Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 219 2 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Write , and . The latent absolute magnitude and measurement error are independent normal variables, so their convolution is normal. After integrating out the individual intrinsic magnitudes, each apparent magnitude has distributionConsequently the likelihood function for the independent sample isThis is the marginal observational likelihood of a hierarchical Bayesian model, not the likelihood conditional on each unknown intrinsic magnitude. The individual errors remain heteroscedastic through their known .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 312 2 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The background Einstein-de Sitter universe satisfies and . Introduce and for the spatial convolutions in the Fourier transform representation with kernels and , respectively, so and . Differentiation givesAt first order the cosmological continuity equation yields , while the cosmological Euler equation gives . The growing-mode normalization therefore gives .
At second order, take the unsymmetrized order of the inputs printed in the paper. Matching the alpha mode-coupling kernel and beta mode-coupling kernel terms givesHenceWith the paper's unsymmetrized convention , one possible unsymmetrized representation isOnly the symmetric part enters a convolution of two identical linear fields. Symmetrizing givesThis is the one-dimensional cosmological density kernel. The physical symmetric one-dimensional Euler kernel is also : symmetrizing the printed reproduces it, so its apparently different unsymmetrized form is not a contradiction. Unsymmetrized kernels themselves are not unique, since antisymmetric parts integrate to zero. Zero input momenta require the usual separate treatment of the homogeneous background.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 340 6 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Either essay option suffices; both are developed here to make the two mathematical constructions available.
Diffusion for images. Model grey level as , initially , and use a Neumann boundary condition to avoid flux across an image boundary. The linear heat equation smooths the data. On its solution is convolution with the heat kernel, . Equivalently each Fourier mode is multiplied by , suppressing high frequencies and noise. With no flux, the mean is conserved andThe drawback is that sharp edges also contain high frequencies: a step becomes a transition of width comparable to . Running the heat equation backwards attempts sharpening but amplifies modes by and is ill-posed.
The Perona-Malik equation instead uses a decreasing diffusivity,Small gradients are smoothed strongly and large ones less strongly. If and is a unit tangent to a level curve, then away from zero gradient,The derivative of the flux, rather than just , controls forward parabolicity. Here becomes negative for : smoothing remains tangential but the normal direction can sharpen. This formal edge enhancement comes with forward-backward ill-posedness, so existence and stability of the unregularized continuum equation must not be presumed. One regularization uses as a smoothed edge detector while keeping the flux proportional to . For fixed positive , the coefficient is controlled by the smoothed data; under suitable bounds it stays positive and gives a regularized forward equation. It preserves edges through reduced cross-edge transport, without the same local backward-diffusion calculation.
Diffusion from a gradient energy connects these equations with variational regularization. If , its formal gradient flow is . Linear diffusion corresponds to . The displayed Perona-Malik equation corresponds to , which is nonconvex in the gradient for large . A convex alternative is total variation flow, with , interpreted through a subgradient at zero gradient. Adding squared data fidelity gives the formal evolution , whose equilibrium is the unique total variation denoising minimizer. Convex TV preserves sharp interfaces more effectively than the heat energy, but it may produce piecewise constant plateaux, known as staircasing in total variation denoising. A stopping time or fidelity weight controls the smoothing scale. Linear diffusion is stable but blurs edges; nonlinear diffusion must balance edge selectivity with parabolicity and regularization.
Wavelets on an interval. Simply restricting a whole-line orthonormal wavelet to destroys its orthogonality and generally its vanishing moments. Periodizing the basis restores orthogonality on the circle, but treats the two endpoints as neighbors. This is suitable for periodic data and can create an artificial endpoint jump for nonperiodic data.
A localized interval-adapted wavelet basis instead uses unchanged interior functions and finitely many special boundary wavelets at each endpoint. Start with a sufficiently regular compact support orthonormal Daubechies wavelet of order at least and choose a coarse level at which left and right boundary supports are disjoint. At each boundary, take appropriate finite combinations of the scaling functions that meet the endpoint, restricted to the interval. Choose these combinations to reproduce polynomials of degrees , remove dependencies, and orthonormalize the finite boundary Gram matrix. The choices must be compatible with refinement so that the resulting finite-dimensional spaces are nested; independent arbitrary orthonormalizations would not ensure this. Interior functions retain their whole-line filters, while the boundary functions use finite boundary refinement matrices.
