoint forcing produces a more slowly convergent sine series tail. A boundary lifting gives , where has zero Dirichlet boundary conditions and forcing ; expanding gives better convergence and imposes the endpoint values exactly. At very small times the method of images is often more efficient than retaining many modes.
Check convergence by increasing both the frequency cutoff and quadrature resolution, and compare with a separately truncated causal modal or image-kernel evaluation. Causality in finite-time Laplace contour inversion means a leftward contour deformation must respect both resolvent operator poles and growth of the transformed data. In particular, the transform of data extended by zero after can grow like in the left half-plane: for one cannot close that contour indiscriminately and discard its large arc. The modal forcing integral with upper limit avoids this causality error.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ia Paper 1 7B b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
A real skew-symmetric matrix satisfies , so it is a skew-Hermitian matrix. If , thenTaking the complex conjugate and using shows that this scalar is the negative of its conjugate. Henceso every eigenvalue is purely imaginary or zero.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 301 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Use a local first-derivative Lagrangian density with sufficient differentiability, and let variations have compact support or vanish at the spacetime boundary. If the phrase “a function of the field” were read literally as forbidding derivatives, the equation below would reduce to ; a propagating field requires derivative dependence. Varying the action givesIntegration by parts and arbitrary interior variations yield the Euler-Lagrange field equation,The boundary condition is part of this derivation; if boundary variations are allowed, their separate boundary equations must also be imposed.
A variational symmetry of a Lagrangian density is an infinitesimal field change for which off shell. Equality to zero is sufficient but is not necessary: a divergence changes only the boundary contribution to the action. For fixed-coordinate field variations,Equating the two expressions proves the scalar-field form of the Noether theorem:Thus every differentiable one-parameter variational symmetry gives a conserved current, and its Noether charge is constant when the spatial boundary flux vanishes. This is the Noether current for a first-derivative scalar field; the same identity applies to several real components by summing over them. Identically conserved improvement terms can change its local expression without changing the charge under the same boundary assumptions.
For an active spacetime translation, and . If the Lagrangian density has no explicit coordinate dependence, , so . The Noether current is , whereThese four translation currents are the canonical stress-energy tensor, also called the energy-momentum tensor. The sign in follows from the chosen active translation; the translation charges themselves can be labelled by .
For the free real scalar field, take the standard kinetic term and mass term. Its Lagrangian density and Klein-Gordon equation areHere , so . Raising the charge index gives the four-momentum of a free real scalar field,The first is total energy, and the three components of the second are physical spatial momentum. With signature , ; this explains the opposite sign if the conserved quantities are instead written with lower spatial indices. For example, a plane wave proportional to has momentum density along , confirming the sign. All charges require convergence of the integrals and vanishing boundary flux, or periodic boundary conditions in a finite box.
For the complex scalar field, treat and as independent variables when varying, equivalently use their two real components. The global phase symmetry of a complex scalar field is , for constant . Both the kinetic term and are invariant. This is a global internal symmetry of a classical field theory with circle group ; a spacetime-dependent phase would require a gauge connection.
Choosing this orientation for the phase parameter gives the Noether charge of a complex scalar field:To check conservation directly, the Euler-Lagrange field equations are and their complex conjugates, assuming a real differentiable potential. Hence . Reversing the phase-parameter orientation reverses the current and charge, which is merely a convention. For a scalar carrying electric charge , the physical electric charge is after electromagnetic coupling. In a neutral theory the same global charge can instead label an internal conserved quantum number; the density alone does not identify it automatically with electricity.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 308 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use metric and the paper's normalization. A static multi-vortex solution is a smooth finite-energy field configuration of Abelian Higgs vortices whose complex Higgs field has winding at spatial infinity and zeros in the plane. In a positive -vortex sector, the zeros have total multiplicity and the magnetic flux is ; they may be separated or coincident. Finite energy requires , and at infinity. Then asymptotically compensates the phase gradient, so Stokes' theorem relates flux to the phase winding. The positive Bogomolny vortex equations describe this same-sign sector; negative flux uses the opposite signs and is not covered by simply mixing positive and negative zero multiplicities.
For the critically coupled Abelian Higgs field equations, vary and independently. After covariant integration by parts,Thus the scalar equation and its complex conjugate areVarying the gauge field gives from the Maxwell term. The matter variation isConsequentlyThese factors use the scalar kinetic coefficient ; importing the current from a convention with coefficient one would give an incorrect factor two. The current is invariant under gauge transformations, and its conservation follows from the field equations and antisymmetry of .
For the static purely magnetic solutions take temporal gauge . The scalar equation reduces toSince , applying to the first Bogomolny vortex equation givesThe second equation sets , proving the scalar equation, including at smooth vortex cores without dividing by .
