Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 137 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
First establish rational conjugation of finite-index modular subgroups without assuming that is a congruence subgroup. Multiply by a positive integer to obtain an integral matrix , and let . Conjugation is unchanged by this scalar. If , thenThus the principal congruence subgroup is contained in . It has finite index because reduction modulo has finite image. Inside , pullback under conjugation of has relative index at most . ConsequentlyThis argument does not assert that an arbitrary finite-index subgroup contains a principal congruence subgroup.
Use the determinant-normalized slash operatorThe positive real power of the determinant is used; on this reduces to the usual slash operator for modular forms. The automorphy factor identity gives the right-action rule .
A modular form on a finite-index subgroup of integer weight is a holomorphic function on the complex upper half-plane, invariant under this weight- action of , and holomorphic at a cusp at each of its cusps. A cusp of a modular group is a orbit in . If carries infinity to its representative, choose a positive integer with . Such exists by finite index. Then is periodic and has a convergent expansion in near zero; holomorphy means no negative exponents, and being a cusp form means zero constant term. Using an actual translation period avoids possible signs if a smaller width of a cusp is defined only modulo the center, particularly in odd weights.
For cusp holomorphy under rational slash operators, choose with , possible by completing a primitive integer pair to a determinant-one matrix. Then , with . Up to a nonzero constant factor,The imaginary part of the argument tends to infinity with that of , so this remains bounded by the cusp expansion of . It tends to zero if is a cusp form. Moreover is invariant under : for , and the right-action rule applies. Finite index gives a translation period for , so boundedness is a removable singularity at zero in that periodic parameter. This proves holomorphy at infinity. For every other cusp, apply the same argument to the rational matrix , with . Thus all cusp conditions hold, and
For the character twist by rational translations of a cusp form, put and . For , direct conjugation givesIndeed and . Every is therefore -invariant and vanishes at all its cusps by the preceding rational-translate argument. Their finite weighted sum is a cusp form, for every Dirichlet character:
There is, however, a missing primitivity hypothesis in the printed final expansion claim. The exact Fourier expansion of a modular form is alwaysValues of a Dirichlet character on units have modulus one, so . For unit , substitution gives , where is the Gauss sum of a Dirichlet character. For nonunit , this vanishing formula requires a primitive Dirichlet character.
Here is its proof in that case. Choose a prime . Primitivity supplies a unit with : otherwise the character would factor through the surjective reduction to units modulo . Surjectivity follows by lifting a unit and, if needed, adjusting the lift to avoid the additional prime , using the Chinese remainder theorem. Multiplication by fixes because , but multiplies the character factor by a nontrivial constant. Hence . The finite Fourier transform of a primitive Dirichlet character now gives the corrected formulaThe constant is nonzero: finite exponential orthogonality gives , whereas the proved formula makes this . Thus .
For a concrete counterexample to the printed unrestricted claim, take , the principal Dirichlet character, and . The translation sum is , whose coefficient is . Any constant multiple of the proposed odd-index-only series has coefficient zero. Thus the general modularity conclusion is proved, while the claimed simplification is false without the stated extra hypothesis.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 137 5 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Write and . The double-coset Hecke algebra consists of -bi-invariant complex functions on supported on finitely many double cosets, with convolutionEach double coset has finitely many orbits under left multiplication by , by rational conjugation of finite-index modular subgroups. Thus the sum is finite and independent of representatives. The characteristic functions of the double cosets form its basis, and its right action on invariant modular forms is , using the determinant-normalized slash operator.
For a positive integer , let be all integral two-by-two matrices of positive determinant . It is -bi-invariant. Define to be its indicator function, equivalently the sum of the distinct double cosets it contains, each with coefficient one. This is the convention consistent with the requested formula. For composite , it need not be the single double coset of : for instance cannot lie in that double coset, since multiplying by unimodular integral matrices preserves the greatest common divisor of the entries.
Prove all the needed subgroup facts directly. For a finite-index subgroup , take to be the least positive first coordinate appearing in and the least positive second coordinate on its intersection with the second axis. Euclidean division then shows that the first-coordinate projection is and . Positivity follows, for example, because the finite quotient group kills a nonzero multiple of each coordinate vector. Choose and reduce modulo to . Every vector of has first coordinate a multiple of , and subtracting that multiple of leaves a multiple of . Therefore these two vectors form a basis of . The parameters are unique. Reducing the first coordinate modulo and then the second modulo gives precisely quotient representatives, so .
Apply this row Hermite normal form in rank two to the row lattice of an integral matrix with . Its row lattice contains , since , so it has finite index. Its two rows and the displayed two rows are bases of the same row lattice. The two inverse change-of-basis matrices have integer entries, so their determinants are integers whose product is one. Thus the change-of-basis matrix has determinant ; since both orientations are positive, its determinant is one. Thus each orbit under left multiplication by has exactly one of the determinant-n matrix representatives for Hecke operatorsThere are such representatives, proving finiteness as well as the formula. The subgroup argument is a proof of the relevant Hermite normal form, not an invocation of an unproved lattice classification.
