Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 ii Paper 4 25I c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Define by . On , the vertical derivative in direction is , so 1 is regular. Since , the preimage theorem makes the unit tangent bundle a 3-manifold.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 ii Paper 4 29L c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 ii Paper 4 32B b ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
With , expand for through . Besides zero, gives , and the two points are exchanged by . The derivative product is , so the period-two orbit is stable.
Path-connected space Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-13
A topological space is path-connected if, for every , there is a continuous mapThis continuous path must stay within for its entire duration. Its parameter need not represent physical time, and continuity does not require a derivative or finite arc length. [ref]
https://math.mit.edu/~hrm/palestine/munkres-topology.pdf. Munkres, Topology: A First Course, section 3-2, definition on p. 155
In the closed interval , any are joined by . For and , this becomes , so , , and . All its values stay in . In the union , however, a continuous path from to would attain by the intermediate value theorem, although . Thus is not path-connected.
Every path-connected space is a connected space. Proof outline: if admitted a separation of a topological space, choose and . A continuous path between them would have nonempty open inverse images with empty intersection and union . This contradicts the connectedness of that closed interval.
The converse fails: the topologist's sine curve is connected but has two path components. Path connectedness is useful when we need an actual continuous path of allowed positions, rather than only the absence of a separation of a topological space. For instance, when modelling allowed positions as a topological space, membership in the same path component answers whether one can move continuously between two positions while remaining in that topological space.
A statistical functional is pathwise differentiable relative to chosen statistical paths if its derivative along every path depends only on that path's score function and defines a bounded linear functional on their statistical tangent space. The Riesz representation theorem expresses this derivative as an L2 inner product with a unique element of the statistical tangent space, the canonical gradient. A path family and the associated derivative remainder conditions must both be specified; a formal derivative along one convenient family does not establish differentiability along all paths.
Peano existence theorem Created 2026-09-29 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be an open set, , and a continuous function. Through every there is a local solution of a differential equation: a continuously differentiable function on an open interval containing , satisfying the displayed initial value problem pointwise. No Lipschitz condition is assumed.[ref]
Ordinary Differential Equations and Dynamical Systems by Gerald Teschl. Gerald Teschl, Ordinary Differential Equations and Dynamical Systems, §2.7, Theorem 2.19, printed p. 56: forward existence and the analogous backward result
Continuity of a proposed rate law therefore guarantees at least one trajectory for a short time. For a physical model, this is a first consistency check: can the stated rule and initial condition actually be followed? Prediction also needs uniqueness. The delayed solutions of a square-root differential equation below show how the same rule and initial condition can leave a departure time undetermined. The Picard-Lindelöf theorem supplies a sufficient additional hypothesis for uniqueness; failure of that hypothesis alone does not prove nonuniqueness.
For the initial value problem , , a forward solution of a differential equation can stay zero until any , then follow . The delayed solutions of a square-root differential equation verify this freedom exactly.
One initial condition admits an arbitrary forward waiting time
. Colored curves leave zero at the marked waits ; the dashed curve stays zero forever. Every curve satisfies the same original differential equation for . Details.Local existence gives neither a global solution of a differential equation nor a bound on all future values. The continuous function already permits finite-time blowup; the finite-dimensional continuation criterion explains the additional issue of extending a trajectory within its domain.
Proof outline: choose a compact set . By the extreme value theorem, . Take with . Forward Euler method polygons remain in the closed ball and satisfy . The Arzelà-Ascoli theorem yields a convergent subsequence with uniform convergence. Uniform continuity of on makes their integral equation defect tend uniformly to zero, so the limit satisfiesThe fundamental theorem of calculus gives a continuously differentiable function. Repeat backward and join at , where both derivatives equal .[ref]
The compact set here uses a finite-dimensional vector space; bounded closed balls in an arbitrary Banach space need not be compact. When , the constant solution of a differential equation works on the entire time interval in . In general the proof selects a subsequence, without asserting that all polygons converge to one unique trajectory.
Peano zero 2026-10-06
A Peano zero through order means that the function admits the zero Taylor polynomial with remainder at . This does not assert the existence of ordinary iterated derivatives on a neighborhood. For example, multiplying by a bounded continuous function with dense points of nondifferentiability preserves this estimate while destroying neighborhood differentiability.