For each level, choose an orthonormal basis of the orthogonal complement . It consists of interior wavelets and a bounded number of left and right boundary wavelets. Since the polynomial restrictions of degree less than belong to , every member of has vanishing moments. The compatible local boundary construction retains support diameter and the regularity of the interior construction. Boundary modification affects only finitely many functions at each level, so increasing resolution still makes the union dense in . Consequently, for a fixed coarse level ,The coarse scaling functions together with all these wavelets form an orthonormal basis. This construction is the Cohen-Daubechies-Vial interval wavelet construction. It preserves localization, polynomial cancellation and stable coefficient extraction without imposing periodic or zero boundary data. The finite boundary refinement matrices also permit a fast transform; a mere restriction followed by one unrelated Gram-Schmidt process at each scale does not establish all these properties.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ib Paper 2 4B Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
The convolution theorem states, for this convention, thatSince , it follows thatagain interpreted continuously at , where .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 23I a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
For and , define their convolution byIt is bounded becauseIf , thenContinuity of translation in makes the right-hand side tend to zero with , uniformly in . Thus the convolution of L infinity and L1 functions is bounded and continuous.
Now let and . ThenAt zero this equals . By continuity it remains positive throughout some open neighbourhood of zero. Positivity at means that some satisfies and , so . HenceThis is the Steinhaus theorem.
The conclusion also holds when . Since is the union of bounded balls, some measurable subset has finite positive measure. Its difference set lies inside and already contains a neighbourhood of zero.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 ib Paper 4 14C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Its total mass is found from the Gaussian integral:The unit-mass solution converging to the Dirac delta function as is therefore the heat kernel
For the second initial condition, the heat-kernel solution is the convolutionWith and the definition of the error function, this becomesThis is the heat equation with interval-indicator initial data for .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ib Paper 3 14A a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
By the Fourier inversion theorem and Fubini's theorem,Thus multiplication of Fourier transforms corresponds to the convolution , which is the convolution theorem in the convention used here.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 356 1 c Solution 2026-09-28
Only reaction 1 changes . Starting from five molecules, its successive states are , with rates and ; state one is then absorbing for this channel. ThusThe probability of still being at three is the convolution of the first waiting time with an exponential distribution and survival of the second:Applying the law of total probability to the three possible states givesIt has and tends to one as both reaction waiting times elapse.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 207 2 f Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Hospital admissions are a delayed thinning of infections. If is the delay density and denotes the population infection incidence rate, then the convolutionis the admission incidence rate, with an additional term for infections before time zero if the observation window starts during an epidemic.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 210 2 Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
A kernel for density estimation is an integrable function with , usually also bounded and nonnegative, and its scaled version is . For suitable , their convolution is
Because the observations have length-biased density ,Thus the exact bias is , exactly the same as for the ordinary kernel density estimator based directly on observations from .
Write . The estimator is the average of , soIts mean is . Integrating the pointwise variance therefore givesFinally, Cauchy-Schwarz inequality under density givesEquality would require to be constant almost surely, impossible for a density, so . The ordinary KDE has the same negative term but leading integrated variance ; length-biased sampling strictly inflates it.
Write the kernel as , with . Its partial derivatives areThus the heat kernel itself satisfies . The proposed convolution consequently givesThis verifies the heat equation. The parameter is positive time; the real integral formula is not defined at negative time.
The passage of derivatives through the integral needs justification. A sufficient condition is the Gaussian-weighted absolute integrability in heat-kernel convergence for Gaussian-integrable initial data; it holds, in particular, for data of polynomial growth. On compact positive-time intervals strictly below an integrable later time, the differentiated kernels have an integrable Gaussian bound, so differentiation under the integral sign applies.
Even if the PDF's assumed convergence is read as ordinary conditional convergence, one can justify the same calculation. Choose a later time and let be a primitive of . Convergence at spatial point zero and time makes bounded on both tails. Put . This function, its spatial and time derivatives, and their -derivatives decay as Gaussians when . Integration by parts rewrites the convolution as , with vanishing endpoint terms. Boundedness of now permits differentiation under this absolutely convergent integral; since , the same equation follows. Thus one need not silently equate conditional and absolute convergence.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2001 Paper 1 2 Solution Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
Transform pair. In the paper's symmetric normalization, the inverse Fourier transform isSplit the transform of at zero, with :The inverse formula applied to this result givesBecause the kernel is even, replacing the transform variable by and the argument by yieldsThe factors of depend on the normalization and will also enter the convolution theorem.