Consequently the normalized Hecke operator isIt preserves : right multiplication by permutes the left-multiplication orbits in , giving invariance, and cusp holomorphy under rational slash operators gives the holomorphy of each term at every cusp.
For a triangular representative the determinant-normalized slash operator is . Summing the Fourier expansion of a modular form over kills every index not divisible by , by finite exponential orthogonality. ThusThe Fourier coefficients of a composite-index Hecke operator are thereforeIn particular . If , comparison of the coefficients gives
Finally suppose and is a simultaneous eigenfunction. Constant coefficients force , so for all . Weight two cannot occur, by vanishing of weight-two level-one modular forms. For even , use the normalized Eisenstein series with its Fourier expansion of a normalized Eisenstein serieswhere is the Bernoulli number. Then is a cusp form with coefficients . The Fourier coefficient bound for a cusp form bounds these by , but at arbitrarily large primes their magnitude is . Since , the coefficient factor must vanish. All coefficients of then vanish, including its constant coefficient, so by its cusp expansion and the identity theorem. This proves the noncuspidal level-one Hecke eigenform characterization:
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 302 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The two Lie groups have the same local infinitesimal structure, but different global topology. This difference determines which Lie algebra representations integrate to representations of each group.
An element of the SU(2) group is a unitary matrix of determinant one. Orthogonality of its columns and its determinant give the unique formThus its group manifold is the unit three-sphere in : this is SU(2) as the three-sphere. In particular it is compact, connected and simply connected. In terms of the Pauli matrices one may also write with real coefficients satisfying .
Differentiate and at . The tangent space consists of traceless skew-Hermitian matrices:The Lie bracket of a Matrix Lie group is the matrix commutator. With , the Pauli matrix multiplication law givesThis derives the SU(2) Lie algebra as a three-dimensional real Lie algebra. The Hermitian physics generators instead obey ; they are times the skew-Hermitian tangent generators, so these are consistent conventions.
The SO(3) group consists of real orthogonal matrices with determinant one. Differentiating at the identity givesThe determinant condition gives no additional infinitesimal constraint because a skew-symmetric matrix already has trace zero. Define . The cross product identity impliesTherefore the SO(3) Lie algebra has the same structure constants and is a Lie algebra isomorphism.
The global relation is the Adjoint double cover from SU(2) to SO(3). For , define byConjugation preserves the real space of traceless Hermitian matrices and its inner product . Hence is orthogonal. Continuity and connectedness, together with , put it in . Composition of conjugations makes a group homomorphism. If , then commutes with every Pauli matrix, hence is scalar; unitarity and determinant one leave precisely . The differential sends to , so it is an isomorphism. More concretely,induces rotation through angle about , by the Rodrigues rotation formula. Every three-dimensional rotation has such an axis and angle, proving surjectivity. ConsequentlyThe matrices and are antipodal points on the three-sphere, so the SO(3) group manifold is Real projective space . Equivalently, the closed axis-angle ball has opposite boundary points identified. The fundamental group is , whereas . A rotation lifts from to ; a rotation returns to . Thus the covering is the universal cover and the groups are not globally isomorphic.
For representation theory, specify finite-dimensional complex continuous representations. Compactness permits an invariant Hermitian inner product, obtained by averaging against Haar measure, and therefore complete reducibility. Complexifying either real Lie algebra gives the sl2 Lie algebra. Its finite-dimensional irreducibles are indexed by , have highest weight , and have dimension . By integration of a Lie-algebra representation, since is simply connected, every such Lie algebra representation integrates uniquely. The resulting homogeneous polynomial representation of SU2 isIn the spin angular momentum notation , its Hermitian eigenvalues are . The central matrix acts on the symmetric power by , so descent of an SU(2) representation to SO(3) occurs exactly when is even. HenceFor a reducible representation, every summand must satisfy the descent condition. The spin-one-half doublet is a genuine representation of the covering group but does not define a single-valued representation of ; the spin-one triplet does and is its vector representation. The distinction is topological, rather than a difference in their isomorphic Lie algebras.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 311 3 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Put and . Expanding the metric tensor in the stationary direction gives the useful exact identitiesTaking the exterior derivative givesThe fibered form of the metric tensor has determinant . Its inverse components needed for the flux areThereforesince . This calculation includes the rotational mixed term; dropping it prematurely would miss the exact cancellation.
