Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 1 18G a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
In an irreducible complex group representation , every for in the center of a group commutes with the entire representation. Schur lemma therefore gives . Faithfulness makes an injective homomorphism .
Its image is a finite subgroup. If its order is , Lagrange's theorem for finite groups shows that every element is an th root of unity. These roots form a cyclic group, and every subgroup of a cyclic group is cyclic. HenceBoth irreducibility over the algebraically closed field and faithfulness are used: scalar action alone would not embed the centre.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 137 2 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Write and , where is the character group of a finite abelian group. The Fundamental theorem of finitely generated abelian groups writes the finite group as a product of cyclic groups. A character of a cyclic group factor of order is determined by an arbitrary th root of unity, so . This description also shows that the characters separate points: if , a nonzero coordinate of is detected by a character with .
Multiplication by permutes , soFor this forces . For every summand is one. Since , the character-sum cancellation lemma givesAll character values are roots of unity, so inversion here is also complex conjugation. This is the finite-abelian version of character orthogonality.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 141 1 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The elliptization theorem says that a closed oriented three-manifold with finite fundamental group has spherical geometry. When the fundamental group is a cyclic group, it is a lens space. Consequently the candidates are with , using the same surgery orientation convention throughout.
The oriented classification of lens spaces says that and are related by an orientation-preserving homeomorphism exactly when . Since , , and modulo five, the complete list isThese are three distinct oriented homeomorphism classes. Reversing orientation interchanges and ; the class containing and admits an orientation-reversing homeomorphism. The elliptization theorem and the stated oriented classification of lens spaces are the general classification results used here.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ii Paper 2 18I Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
The splitting field of is the smallest extension in which is a product of linear factors; equivalently, is generated over by all its roots of a polynomial. To prove existence and uniqueness of splitting fields, adjoin a root of an irreducible polynomial dividing and repeat until splits. If and are two resulting fields, an embedding between the fields generated so far extends by sending each newly adjoined root to a root of its transformed minimal polynomial. Repetition gives a -embedding , whose image contains every root of and is therefore all of . Thus the splitting field exists and is unique up to -isomorphism.
Now write , and let the distinct irreducible factors of have degrees . The irreducible factors of a finite-field Frobenius polynomial show that a root of the degree- factor lies in exactly when . Hence the splitting field over a finite field isEvery finite field is a perfect field, so is separable; it is normal because it is a splitting field. It is consequently a Galois extension. More explicitly, the Galois group of a finite field extension is the cyclic group of order generated by the finite-field Frobenius automorphism .
Finally, let denote the number of monic irreducible polynomials over a finite field of degree over . Sinceand , , , we obtain
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ia Paper 3 5D ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
Cauchy's theorem for finite groups states that if a prime number divides the order of a finite group , then contains an element of order .
ConsiderThe first entries determine the last, so is divisible by . The cyclic group acts on by cyclically shifting the coordinates; the shifted tuple remains in because . Every orbit has size one or . The fixed points are exactly with . Their number is therefore divisible by . Since the identity is one fixed point, another exists; its order is .
Now let the abelian group have order for distinct primes . Cauchy's theorem supplies of orders . Their cyclic subgroups intersect trivially, and commutativity shows that has order . Thus is cyclic andThe corresponding assertion for order is false: is not isomorphic to , since the former has an element of order while every nonidentity element of the latter has order .
Every finite quotient of the abelian group is abelian. Part iii excludes elements of prime order by the Cauchy theorem for groups, so any finite quotient is a finite abelian -group. If its exponent divides , the quotient map kills and therefore factors throughEvery quotient of a cyclic group is cyclic, so the finite quotient is isomorphic to for some . Conversely, reduction modulo gives a surjection . Thus these are exactly the nontrivial finite quotients, together with the trivial case .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 ii Paper 1 19I c iii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
No. The center of a group satisfiesbecause . This centre is not cyclic. The cyclic-center obstruction to a faithful irreducible representation therefore rules out a faithful irreducible complex representation of .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 ii Paper 1 19I c i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Yes. If generates the cyclic group , define the one-dimensional complex representationIt is irreducible because it is one-dimensional, and it is faithful because the displayed scalar has multiplicative order . Thus every , including the trivial case , has a faithful irreducible representation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ia Paper 3 1E Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-09-25
The order of a group element is the least positive integer such that , where is the identity element; its order is infinite if no such exists.
