Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ia Paper 4 8E a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
First establish the binomial theorem needed throughout this question. For integers , define the binomial coefficient to be the number of -element subsets of an -element set. Counting ordered selections and then forgetting their order giveswith the factorial convention . In the product of factors , choose from exactly factors and from the others. Each choice contributes , and there are choices. The distributive law therefore provesfor every complex number , including by the empty-product convention.
To evaluate the even-indexed sum, use the even part of a polynomial: averaging the binomial theorem at and cancels the odd powers. For ,The two complex numbers satisfy . Their th powers are both , since . Thus the sum is
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 103 1 a i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Work over the complex numbers. The chain has multiplicity-free restriction: each irreducible representation restricts to a direct sum of pairwise inequivalent irreducible representations. This structural fact can be proved before identifying the branching diagram. Indeed, the permitted Olshanskii centralizer lemma makes commutative, since it is generated by the center at the previous level and the commuting element . In each irreducible block this is the endomorphism algebra of the restricted module; a repeated summand would give a noncommutative matrix algebra factor. Thus no identification of the branching graph with Young diagrams is being assumed here.
Successively restricting an irreducible representation gives one-dimensional spaces indexed by paths of irreducible representations from the trivial -module to . Choosing one nonzero vector in each gives a Gelfand–Tsetlin basis. Define the Gelfand–Tsetlin algebra as the subalgebra of acting diagonally in all these bases. The Artin–Wedderburn theorem identifiesUnder this identification the Gelfand–Tsetlin algebra is the direct sum of the full diagonal matrix algebras in the indicated bases, so it is commutative.
To see that it is actually available inside the group algebra, let be the central primitive idempotent selecting the irreducible representation of . For a path the productis the projection onto in its final irreducible representation and is zero in every other final block. These products commute: a center at a higher level commutes with every element at a lower level. The are precisely the diagonal matrix units, and therefore span the proposed algebra.
If an element of the group algebra commutes with every , its matrix preserves every and is diagonal in every block. It already belongs to the Gelfand–Tsetlin algebra. Thuswhich proves that it is a maximal commutative subalgebra.
A hook partition has cell contentsIn a standard Young tableau, the unique zero-content cell is and contains . The other eigenvalues are precisely the remaining contents, in whatever order the tableau supplies. Their product is independent of that order:The scalar is nonzero over the complex numbers. For the single row or single column, one of the factorials is ; the formula still gives or , respectively.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 103 5 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
It suffices to handle one single-box up-move, and then use the chain already constructed. Suppose the affected row sizes are and , . Since is a partition of an integer, . Put . Over the complex numbers, the two-row Young permutation module decomposition givesA zero second row is omitted. Therefore
Let be the product of the symmetric groups of the unaffected rows and the symmetric group on the union of the affected rows. The two relevant Young subgroups lie in . Transitivity of induced representations expresses and by inducing the preceding two-row modules, tensored with the trivial representations of the unaffected factors, from to . Induction preserves this direct sum, sofor an actual group representation , not merely a difference of characters. Iterate along the chain and take the direct sum of the induced complements. The resulting complement can be realized as an invariant subspace of , either through these isomorphisms or by Maschke's theorem. ThusIf , use the zero complement. The characteristic-zero hypothesis is essential to this use of the irreducible two-row decomposition.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 103 6 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The Specht module construction gives a nonzero inclusion over the complex numbers: a polytabloid has coefficient one at its original tabloid, because the row and column stabilizers have trivial intersection, and its span is the corresponding irreducible representation. This establishes without using the multiplicity-one conclusion. Similarly .
By the corrected tensor identity for induced representations and the conjugate-partition sign twist, the multiplicity of in is . The character inner product already computed is the sum of products of multiplicities of common irreducible representations. ThusBoth are positive integers, so . In particularThis deduction avoids assuming the full Young's rule, which would already contain the answer. Alternatively, the permitted one-dimensional R-module homomorphism space gives the same character inner product immediately.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 331 3 b iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The cubic amplitude saturation equation and the Picard-Lindelof theorem imply that positive solutions cannot cross the equilibrium . If , then stays below and increases. If , then it stays above and decreases. The explicit cubic amplitude saturation solution tends to in both cases, soThe same relation makes the distance a decreasing monotone function in any spatial norm for which the plane wave has finite norm, for example on a periodic domain. At large time, .
The printed monotonicity wording must be interpreted as monotone amplitude relaxation, or monotone decay of the distance between the waves. Complex numbers have no ordinary monotone ordering, and the real part at a fixed point can oscillate. For instance, , and give , which is not monotone despite the monotone amplitude. This result concerns the common-phase single-mode family, not stability against arbitrary spatial perturbations.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ia Paper 1 1C iv Solution 2026-10-03
The base is the complex number . Principal exponentiation uses the principal logarithm of that base, so this is the same equation as in part iii:
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 103 1 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The Young permutation module is the symmetric-group subset permutation representation on the -element subsets of : the second row of a tabloid specifies the subset. For , restriction of a character to fixing splits these subsets into two orbits of a group action, according as they contain .
The corresponding permutation representations are on the -subsets and the -subsets of . Their Young permutation modules have two row sizes and , respectively. Sort each pair into decreasing order and omit any zero part; swapping the two row labels gives an isomorphic permutation representation. This sorting matters at .
We use Young's rule: over the complex numbers, the multiplicity of in is the Kostka number , and it can be nonzero only if dominates in the dominance order on partitions. Since each above has at most two parts and size , dominance givesThus has at most two nonzero parts. The character inner product measures this constituent multiplicity, soIf , the original and restricted modules are the trivial representations, giving the same conclusion. For , there is no partition of with three parts, so the assertion is vacuous.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 149 3 d Solution 2026-10-03
Choose one representative from above each point of and collect them in . Part (c) gives . If has the same image as , then , soThis is the required covering of by at most left cosets of the abelian translation subgroup .