Penrose-Ward correspondence 2026-10-14
A holomorphic vector bundle on an appropriate twistor domain, trivial on its space-time incidence lines, determines a complex anti-self-dual gauge gauge connection. Split its patching matrix on each line and apply the tangent vector fields . They annihilate the unsplit twistor patching matrix, so the two logarithmic derivatives of the factors agree and define a global degree-one function of . It is consequently . The inverse splitting bundle frame is parallel along each alpha-plane; commuting these parallel equations proves that the primed gauge curvature two-component spinor vanishes. Reality conditions recover unitary Euclidean gauge fields; Euclidean instanton bundles need triviality on the real twistor lines, not on every possible complex line.
Periodic domain Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A periodic domain identifies opposite faces of a fundamental cell, producing a flat torus. On an interval , smooth periodic boundary conditions require and matching spatial derivatives. These endpoints are one location, rather than two independently controlled walls. Periodic integration by parts has no boundary term, and zero-mean functions have no zero Fourier mode.
Phase compatibility in geometrical optics 2026-10-06
A smooth phase gives and . These mixed-derivative identities allow the spatially differentiated dispersion relation to be rewritten as Hamiltonian ray equations for a local dispersion relation. Away from phase singularities they express the curl-free character of a local wavevector.
Phase quadrature 2026-10-13
Two sinusoidal signals are in phase quadrature when their phase difference is a quarter cycle, for example and . Their time averages have zero correlation over a cycle. In a plane wave, this separates fields such as displacement and its time derivative, velocity.
For the metric in vector cosmological perturbation, an orthonormal tetrad is , to first order. A photon has and , so the covariant component is . The covariant geodesic equation gives . The derivative of the scale factor cancels by the null vector condition, proving the redshift formula.
Picard-Lindelöf theorem Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be an open set and a continuous function. Suppose is locally Lipschitz in the state , with a Lipschitz constant uniform on a sufficiently small time-state neighborhood of each point. Then each determines a unique local solution of a differential equation to the displayed initial value problem, on an interval around . This is the local theorem in Ordinary Differential Equations and Dynamical Systems by Gerald Teschl.
For example, , , has the solution of a differential equation : its derivative is itself and its starting value is . The Lipschitz constant is , since . Thus uniqueness follows even before computing . Picard iteration below constructs this exponential function one polynomial at a time.
The Lipschitz condition has real content. For the continuous function involving a square root,each waiting time gives a different forward solution of a differential equation:The constant solution of a differential equation is another choice. At , delays give respectively. Before the join, both sides of the ordinary differential equation are zero; afterwards, . Both one-sided derivatives at are zero, so the join is valid. All these trajectories can also be extended by zero to . The failed Lipschitz condition is visible in the quotientFor this quotient is . Continuity still allows local existence by the Peano existence theorem; it cannot choose a waiting time. MIT's 18.034 Lecture 2, Example 2.3 develops the same waiting-time mechanism for a different ordinary differential equation, .
Failure of uniqueness and finite-time blowup are different obstructions
. Left: several delayed solutions of a differential equation of share . Right: the unique solution of a differential equation of , , has finite-time blowup at . The right vertical axis ends at ; the curve continues upward beyond the plot, and there is no finite endpoint value. Details.The useful promise is that an initial condition and a sufficiently regular local rule select one trajectory. It justifies comparing models and following trajectories without an arbitrary choice at each instant. A locally Lipschitz continuous rule need not keep that trajectory bounded: meets the theorem's hypotheses everywhere but has finite-time blowup. Longer existence is governed by the finite-dimensional continuation criterion.
PID controller 2026-10-14
An ideal PID controller combines proportional control, integral action, and a term proportional to the derivative of the tracking error. With , it gives proportional-integral control. The integral stores past error, while the derivative responds to its current rate of change. Practical implementations must account for measurement noise, which an ideal differentiator can amplify. [ref]
https://www.fbswiki.org/wiki/index.php/PID_Control. Åström and Murray, PID Control
. Point-mass lens deflection and focusing 2026-10-14
Deflection changes one light ray's direction; focusing concerns relative directions of neighboring light rays and their bundle's cross section. To see the difference for a point-mass gravitational lens, send parallel incident light rays past the lens. A ray at impact parameter meets the optical axis approximately beyond the lens. Doubling quadruples this crossing distance. Thus the lens does not have a common focal length for all rays, although it can produce lensing magnification and an Einstein ring for a specified source-observer geometry.
The point-mass gravitational lens also illustrates why focusing must not be identified just with positive lensing convergence. Away from the central mass, differentiate the reduced deflection : its two-dimensional divergence is zero, so there. Nevertheless its radial and tangential derivatives differ, giving lensing shear of magnitude and . A vacuum ray bundle can be distorted and magnified. In the same ideal transparent geometrical optics model, surface brightness is preserved; the larger apparent solid angle supplies the increased received light.