Let have finite order . A group homomorphism preserves the group operation and the identity, soThe order of an element divides every positive exponent that gives the identity. Hence
If is a surjective function and has order , choose with . The first result gives , where . The elementthen has order , because the order of is .
A group homomorphism is determined by the image of a generator of the cyclic group , and that image must have order dividing . In the symmetric group , the only such elements are the identity and the three-cycles. There arethree-cycles. Therefore the number of homomorphisms is
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ia Paper 3 2E Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-09-25
A group is abelian when for every . It is cyclic when some generator of a group satisfiesIf and belong to a cyclic group, thenso every cyclic group is abelian.
The Klein four-group is abelian, but every nonidentity element has order two, so no element generates all four elements. Thus an abelian group need not be cyclic.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ia Paper 3 5E Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-09-25
A group action of on is a map such that and . The orbit and stabilizer of areFor a finite group, the mapis a well-defined bijection from the left cosets of to . Each coset has elements, so the orbit-stabilizer theorem is
The Cauchy theorem for groups says that if a prime number divides , then has an element of order . To prove it, letThe first entries determine the last, so , which is divisible by . The cyclic group acts on by cyclically rotating the entries; rotation preserves the product condition becauseEvery orbit has size one or . The fixed points are exactly the tuples with . Their number is therefore divisible by . Since the identity gives one fixed point, there is another, and its entry has order .
Now let . Cauchy's theorem gives a subgroup of order . Let act by the conjugation action on the set of subgroups of order . It fixes . If it also fixed , then would normalize ; since , the product would be a subgroup of order , which is impossible. Every other -orbit in therefore has size , soDistinct members of share only the identity and each contributes ten nonidentity elements. Hence , forcing . Thus is a normal subgroup.
Conjugation now defines a group homomorphismBecause , its automorphism group has order . By the Lagrange theorem, the image has order dividing both and , so the image is trivial and lies in the center of . Cauchy's theorem also supplies of order . If generates , then and commute and has order . Therefore
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ia Paper 3 8E Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-09-25
The set consists of all bijections . The composition of two bijections is a bijection, composition is associative, the identity map is an identity, and every bijection has an inverse, so is a group.
An element of has finite support. The support of a composition is contained in the union of the two supports, and a permutation and its inverse have the same support. The identity has empty support. Hence is a subgroup.
Let be a cycle and choose that it moves. Because has finite support, the sequencemust repeat. Since is invertible, its first repetition returns to ; let the least positive return time be . The cycle condition says that every moved point occurs in this orbit, so fixes every point. No smaller positive power fixes . Thereforewhich is finite.
For , partition its finite support into the orbits of the cyclic group . On each orbit, let agree with and fix every point outside that orbit. Then each is a permutation cycle, their supports are pairwise disjoint, andDisjoint cycles commute because at every point at most one of them acts nontrivially.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 iii Paper 112 4 Solution 2026-09-28
A Wirtinger presentation from a connected knot diagram has one generator per arc and one relator per crossing, with one relator redundant. Its presentation complex is a finite two-dimensional CW complex with one zero-cell, one-cells, and two-cells, and the usual diagrammatic construction gives a homotopy equivalence .
The abelianization of the knot group is , generated by a meridian of a knot. Every homomorphism to the cyclic group factors through this abelianization, and reduction modulo two is its unique surjection. Thus the requested map is unique.
Its kernel determines a two-sheeted covering space . The nontrivial deck transformation acts on cellular chains and homology, giving them module structures over the group ringLift one copy of every cell of ; its two deck translates form a free -basis. Hence , , and . If is the infinite cyclic cover, its cellular chains are free over , and imposing gives
For an odd prime , the two idempotents and split the group algebraThe plus summand is the cellular chain complex of with coefficients, while the minus summand is . Therefore
On the minus summand, the boundary becomes multiplication by , which is invertible in , so . After the corresponding cancellation, the remaining square boundary matrix is an Alexander matrix specialized at . It is singular over exactly whenor equivalently when divides the knot determinant . Thus is nonzero exactly in that case.
