Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 2 28K c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
For expected final capital, the Bellman equation is linear in wealth, with one-period factor . Therefore invest everything when the mean return is positive, nothing when it is negative, and any fraction when it is zero. For this agrees with the yield objective.
For , the root objective is concave and penalizes losses, so its optimal fraction need not be even when the mean is positive. For example, if and , the left derivative of at is , while its right derivative at is positive; the optimum lies strictly between and . If , Jensen inequality gives , so is optimal. Thus the root objective can favor partial investment over the all-in policy.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 2 29E ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
The horizontal contribution is . The two nondegenerate stationary points of the phase are and , with second derivatives and . The stationary phase method gives their contributionswith remainder for smooth fixed amplitudes localized near the stationary points. On the remaining portions, use integration by parts. The endpoint term isCutoff endpoints cancel between pieces; a second integration gives the other nonstationary contributions . Thus this endpoint term cancels the leading vertical term. AltogetherThis stationary phase endpoint cancellation in a half-strip contour is necessary: omitting it would leave an erroneous remainder for noninteger .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 2 31A Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Compatibility of the auxiliary system, computed on a fundamental matrix of solutions, gives the zero-curvature conditionIndeed equality of the mixed derivatives gives . A single possibly zero vector solution would not justify the matrix identity; compatibility means a full fundamental family.
Put . Using the zero-curvature condition gives . At , and hence . Uniqueness of the initial-value problem gives , or . Periodicity implies , so the monodromy matrix obeys the Lax equationCyclicity of the trace yields for every .
There is a genuine factor-of-two error in the printed sine-Gordon pair. Assign the second printed matrix to and the first to :Direct multiplication givesThus the printed matrices encode .
For the stated Sine-Gordon equation, explicitly repair the first prefactor by taking , that is . Its zero-curvature condition becomes . For this corrected pair, is conserved for every . Since is entire in , so are and these traces. Their Taylor coefficients in supply an infinite family of first integrals, by the identity theorem extending conservation through . At a fixed spectral parameter the higher traces of a matrix are related by the Cayley-Hamilton theorem; no independence of the resulting first integrals is claimed.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 2 37B Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
For isentropic gas with , , the sound speed obeys . The one-dimensional mass and momentum equations areSince , these implyAdding and subtracting yields the Riemann invariantsA simple wave has one invariant constant throughout. For a right-moving wave into a resting state with sound speed , , so and the right characteristic speed is , .
For the damped scalar equation, characteristics from satisfyAssume smooth bounded initial data with bounded derivative, and the stated maximal compressive slope exists. ThenFor the damping threshold for a simple wave, if , put . For , a gradient blow-up first occurs atFor , stays uniformly positive. At it still satisfies for every finite time. At a point attaining the minimum slope, for all time, rather than blowing up. Hence the precise conclusion is no finite-time shock occurs when , not the printed strict “if and only if ”. Equality only makes the limiting characteristic map degenerate as . The profile directly verifies this endpoint distinction. If there is no compressive slope, take ; no finite-time shock occurs for positive damping. A nonattained maximal slope is interpreted with a supremum and the corresponding infimum of breakdown times. The gas interpretation also requires .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 3 13C a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
With constant masses, differentiate the moment of inertia twice:For each pair, and . Hence its contribution is . Summing over unordered pairs gives . Time-averaging over yieldsFor a bound system with , or a stationary equilibrium with zero average left-hand derivative, the limit is the virial theoremBounded spatial extent together with bounded velocities suffices for the derivative condition; possible gravitational collisions must be excluded or otherwise regularized.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 3 16I a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Write , where since is a finite-dimensional vector space over its prime field. Every nonzero element satisfies by Lagrange theorem, so is exactly the splitting field of over . The derivative is , making it a separable polynomial. Thus the extension is a normal field extension and a separable field extension, hence a Galois extension.
The finite-field Frobenius automorphism fixes and has . If with , all elements would be roots of the degree- polynomial , impossible. It has order , equal to the degree of the Galois extension. Therefore
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 3 22I c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Let . The proper transform isIndeed, in the blowup chart , write with . Homogeneity gives . Away from the exceptional divisor , the equation is , and its closure retains that equation, removing the exceptional factor . Every point with is approached algebraically along the line , so no component in this displayed set is extraneous.
For , the fibre is the single point , and the projection is an isomorphism over . Over the fibre is the projective plane cubic . In characteristic zero this cubic is smooth: a coordinate zero in the three derivative equations would force all coordinates zero; with all nonzero, multiplying , , gives , impossible. Thus the exceptional fibre is a smooth genus-one plane cubic. The fibre description itself does not require this optional smoothness conclusion; characteristic requires separate treatment.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 3 24J b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
For conjugate exponents , , Hölder's inequality is . If either finite norm is zero, the corresponding variable is zero almost surely. Otherwise normalize , . Young inequality follows by minimizing the right side minus in , whose derivative is . Integration gives , proving the result. Infinite norms give the usual extended-value inequality whenever the right side is unambiguous. At the endpoints, follows from the almost-sure bound for , with the symmetric version for .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 3 26K b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
The per-observation Fisher information is . Sinceand the integral of is the second derivative of , the regularity assumptions giveFor independent observations the total Fisher information is , because centered individual score functions have zero cross terms.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 3 29E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
The exponent has saddles , with and . Since the integrand is analytic off the origin, deform the contour to the unit circle and rotate . This gives the exact representationThe dominant saddle at is a steepest-descent direction for the method of steepest descent: . Set and expand the analytic amplitude against . Integrating its Gaussian moments gives the leading factor ; the rest of the contour is exponentially smaller than this dominant contribution outside any fixed neighbourhood of the maximum.