With the stipulated negative coordinate orientation, . The pullback of the Hodge star operator to the constant- three-dimensional spacelike submanifold is consequentlyThe coordinate ranges and standard sphere identifications giveThus the five-dimensional Komar mass, in the normalization given and , isThe flux is already independent of in the vacuum region, so its limit at infinity has the same value. The negative orientation in the question is crucial for the positive sign; reversing that orientation reverses the flux.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 314 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Write for the constant isothermal sound speed squared and for the constant Alfvén speed squared. The horizontal magnetic field has no vertical magnetic tension; magnetostatic equilibrium isConsequently the magnetized isothermal atmosphere hasThe sign of specifies the orientation of the magnetic field. The adiabatic sound speed is , also constant.
For the proposed normal mode, let , , and temporarily write for its constant complex amplitude. The divergence amplitude is . Using and , the Eulerian and Lagrangian fluid perturbations giveSince , the magnetohydrodynamic total pressure amplitude isThe vertical derivative of is . For the magnetic tension perturbation, the terms proportional to from and cancel, leavingThus the linearization really reduces to the constant-coefficient eigenvalue problem
For a static ideal magnetohydrodynamics equilibrium with conservative gravitational acceleration, the magnetohydrodynamic energy principle gives a Hermitian operator for the restoring force in the mass density weighted inner product, provided the surface terms vanish. The factor removes the exponential mass density weight. This can be checked directly, without assuming stability: set , , and . Then , whereThis is a Hermitian matrix for real and real positive . Therefore every squared frequency is real; negative values give exponential growth, rather than an oscillation with a complex squared frequency. In an infinite atmosphere these are generalized plane waves, not finite-total-energy global modes.
At and , the equation, after cancelling its magnetic terms, gives . For nonzero magnetic field, the equation also gives . Substituting and then yieldsFor a nontrivial mode ; otherwise these equations and force every component to vanish. Substitution in the vertical equation givesFor example, the determinant provides an independent check:
To prove the claimed “if and only if”, rather than merely locating a zero eigenvalue, use the magnetic buoyancy energy criterionIf , every term is nonnegative, so all eigenvalues are nonnegative for every wavevector, including . If , choose , any fixed , and , , . The first two squares vanish; the remaining value iswhich is negative for sufficiently small nonzero . The Rayleigh quotient of this displacement is therefore negative, proving a negative eigenvalue and an unstable normal mode. This uses precisely the assumption that boundary conditions do not exclude the chosen wavelengths. Equality is a neutral threshold, not exponential growth.
Finally the plasma beta is . HenceThe magnetic field is assumed nonzero in the marginal-mode elimination and in the finite expression. The positive-sound-speed, nonmagnetic limit remains covered by the energy identity; for the usual it is stable. Parker instability occurs because magnetic pressure supports part of the atmosphere's weight while the gas can drain along gently bent magnetic field lines. The resulting buoyant displacement can release Newtonian gravitational potential energy; choosing long wavelengths along the magnetic field makes the stabilizing magnetic tension small. The completed-square calculation quantifies this competition, including the adiabatic process restoring force.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 342 1 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Reset when gravity is switched off. The subsequent overdamped relaxation of a clamped--free filament obeys with the same homogeneous endpoint conditions. Separate a normal mode as . Writing givesThe two clamp conditions reduce the general hyperbolic/trigonometric solution toThe two free-end conditions have matrixIts determinant is . Hence the clamped--free bending mode values satisfyThere is no zero mode: at zero eigenvalue is cubic, and the four clamp/free conditions force all coefficients to vanish. With the following normalization a mode isThe fourth-order operator is self-adjoint and positive under these endpoint conditions, since . Its orthogonal eigenfunction expansion givesFor the previously attained steady profile, the first coefficient is nonzero: is positive and the first mode can be chosen positive in the interior. Two applications of integration by parts, using both functions' endpoint conditions, also giveThus the dominant long-time answer, including its shape and amplitude, isThe next mode decays much faster. For other initial shapes with an accidentally zero first-mode projection, the lowest mode with determines the asymptotic behaviour. The decay time has the correct units and exhibits the strong dependence characteristic of bending opposed by local viscous drag.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 1 19H d Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
We prove the conjugate product of a quadratic ideal identity , which applies to the given two-generator ideal without assuming its displayed generators form an integral basis.
The quadratic ring of integers of a number field has a basis over : the vector 1 is primitive, since a rational algebraic integer must be an integer, and extends to an integral basis. Write , with . Let be the least positive integer in and let generate the set of coefficients of in elements of . Its lattice basis can be chosen as , with . Since , comparison of coefficients shows and . Write , and . ThenThe scaled ideal remains an -ideal. From we get , so . The product is generated as an ideal by and is contained in .
Moreover . If a prime divided all three, then and , so would satisfy the monic integer polynomial . It would lie in , impossible because its coefficient in the integral basis is . Bezout identity now expresses one as an integer combination of . Multiplying by , the terms are , , and , all in the product. Hence belongs to it, proving .