The set is a -approximate group by the intersection of an approximate group power with a subgroup. Apply the Freiman-Green-Ruzsa theorem inside . Because the additive group of the complex numbers is a torsion-free group, the finite subgroup part is trivial, so there is an abelian progression withSince , enlarging the implicit constant gives
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ia Paper 1 10F b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
Boundedness of makes both real sequences and bounded. The Bolzano-Weierstrass theorem first gives a subsequence for which converges. Applying it again to gives a subsubsequence for which the imaginary parts also converge. Since convergence of complex numbers is equivalent to convergence of their real parts and imaginary parts, this subsubsequence converges in .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 iii Paper 333 2 Solution 2026-09-29
Represent a horizontal vector by the complex number , let , and define the two Ekman layer depths and drag coefficients byThe atmospheric and oceanic departures from their respective geostrophic flow satisfyThe solutions that decay away from the ice areandHere and denote the atmospheric and oceanic geostrophic velocities.
The viscous stress exerted on the ice by the atmosphere and ocean is, respectively,Because the ice is an infinitesimally thin, freely moving sheet, its horizontal force balance is . The common Ekman turning factor cancels, leavingThus the ice moves along the weighted mean of the two geostrophic currents. In particular, as one has and : an atmosphere with vanishing viscosity transmits no finite stress to the ice.
The atmospheric Ekman transport relative to its geostrophic current isThe atmospheric stress isIf the two geostrophic currents are parallel but unequal, both directions are obtained by rotating their velocity difference: in the Northern Hemisphere the stress lies anticlockwise from , while the atmospheric transport lies clockwise from its negative. Both rotations reverse in the Southern Hemisphere. If the two currents are identical, the shear, stress, and relative Ekman transport all vanish.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 332 3 iii Solution 2026-09-28
Under the quasi-stationary approximation, and with advective heat transport neglected, each temperature perturbation satisfies the Laplace equation. The decaying normal-mode solutions areKeeping the displaced ice interface at omits the curvature correction described by the Gibbs--Thomson relation.
The fixed melting temperature at the displaced ice interface givesExpanding temperature and conductive heat flux continuity at the displaced outer interface gives
The fixed melting temperature at the displaced ice interface givesExpanding temperature and conductive heat flux continuity at the displaced outer interface gives
Put . Since , the temperature condition in the limits and givesAlthough is small, the product is therefore order one and cannot be discarded. The flux condition then givesThis is why the stated asymptotic warning matters.
The perturbed Stefan condition at isUsing and yieldsSubstitution of the interface-amplitude ratio from part i produces the thin-film icicle-ripple instability dispersion relation
Set . Rationalizing this complex number givesso its growth rate and imaginary part areDifferentiating the growth rate with respect to the wavenumber shows that its positive stationary point satisfiesIt is the unique global maximum, and henceAt this wavenumber . With the convention , a constant phase travels with phase velocityThereforeBecause increases downward, the negative sign means that the icicle ripples migrate upward with speed .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 358 1 a Solution 2026-09-28
A computational problem in the SCI hierarchy is a quadrupleHere is the primary set of inputs, is the set of permitted evaluation functions, is the output metric space, and is the problem function. The Solvability complexity index is defined from the minimum height of a tower of algorithms that computes from finite subsets of .
For the classical computational spectral problem, takeandSince the spectrum of a bounded operator is a nonempty compact subset of the complex numbers, one may take to be the nonempty compact subsets of with the Hausdorff distance. The Attouch--Wets topology gives an equivalent convenient formulation on bounded spectral sets and also extends naturally to unbounded closed sets. This choice of makes convergence mean convergence of the whole spectrum as a set, including both the absence of persistent spectral pollution and the approximation of every genuine spectral point.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 105 1 b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Suppose a classical solution existed and set . The system is preciselywhich are the Cauchy-Riemann equations for as a function of the complex number . Hence is holomorphic near . Every holomorphic function is real analytic, so its restrictionto the real axis is real analytic near zero. Its real part and imaginary part show that both and must be real analytic, contradicting the hypothesis. Therefore no such solution exists.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 102 1 ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Let represent . Since is central, commutes with and . Over the complex number field , has an eigenvalue , and its corresponding eigenspace is invariant under all three operators. The irreducibility of therefore makes this eigenspace all of , so . Taking the trace ofgives by the cyclic property of the trace; hence .
The remaining operators and commute. Two commuting operators on a nonzero finite-dimensional complex vector space have a common eigenvector, whose span is invariant. Irreducibility therefore forces . Conversely, every pair defines a one-dimensional irreducible representation byThese are all the finite-dimensional irreducible representations.
Polar form of a complex number Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-07
A nonzero complex number has the form with and an argument determined modulo . Multiplication multiplies moduli and adds arguments. This makes powers and roots of a complex number particularly transparent.
Quadratic formula 2026-10-06
For a quadratic equation with , completing the square givesOver the complex numbers both roots exist, with a repeated root of a polynomial when the discriminant is zero. Over the real numbers the discriminant determines whether there are two distinct roots, one repeated root, or no real root.
Quasirandom group 2026-10-06
A finite group is -quasirandom if every nontrivial irreducible representation over the complex numbers has degree at least . The trivial representation is excluded. Large suppresses correlations of products of arbitrary subsets, through product mixing in a quasirandom group.
Real part Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06