Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 64 2 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Matter corotating with the footpoint has fixed angular velocity . Its effective potential in that rotating frame is the sum of Newtonian gravitational potential and centrifugal potential,Along an outward-inclined straight magnetic field line, write and , where is distance from the footpoint. The exact potential along it isIts first derivative at is zero by the Keplerian rotation balance. At the footpoint the meridional Hessian is with zero mixed derivative. HenceWhen , the potential initially rises and a cold parcel must overcome a barrier. When , its quadratic curvature is negative, so the footpoint is a local maximum along the field and a small outward displacement is accelerated further outward:This is the thirty-degree magnetocentrifugal launching criterion. It describes the lack of a local cold-launch barrier, not a nonzero force on a parcel exactly at rest at . At exactly the quadratic term vanishes; for the specified straight line the next term is , as in marginal straight-line launch at thirty degrees. Global wind escape additionally depends on conditions farther along the line.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ii Paper 2 14C i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the half-line transform and let . Integrating the heat equation twice by parts givesHere andwith removable singularities at the apparent denominator zeros. Let , and orient its boundary from infinity on the ray to zero and then out on the ray. Transform inversion and contour deformation giveTo eliminate the unknown boundary derivative, evaluate the transform identity at : . The resulting extra contour integral of vanishes by analyticity and decay in the upper half-plane. This proves that the boxed expression involves only the prescribed data. It is intended for , with boundary and initial values obtained as limits.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ii Paper 2 15E ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
For , the upright angle has and is unstable. There is one nonzero equilibrium in ,Differentiate the right side of the nutation equation at this angle. Since the bracket vanishes there, the derivative is . Therefore it is stable, withThis equilibrium represents steady precession, not a top with all Euler angles stationary. The equality case is excluded by the two cases in the question and requires a nonlinear marginal analysis.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ii Paper 2 23G a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
An elliptic function for a lattice is a meromorphic function on satisfying for all . Its order is the number of poles, counted with multiplicity, in a fundamental parallelogram, equivalently the degree of its map from the torus to the Riemann sphere. Differentiation preserves the periods. If the distinct poles have orders , the derivative has exactly the same pole locations with orders . ThereforeThe bounds use , valid for a nonconstant elliptic function.
For the Weierstrass elliptic function , has a single pole of order five, so its derivative has order six. For the second example choose not a critical value of and choose away from zero and the two points where . Thenhas a double pole at and three simple poles: the quotient has residue at zero and residue 1 at each of its two other poles. No locations overlap. Hence its order is five and its derivative has order , as required.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ii Paper 2 31B a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Characteristics beginning at have and carry the constant value . In the sloping interval, . For the resulting single-valued solution isIt is continuous and piecewise smooth, locally Lipschitz for , but not a classical solution across the two derivative corners. Its weak derivatives satisfy the equation, since the function itself has no jumps there. The sloping gradient is and blows up at , when those characteristics coalesce.
Thus the continuous characteristic description has maximal interval . If “weak solution” is taken literally, it does not cease to exist then: the entropy continuation is a shock with left/right states 1 and 0 and Rankine-Hugoniot speed , situated at for . It is a global entropy weak solution, with the step at as its limiting trace. This distinguishes breakdown of the characteristic parametrization from nonexistence of a weak continuation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ii Paper 2 31B c Solution 2026-10-14
For any fixed , the characteristic map has derivative . It is strictly increasing and onto: for it is at least , and for at most that quantity. Hence the inverse function theorem supplies a global inverse. Define . Differentiating givesThe derivatives are continuous, and for positive times. Thus a classical solution exists for all , without any characteristic intersection or shock formation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ii Paper 2 39B i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Expand the two central second-difference operators. The given stencil identity yieldsConsequently its unnormalized local residual is . The normalized Laplacian approximation has leading error and is second order. These Taylor statements require the indicated smooth derivatives; boundary accuracy is a separate matter.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ii Paper 2 5I Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
An exponential dispersion family has density or mass functionwith support independent of the natural parameter . Usually for a known weight . For the Poisson distribution, identifyThe dispersion is fixed at one. Differentiating the normalizing identity gives ; differentiating again gives . Here both derivatives equal , soThe variance function expresses in terms of the mean . The canonical link function maps the mean to the natural parameter, so the Poisson canonical link is .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 ia Paper 1 10F a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
One precise version of the Taylor theorem with Lagrange remainder is as follows. Let , let and its derivatives through order be continuous on the closed interval between distinct points and , and suppose exists throughout its interior. Then some strictly between and satisfiesHere the endpoint derivatives are understood as restrictions of derivatives defined near the interval, or as their continuous one-sided extensions. No continuity of is required. For the equality is immediate with zero remainder.
