Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 133 1 a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
For a finite group presentation and a word representing the identity, the area of a null-homotopic word isThe Dehn function of the presentation isEquivalently, area is the least number of two-cells in a van Kampen diagram for , and the Dehn function is the worst such area among null words of length at most .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 133 1 e Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Part d gives . For the reverse inequality, consider . Under the homomorphism with and , every conjugate of has image and every conjugate of has image zero. Any expression of as a product of conjugates of relators therefore uses at least factors. HenceThe opposite inequality follows by applying exactly times, so the Dehn function satisfies .