For the spatial gauge equations, put . The first equation implies , and . ThereforeWith the stated metric, and the two static Maxwell equations are and . Both follow by differentiating . The time component is the Gauss law constraint in gauge theory; it is identically satisfied because both the electric field and vanish in this static temporal gauge. HenceAs an energy check, the Bogomolny square completion for an Abelian Higgs vortex gives in this normalization, saturated by these equations. On the plane, the Abelian Higgs vortex moduli space admits arbitrary vortex positions, including coincidence; its static energy is , so there is no position-dependent static potential. Their slow dynamical interactions are a different question.
The logarithmic form of a Bogomolny vortex is only local away from zeros. Write there, with . ThenSeparating the real and imaginary parts of yields and . Hencewhere is the positive quarter-turn. Under a gauge transformation, and , as this relation requires.
At regular contour points, the stipulated orthogonality means . Since is also perpendicular to ,Thus, in that gauge, the gauge potential is tangent to contours of , equivalently contours of , and is parallel to the phase gradient wherever that gradient is nonzero. This is a gauge-dependent statement about the vector potential, not an assertion that the magnetic field is tangent to these curves, nor that the potential is a pure gradient or divergence-free. The two gradient magnitudes are not fixed by contour orthogonality.
On a phase patch . Combining with the second equation gives away from the cores. At a zero of multiplicity , , and the phase has winding ; is not a finite real smooth field there. Distributionally, the full equality isThis is the Taubes equation in the paper's amplitude logarithm, rather than the often-used convention. No single smooth globally defined phase or regular contour description at every zero has been assumed.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 331 1 a iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use and retain terms linear in the displacement and perturbation potentials. Evaluation at may then be replaced by evaluation at : the correction to a perturbation is second order. The kinematic boundary conditions becomeThe linearized pressure continuity isThe decaying normal modes give and . Thus , . Substitution into the dynamic condition yields the Kelvin-Helmholtz dispersion relation with gravity,Put and . Completing the square givesFor , the temporal growth rate is . A growing complex conjugate branch therefore exists precisely when the radicand of the square root is negative:At equality the two phase velocities coincide and there is no exponential growth. Below it the roots describe real internal gravity waves. The denser lower fluid gives stable density stratification, but the tangential shear can overcome it. The assumption is needed for the displayed threshold; equal streams have no such shear instability.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 337 2 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Assume . The symbol in this part is the convection roll amplitude, not the Rayleigh number of the previous part. Set for the algebra. The periodic boundary condition requires and modulation wavenumbers . The conserved-field equation preserves the imposed zero mean of , since the integral of an derivative over a period vanishes.
Equating the coefficients after linearization of the convection amplitude coupled to a conserved field givesThe conjugate sideband is needed because the variation of couples a perturbation to its complex conjugate. Put , . The linear operator on isIts characteristic polynomial, expressed conveniently without expanding every coefficient, isAt it has roots . The phase root is neutral; the uniform root is excluded by the prescribed zero-flux-perturbation mean. Nonzero arbitrarily long-wave modes remain allowed on a sufficiently large domain. For fixed , the two roots tending to zero have at simple limiting roots. Dividing the polynomial by yieldsRepeated limiting roots may require a further expansion, but do not affect the strict instability criterion. If , the constant term is negative and the two real roots have opposite signs. The positive root gives a growing long-wave sideband instability. Using givesThis is sufficient for instability when a sufficiently small nonzero allowed is available. It is not an unconditional instability theorem for every fixed finite period. For example , , , satisfy the inequality, but the nonzero allowed obey . Their roots are and , all negative. The prescribed zero mean removes the uniform flux root and the remaining uniform phase is merely neutral. The corrected conclusion is the long-wave instability with a conserved mean field, with domain size and mode availability stated.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 4 6B Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
At an endemic equilibrium, , so . Substitution into the susceptible equation givesThese values are physically positive exactly when . The Jacobian matrix at this equilibrium isBoth eigenvalues have negative real parts, so the endemic equilibrium is locally asymptotically stable. Its decay exponents areThe regime means recovery is rapid compared with demographic replacement. For fixed away from the threshold, the exponents form a complex conjugate pair with frequency approximately . HenceStrictly, oscillations require ; alone does not ensure this uniformly for every arbitrarily close to one or arbitrarily large.
Vaccinating a fraction of newborns replaces the susceptible input by . The effective basic reproduction number is , and the same calculation replaces by . Provided and the oscillatory approximation remains applicable, vaccination lengthens the oscillation period, because is smaller. Extremely near eradication the exponents become real and there is no oscillation period to extrapolate indefinitely.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 101 1 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Here the coefficient fields are and . A polynomial ring in one variable over a field is a Euclidean domain, hence a principal ideal domain; its nonzero prime ideals are generated by irreducible polynomials. The fundamental theorem of algebra says that all irreducible polynomials over are linear. Combining it with complex conjugation shows that the monic irreducible polynomials over are exactly the linear polynomials and quadratics with no real root. ThusEvery nonzero prime ideal in this list is a maximal ideal; is a prime ideal because is an integral domain. Likewise,The map is contraction of an ideal along the inclusion. It sends to . For , the contraction of consists of the real polynomials vanishing at . If , the factor theorem gives the ideal . If , a real polynomial vanishing at also vanishes at its complex conjugate , so it is divisible by . Division by this real quadratic gives the converse and henceThus each real linear prime ideal has one preimage, each real quadratic prime ideal has the two conjugate preimages and , and has only above it. In particular, is surjective.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 333 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
In an adiabatic quasi-geostrophic approximation, hydrostatic approximation and geostrophic balance give . The leading buoyancy equation is ; hence . At the rigid surface , the no-normal-flow condition is , so . The small boundary slope allows the disturbance condition to be evaluated at the flattened boundary to the retained order.