To prove the formula, write the Taylor polynomial as and defineThen , and for . The Rolle theorem gives a zero of strictly between and . If , apply the Rolle theorem to between and , using , to get a zero of . Repeating produces a point strictly between and with . Each application is justified by continuity on the relevant closed interval and differentiability in its interior; the same construction works when .
Since has degree at most ,Substituting this value of into its definition proves the displayed Taylor theorem with Lagrange remainder.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 ia Paper 1 10F b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The assumed differentiability makes continuous. The identity then implies inductively that has continuous derivatives of every order andFix . By the extreme value theorem, the continuous function is bounded on the closed interval between and ; let be its maximum. Applying the Taylor theorem with Lagrange remainder about gives some between and such thatFor the last factor, successive ratios are , which are at most once is sufficiently large. A geometric sequence bound therefore proves that . The partial sums converge to , soAt the equality follows directly from . The proof obtains this Taylor series solely from the differential identity, continuity on a fixed finite interval, and the Taylor remainder estimate.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 ia Paper 1 12F a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
For , differentiability at means existence of the finite two-sided limit of a function . More generally, higher-order differentiability at a point is defined recursively: for , the derivatives must exist throughout some open interval containing , and must be differentiable at . With , the final condition isThe neighbourhood requirement makes the numerator meaningful for every sufficiently small nonzero . It does not require to exist at other points of that neighbourhood, or to be continuous at .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 ia Paper 1 12F c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The zeros of occur atLet . At these nonzero points,The definition of the derivative gives , henceThe sign function is constant sufficiently near the nonzero point , and . As , multiplication yieldsIts right and left one-sided derivatives are therefore and respectively. They differ, so is not differentiable at any . In particular, as , provingThe absolute value at a simple zero mechanism creates unequal one-sided derivatives. It also shows why the existence of alone does not imply higher-order differentiability at a point of order two.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 ia Paper 1 12F d Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Away from zero and the zeros of , the sign function is locally constant and the absolute value function is differentiable at the value of the cosine. The product rule and chain rule giveThus the triangle inequality and the bounds on sine and cosine imply . Part (c) rules out differentiability at every nonzero cosine zero, and part (b) gives , so this estimate covers every point where the derivative exists.
For a finite interval , choose such that throughout . ThenThe apparent factor in the derivative of the oscillation cancels against the multiplying , which is what makes a uniform bound possible even near zero.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 25 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the Fourier transform convention . The complex measure is finite because . The Möbius divisor-sum identity, proved in the preceding solution, allows multiplication of absolutely convergent Dirichlet series and givesHere is the Riemann zeta function. We prove the estimates in the intended range . A uniform estimate of the printed form for all would be false: at , as , while its proposed upper bound tends to zero. A version valid for every replaces by .
For completeness, unique prime factorization and absolute convergence give andas the logarithm defined by that Euler product. The elementary nonnegative trigonometric polynomialtherefore proves the three-four-one inequality for Euler productsWe also need elementary uniform bounds for derivatives of the Riemann zeta function. For an integer , summation by parts givesThis continues the function to with just the pole at one. For , , choose . Differentiating times, the finite Dirichlet polynomial is bounded by . Derivatives of the second term have the same bound, since . In the last term, differentiated integrands are bounded by , whose integral is ; multiplication by is harmless. It follows thatAs , the three-four-one inequality for Euler products gives, for ,To handle bounded , first note that cannot vanish at for : a zero of order would make the three-four-one product , contradicting its lower bound one. At , the reciprocal extends holomorphically with a simple zero, since the pole of has residue one. Thus and all its derivatives are bounded on the compact rectangle , . This proves the requested reciprocal zeta bounds near the line one:
For the derivative estimate, repeatedly differentiate . Every term of is a constant timesThe preceding derivative bounds and reciprocal estimate bound this by . Compact-height bounds supply the remaining range. Since , this has exactly the requested dependence, with an explicit logarithmic exponent linear in for .
Here is the unsmoothing a logarithmically weighted sum argument with the normalization repaired. For real ,Indeed the Fourier transform of is , so Fourier inversion gives the identity, also at by continuity. In a vertical contour integral the coefficient is and the differential is . The printed real- integral has with and is missing this factor of .
Set , taking when . Its Dirichlet series is . The logarithmically smoothed Perron formula, justified by absolute convergence, givesFor choose . The integral of is finite, with a constant depending only on , and . Thus, with ,For , subtraction gives the exact finite-difference identityThe last sum is , since there are terms. ConsequentlyFor , choose to get exponent . For , the trivial bound is already no larger than that estimate. The extra term is absorbed for fixed . HenceThis also yields the cancellation needed for the Prime number theorem. Choose a fixed , discard at cost for the unweighted sum, and use partial summation with on the rest. The displayed bound gives ; the preceding solution then gives .