Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ia Paper 4 8E ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
In the ambient set of all functions from to itself, let be the forbidden event . Apply the avoidance form of the inclusion-exclusion principle from part (i).
For a proper subset of the cyclic difference constraints, with , the selected edges form disjoint paths around the cycle, including isolated vertices. There are components. On each component, choosing one value of arbitrarily determines all the other values by the prescribed differences. No consistency condition occurs because the cycle has been broken. ThereforeThis also works for , whose two directed constraints use the same pair of vertices: any single constraint leaves one freely chosen value.
If all constraints hold, summing them around the cycle gives the necessary conditionIt holds when is odd and fails when is even, the latter sum being congruent to . When it holds, choose in ways and determine every other value; the final constraint is then consistent. Thus the full intersection has size for odd and for even .