For thermal wind , choose the basic quasi-geostrophic streamfunction . Its buoyancy anomaly is , and its interior quasi-geostrophic potential vorticity is constant. Therefore the linear disturbance equations areThe term is the advection of the basic meridional buoyancy gradient. Since is simply advected at each fixed height, initially implies forever. At the lower boundary define ; thenThe PDF uses for the lower-boundary slope throughout; the TeX's isolated is a transcription error.
For nonzero zonal wavenumber let . The zero-interior-potential vorticity condition gives . In the semi-infinite domain choose decay as . Writing , potential-vorticity inversion then givesThis sloping-boundary Eady edge wave has all its time dependence in the boundary buoyancy equation; the interior responds instantaneously through elliptic potential-vorticity inversion. A single boundary wave oscillates without exponential growth. Vertical shear and topography contribute oppositely to its propagation. The contributions cancel when , the slope of a background isopycnal. For , positive without slope gives eastward propagation, while a positive slope without shear gives westward propagation. The phase velocity varies as , and the trapping depth is . Its frequency is independent of on each signed branch, so its zonal group velocity is zero in this ideal semi-infinite model.
With a rigid horizontal upper boundary, put and . Solving the same second-order inversion problem with both derivative data givesDifferentiation at and checks the prescribed values. At the upper boundary , so . Combining this with the lower-boundary condition givesThus two Boundary Rossby waves interact across the layer. For normal modes proportional to their dimensional wave-speed matrix isFor , define and . Its characteristic polynomial is the Eady model with a sloping lower boundary dispersion relationThe source writes ; for this is , and the dispersion relation is unchanged by replacing that signed quantity by its absolute value. Its two roots areIf , the second term is positive, so for every : all modes are spectrally stable. If , the increasing function runs from zero to infinity, so there is a unique withThere the squared term is zero and , giving an exponentially growing member of the complex conjugate pair. By continuity it lies in an unstable band. This proves both the requested instability for and instability for negative slopes in the sloping-boundary Eady model. It does not assert that every wavelength is unstable. Strongly negative slopes move the resonant band to large , where the coupling is exponentially weak.
At the speeds are real, but their crossing at can give a defective neutral mode and algebraic growth; absence of exponential instability is weaker than boundedness of every initial disturbance. The nondimensional slope is undefined when ; the dimensional matrix remains valid and then has two real speeds. The instability for is the counterpropagating wave instability mechanism: lower and upper boundary waves can match their laboratory phase speeds and exchange energy with the vertical shear.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 335 2 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
In time reversal acoustics, the array records the incoming signal, reverses each recorded time trace, and re-emits it through the same medium. This is phase conjugation in the frequency domain. For the time-harmonic wave convention , reversing a real time trace replaces its positive-frequency wave amplitude by its complex conjugate. The medium must remain unchanged between recording and re-emission.
Let and , with the chosen source and array normalizations incorporated into the Green function. Let be the array's aperture weight, equal to the indicator of its receiving region for an ideal uniform array. The recorded field isBy wave reciprocity, back-propagation has the same Green function with the source and receiver exchanged. Therefore the physically re-emitted, back-propagated wave amplitude isIf and multiplies by , then , where denotes the transpose without conjugation. Taking a final complex conjugate instead defines the adjoint reconstruction . This distinction prevents an erroneous conjugation in the time reversal operator.
For a localized Gaussian beam or acoustic point source in a homogeneous medium, a finite aperture admits a limited range of angles. The focal width is of order when denotes the aperture diameter. In a random medium, multiple scattering creates paths with a larger angular spread. Each reversed path retraces its route, and the paths interfere constructively at the source. This can produce a larger effective aperture in time reversal and a narrower focus, even though the unreversed field has a complicated speckle pattern.
This comparison concerns a homogeneous reference medium; a deterministic heterogeneous medium can also provide useful multipath propagation. Suitable scale limits or frequency and spatial averaging can make refocusing self-averaging. Such self-averaging is not automatic for every monochromatic source and every random realization. Wave absorption, changing medium parameters, unresolved paths or poor array coverage can spoil refocusing. With complete capture of the propagating modes and a lossless unitary operator , ideal adjoint reconstruction is already exact in either medium. Random scattering can improve finite-aperture wave focusing through angular diversity. See the regime-dependent analysis in Statistical stability in time reversal.