To obtain every coefficient efficiently, the integral satisfies , by differentiating and integrating the derivative of . Substitute to get and . Therefore the full asymptotic expansion isHere . For each fixed truncation at , the relative remainder is as . The infinite series is generally divergent, and this all-orders expansion does not purport to resolve exponentially small saddle contributions or their Stokes phenomenon.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 3 30A Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The centre manifold theorem gives, near an equilibrium of a sufficiently smooth system, a local invariant manifold tangent to the generalized eigenspaces with zero-real-part eigenvalues, expressible as a graph of a function over them. Its reduced dynamics govern local equilibria and their stability in the presence of strictly stable transverse directions. The manifold need not be unique or analytic; finite Taylor jets can nevertheless be determined from invariance. Treating a parameter as a variable with gives the extended centre manifold for a parameter.
At the linearized block has eigenvalues , and the direction has eigenvalue . Thus the origin is a nonhyperbolic equilibrium, with stable dimension two and non-extended centre dimension one. The extended centre dimension is two. The transformed equations areThe graph of a function satisfies and , with invariance equations and . Symmetry permits odd and even in . Giving weight one and weight two, comparison yieldsHere means terms of weighted order at least under the stated scaling. If , the pitchfork bifurcation is supercritical: stable branches appear for as the origin loses stability. If , it is a subcritical pitchfork bifurcation: unstable branches occur for , while the origin is stable there.
For , assign weight four. The leading cubic terms in cancel. The invariance equations now give and : first contributes at weight six and also first contributes there. Substitution then givesThe derivative along the nonzero branches is , so they are unstable. The origin is stable for , unstable for , and nonlinearly unstable at because the leading term is . This is a degenerate subcritical pitchfork bifurcation.
Bifurcation diagram for the equilibrium branches
. Details. Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 3 31A Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
With the sign convention of the displayed operator, the Lax equation is . Differentiating shows that is another solution at the same spectral parameter. The normalization at fixessince there. At , comparison of the two plane-wave coefficients givesThus the transmission denominator is time independent. This is the Time evolution of KdV scattering data for the stated normalization.
The logarithmic derivative obeys the Riccati equationIts formal large- expansion givesThere is an important qualification to the integral identity in the question. For real with nonzero reflection, has no limit at , so the literal improper integral of the exact need not exist. Continue to , where the reflected exponential decays relative to , and take sufficiently large away from zeros and with a consistent logarithm. Then the normalization givesThe second equality is an asymptotic expansion, not an asserted convergent series. Time independence of fixes every coefficient, so each is a conserved quantity of the Korteweg-De Vries equation. The first two nontrivial examples are and .
For the usual real-valued KdV potential and real formal , write with real coefficient functions. Its imaginary part of the Riccati equation is , henceIn the formal expansion, contains precisely the even-indexed and the odd-indexed ones. Rapid decay of and its derivatives makes every coefficient of the logarithm vanish at both spatial ends. Therefore . This is a coefficientwise formal identity; it does not claim that the exact real-axis reflected solution has a convergent integral of . The analytically continued scattering identity and the formal expansion are the conventions needed to make the requested argument valid.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 3 35D Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
The Maxwell equations with vacuum permittivity and permeability give and . The current identity is the Ampère-Maxwell equation, and Faraday's law gives . With ,The identity , and its electric analogue, turn this into the divergence of the Maxwell stress tensor . Thus the tensor in the question is its negative:The vector is electromagnetic momentum density, and is the outward flux of its th component across a surface normal in the direction. In static conditions the total force on matter is ; generally subtract the time derivative of the enclosed electromagnetic field momentum as well.
For the two infinite sheets, superposition and the electromagnetic field jumps give , between them and zero outside. Substitution yields exactlyA thin pillbox enclosing the sheet has only its face in the interior electromagnetic field. ThereforeDirectly, omit the sheet's self-electromagnetic field: the other sheet supplies and . The Lorentz force per area is , giving the same result. The electric contribution is attractive and the magnetic contribution repulsive.
If for a single moving charge population, use to obtain . For physical this is attractive, so motion of these charges cannot make the force repulsive. Independently imposed currents need not satisfy that restriction on .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 3 38B Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
For the rapidly varying wave phase, define and , with the common scaling by absorbed into these local variables. A packet moves with group velocity . Along that trajectory, . Compatibility gives and . Differentiating the local dispersion relation then cancels its implicit derivatives, yieldingThe last equality follows also by differentiating along the ray and cancelling the two Hamiltonian cross terms. The partial derivatives of hold its other arguments fixed.