Convolution theorem. For integrable functions define the convolutionSubstitute this into the Fourier transform, interchange the two absolutely integrable factors using Fubini's theorem, and set :Therefore
Integral equation. Put . Since this is even, the left side is . The transformed equation issoThe assumption makes the new scale positive. Inverting with the previously established transform pair givesThe Cauchy convolution semigroup gives a quick verification. With , the formula is and . Hence , as required. The solution is unique among integrable functions because the multiplier never vanishes.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2003 Paper 1 3 Solution Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
Use the Fourier transform convention , with inverse factor . For functions in L1 space, their convolution is . Fubini's theorem applies because the absolute double integral is . Substituting therefore proves the convolution theorem:For the specified rectangular pulse, the support condition is . Its Fourier transform isThe convolution is the length of the overlap of and . Thus it is the triangular pulseThe transform's value at zero is four, given by its continuous extension. In this convention, the Parseval identity for square-integrable functions isFor the rectangular pulse the left side is two, giving the sinc-squared integralFor the triangular pulse, . Apply the same Parseval identity with transform to obtain the sinc fourth-power integralBoth integrands have removable singularities at zero and integrable tails.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2004 Paper 1 3 c Solution Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
The convolution is . In this transform convention, the convolution theorem says , and Parseval's identity saysTo match the integral's scale exactly, set and . Then and , using the value one at zero. Their convolution is the box smoothing of a two-sided exponential with both scales equal to one:Its transform is precisely . Since is even, Parseval's identity reduces the requested integral toUse , and . Simplifying givesThe apparent singularity at is removable, and the integrand decays as , so the integral converges.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2004 Paper 2 5 Solution Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
For causal functions the convolution is . In a half-plane of absolute convergence, changing variables in its Laplace transform and using Fubini's theorem givesThis proves the convolution theorem for Laplace transforms. Transforming the differential equation gives . The direct transform pairs and then giveFor a continuous forcing, call the last term . The Leibniz integral rule gives and . Also . Thus both the original equation and the initial values hold.
For an impulse at positive time , the Dirac delta evaluates the convolution, yieldingHere is the Heaviside step function. The displacement remains continuous at , while its derivative jumps upward by one, exactly as required by integrating the differential equation across the unit impulse.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2006 Paper 1 8 Solution Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
For the zero initial data, the Green function of an undamped oscillator is for , and zero for . It is continuous at the source and its first derivative jumps by one. The resulting convolution isIt vanishes together with its first derivative at zero and has the required resonant forcing.
For the two-endpoint problem, write , , and . This covers both signs of the supplied nonzero . Left and right homogeneous solutions are and , with Wronskian . The Dirichlet Green function is thereforeIts endpoint values are zero and its first derivative jumps by one. Here , so the denominator does not vanish. Integrating the constant forcing givesEquivalently . The negative interior response is consistent with the negative kernel for this short Dirichlet interval.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2007 Paper 1 3 ii Solution Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
Take the spatial Fourier transform with the same convention. The partial differential equation becomes , so . Inverting and substituting the transform of the initial function yields the convolutionComplete the square, , and put . This givesThe oscillatory Gaussian is a Fresnel integral, understood as the limit with a positive Gaussian damping factor. That prescription also justifies the transform manipulations, first for rapidly decreasing smooth data and then by L2 space extension. The resulting kernel is the free-particle propagator in units , ; its phase and normalization agree with the multiplier .
Treat the left side as a causal convolution with . Under the usual Laplace-transform hypotheses, the convolution theorem for Laplace transforms givesFor an absolutely continuous with , the derivative transform is . ConsequentlySince , inverting the product provesHere makes both power kernels locally integrable. For example assume exponential growth bounds sufficient for the transforms and a regularity class where the convolution is defined. This is the Abel integral equation of fractional order; the initial value removes the extra boundary term in the derivative transform.
For , the remaining integral is . ThusSubstitution into the original equation checks the result: scaling gives by the beta-gamma identity.
The convolution theorem turns the product into a spatial convolution. Its kernel isComplete the square:After rescaling the variable, the supplied translated Gaussian integral givesThis is the heat-kernel solution for diffusivity one. Its kernel integrates to one, preserving the total temperature integral, and approaches a Dirac delta function as . Its variance is ; the factor is appropriate to , rather than the alternative convention with diffusivity .
For integrable , define their convolution by . Absolute integrability of the double integral permits Fubini's theorem. With ,The convolution theorem, together with uniqueness of the Fourier transform, therefore identifies the inverse transform of that product with . With the stated convention the inverse carries , so there is no extra factor in the convolution itself.
Now take . For , split the convolution at and :The convolution of two even functions is even, so the self-convolution of a bilateral exponential givesIn particular the centre value is one; both pieces extend continuously there.