Finally, is a nonzero odd integer, so the minus complex is acyclic over . Since a knot exterior has the rational homology of a circle,
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ii Paper 2 19H Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-09-25
Irreducible degrees divide the order of a finite -group and satisfyThe number of linear characters is . For a nontrivial finite -group this is at least unless the group is abelian, and every nonlinear degree is at least . A degree constituent is therefore impossible in the nonabelian case. If there are linear and degree-two characters, thenThus the only degree collections arewith respectively .
For , take , where
and
. On the five classesthe four linear characters of , indexed by
, and its degree-two character areThe ten classes of are and . Its full table consists ofwhere runs over the above five rows and
runs over the two characters of . This explicitly gives eight linear and two degree-two rows.
and
. On the five classesthe four linear characters of , indexed by
, and its degree-two character areThe ten classes of are and . Its full table consists ofwhere runs over the above five rows and
runs over the two characters of . This explicitly gives eight linear and two degree-two rows.
For , take the dihedral groupOrder its seven classes asThe four linear rows areThe three degree-two rows, for , areThe row norms and mutual inner products, weighted by the displayed class sizes, verify irreducibility and completeness.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 101 1 a iv Solution Created 2026-09-28 Updated 2026-10-03
False. For a prime number , the Prüfer p-group is an Artinian -module: every proper subgroup is a finite cyclic group, so no infinite strictly descending chain of subgroups exists. It is not Noetherian because its cyclic subgroups form the strict ascending chain
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ii Paper 2 1G Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-10-03
The Lagrange root bound over a field says that a nonzero polynomial of degree over a field has at most roots. In particular, a polynomial modular congruence of degree modulo a prime number has at most incongruent solutions unless all its coefficients vanish modulo that prime.
Suppose that is good and that the positive integer divisor divides . The roots of form a finite multiplicative subgroup of . By the fact that every finite multiplicative subgroup of a field is cyclic, is a cyclic group of order . The solutions in of areso there are at least of them. The Lagrange root bound over a field gives at most roots in all of , hence exactly . Thus every divisor of a good number is good.
Now put . By the Chinese remainder theorem for unit groups, a base is a Fermat-pseudoprime base precisely when its two components satisfyThe power roots in a finite field andshow that each component has ten choices. Therefore there areFermat-pseudoprime bases.
To impose the strong pseudoprime condition, write with odd. Since , we have . In each cyclic group of ten Fermat components, raising to the th power sends five elements to and five elements to . A pair of components passes the strong test exactly when their signs agree: the pair satisfies the first alternative, and satisfies the second at . Components of opposite sign become after squaring and can never jointly equal . Hence the number of strong-pseudoprime bases is
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 133 1 a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Write , , and . The elements and are conjugate group elements, so they have the same order of a group element, say . The defining relation becomesIterating conjugation gives . Since , taking yields , and henceThe stated consequence of Fermat's little theorem implies . Thus , and the surjective group homomorphism shows that is generated by . Therefore is a cyclic group.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 151 2 Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
The Schur multiplier of a group isthe second group homology group with trivial integral coefficients. If is a free presentation, Hopf's formula states that
Write for the augmentation ideal. The presentation relation sequence iswhere . If is free on a set , then is free as a left -module on the elements , so the two modules immediately preceding are free -modules. Resolving the relation module by free modules and splicing produces a free resolution of .
Apply the right-exact functor to this partial resolution. Its degree-two homology is the kernel ofThe coinvariant module on the left is . On the right, the map identifies the coinvariants with the abelianization . The displayed map is induced by the inclusion , so its kernel isThis proves Hopf's formula.
For an abelian group , the Schur multiplier of an abelian group is . One way to see the direct-sum rule is the degree-two Künneth theorem:A cyclic group has zero second integral group homology, whileConsequently