A mean flow adds the Doppler shift: the intrinsic frequency is , soon the positive-intrinsic-frequency branch launched here. The medium is stationary and independent of , so and are constant. Initially , hence . Moreover , and then . The initial vertical group velocity is zero, but immediately becomes negative and the ray accelerates upwards.
If reaches at a finite height , this is the critical level of an internal gravity wave, with . Below it,Assuming , put . Then , givingThus the ray cannot cross this level in finite time within the geometrical-optics approximation. The hypothesis alone does not guarantee a finite : for example on never reaches . Existence of a finite critical level is an additional assumption. Very close to one, diverging wavenumber can invalidate the inviscid, linear, slowly varying approximation; the result is the formal ray prediction.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 4 23I b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
The cubic equation is . On , put , , giving . The projection is , so its function-field extension is generated by a square root of . This is not a square in , since its zeros at have odd order. In characteristic different from two the extension is separable of degree two.
The only apparent basepoint is . In the chart , put , . The equation is , so is a local parameter and . The ratio is regular and the projection extends there as , with value . Thus the displayed rational projection does define a morphism after this unique extension; it is not literally evaluable by the raw pair at that point.
At a finite point with , the derivative with respect to is , so is a parameter and . At , the roots are simple (also in characteristic three), and is a parameter with of order two. At infinity the target parameter likewise has order two. ThereforeThe affine gradient and the nonzero at infinity also verify nonsingularity for every characteristic other than two. The ramification description is on geometric points; it descends to these stated rational points over .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 4 24I Solution 2026-10-05
For sufficiently small, let be the geodesic with , , and define . The domain consists more generally of initial velocities whose geodesic exists through time one. Uniqueness and affine rescaling give near zero, soThus the differential is the identity under the natural identification of tangent spaces, and the inverse function theorem makes the exponential map a local diffeomorphism near zero.
A punctured plane has geodesics reaching its missing point in finite time, so its exponential map need not be global; adding the point remedies this example. But an extension cannot always remedy the failure. On the punctured circular cone , radial generators are geodesics and reach the missing point in finite intrinsic length. Any globally defined extension would have to include their limiting point . The cone's tangent planes have different limits as varies; no smooth embedded surface through that point can contain this punctured circular cone. Hence no such extension exists for this .
For an oriented surface and a closed topological disc with smooth positively oriented boundary, the Gauss-Bonnet theorem with boundary saysHere is signed geodesic curvature with the disc on the left. A smooth boundary has no corner terms; piecewise smooth boundaries require exterior-angle terms.
For the flat disc in the problem this gives . Conditions (i) and (ii) mean that the proposed replacement disc has the same boundary and agrees with the original smooth surface from the outside. Smoothness therefore gives the same tangent planes, metric derivatives and boundary geodesic curvature on the replacement, with consistent orientation. Applying Gauss-Bonnet to that disc forcesThus these gluing conditions fix the total curvature of any smooth replacement disc, regardless of its detailed interior shape.
The nonnegative continuous Gaussian curvature on the compact replacement disc, together with its zero integral established by Gauss-Bonnet, forces it to vanish at every point of that disc. Outside it the replacement surface agrees with the original flat surface, so its curvature also vanishes there; smoothness covers the common boundary. Consequently no point of the replacement surface can have positive Gaussian curvature. Therefore no surface can satisfy all three conditions. A disc with some positive curvature could only have compensating negative curvature or alter the smooth boundary gluing, both excluded here.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 4 29K Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Assume a finite optimum with and continuous price near its completion time. With costate for the remaining-file state, the minimization Hamiltonian of an optimal-control problem is . It is independent of , so is constant. By the Pontryagin maximum principle, pointwise minimization over givesThis is a bang-bang control away from equality. At equality partial transmission or either endpoint rate is allowed. This also follows by exchanging a small amount of transmission from a more expensive time to a cheaper unused time. The free-terminal-time transversality condition is . Since , it forces and terminal transmission at rate one, yieldingWithout regularity/existence hypotheses an arbitrary known price need not have a finite differentiable optimum; the equality is the interior terminal-time condition used here.
For , , feasible completion requires for finite cost. The price decreases to its minimum at one and then increases. Its cheapest unrestricted interval of length one has endpoints of equal price, giving and . For , the cheapest length-one subset of is the terminal interval : its left endpoint has at least the price of its right endpoint, and the earlier times are still more expensive. For the transmission minimum is unchanged from that unrestricted interval, while the delay cost increases, so no optimum lies beyond .
For the terminal-interval policy the total cost isIts derivative is strictly increasing on , since . It is negative near one and positive at , so the unique global optimum isThere is exactly one positive root: none lies in because the left side is negative, and the strictly monotone comparison gives exactly one in . Its threshold is .