The determinant of the lattice basis gives the ideal norm . ConsequentlyIn particular is principal. This does not require the original to be nonzero or the ideal itself to be principal.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 3 12B Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
A fraction of adults survives each time step; is the adult mortality fraction. Adults produce larvae, which mature one step later with recruitment reduced by adult-dependent competition through . Eliminating larvae gives the second-order difference equationAt an equilibrium point, either orOnly nonnegative populations are admissible. At extinction the Jacobian matrix is and its characteristic polynomial is . Its positive root exceeds exactly when . For both roots have modulus less than ; at the roots are , so linearization is marginal. On the nonnegative state space extinction is still attracting at this equality: if two consecutive adult values are bounded by , the next is at most , with strict decrease away from zero; the maximum of two consecutive adult values strictly decreases after two steps whenever it is positive; continuity on its bounded state region then excludes a positive limiting maximum. Thus the extinction equilibrium point is unstable exactly when the positive equilibrium point exists, with equality understood through nonlinear rather than strict linear stability.
At the positive equilibrium point, the trace and determinant of the Jacobian matrix are and . The Jury stability criterion for requires , and . The strict linear stability analysis conditions areFor there is no upper bound on ; for the stable region is .
Stability regions and equilibrium branches
. At the lower boundary , the positive equilibrium point merges with extinction, with a multiplier and slow recovery. At the upper boundary a multiplier reaches (the other is ), giving alternating adult/larval fluctuations. The nonlinear map confirms a supercritical period-doubling bifurcation, as follows. For , put and . A nonconstant period-two adult sequence satisfies and . Subtracting and adding these equations givesThus positive unequal values emerge for , with amplitude proportional to . The two larval phases are . If are the trace and determinant of the two-step Jacobian matrix, direct multiplication givesAt onset and , so the other two strict Jury stability criterion inequalities hold for sufficiently small positive . Hence just beyond the upper boundary, a stable period-two population cycle replaces the stable equilibrium. This is a local conclusion, not stability for arbitrarily large reproduction rates.
At the upper boundary itself, the positive equilibrium point is still locally asymptotically stable, despite its multiplier . To decide this equality case, apply the centre manifold theorem for a discrete dynamical system. Put and write the centre graph as with . If the reduced map is , its invariance equation is . Expanding the original recruitment map and this equation through cubic order givesConsequently . The stability at a nondegenerate flip bifurcation criterion shows algebraic attraction on the centre direction; the transverse multiplier has modulus less than one. Including this boundary, the complete local asymptotic-stability condition for a positive population is thereforeThe shaded figure shows the strict linear-stability region; its upper boundary adds this nonhyperbolic attracting case.
Demographic stochasticity near the lower boundary can lead to absorption at extinction; near the upper boundary it excites alternating fluctuations and can blur the deterministic period-doubling bifurcation. These qualitative predictions depend on the chosen stochastic recruitment and mortality rules.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 3 17G c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Multiplicativity of the determinant gives and , so is a linear character. Its finite image is a cyclic group of roots of unity. If it contains , its order is and the character of a representation maps onto . The kernel of a group homomorphism is the preimage of its identity, so is a normal subgroup of index . The subgroup itself need not have index .
By Cauchy theorem for groups, a group of order has an involution . In the regular representation, left multiplication by is a permutation consisting of disjoint transpositions, so its determinant is when is odd. The preceding argument gives a normal subgroup of index two.
For a nonabelian simple group of order below , Burnside's theorem requires at least three distinct prime factors. An odd order with three factors is at least . An even order with exactly one factor of has a normal subgroup of index . Thus its order must be divisible by and by at least two odd primes. Below the only possibility is , since the next is . Hence .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 3 36D i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
At , choose local normal coordinates with . Let be their coordinate basis. The vectors and have zero metric tensor square, and their component matrix has determinant . Thus two independent null vectors form a basis of the tangent space. Normal coordinates are only needed at the chosen point, not on a whole neighbourhood with flat metric.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 4 13B Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
A positive spatially homogeneous equilibrium satisfies and , givingIt exists iff . The reaction Jacobian matrix isThus linear stability analysis gives strict homogeneous stability precisely whenThe boundaries are not included: at the linearization has purely imaginary exponents, and at the positive equilibrium ceases to exist.
For a mode , put . The perturbation matrix is . In the homogeneously stable region its trace is still negative, so a growing mode exists iff its determinant is negative:This upward quadratic is negative for some precisely whenSuch a Turing instability region is nonempty iff . The unstable band isFor a finite domain only the admissible boundary-condition wavenumbers in this band grow. The region shown below describes a continuous wavenumber spectrum.
At onset the minimum of is zero and . On the threshold , substitution gives . HenceThis last expression is the threshold wavenumber; away from onset the fastest-growing mode need not coincide with the minimum of the determinant.

