Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ii Paper 1 30B i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Write and . The characteristic flow map solves . Its vector field is globally Lipschitz continuous, so Picard-Lindelöf theorem gives a unique global flow with inverse . Also .
The proposed Dirac measure is the unit mass at . For every compactly supported smooth test function ,This is the weak formulation of , equal to the Liouville equation because . The initial unit mass is recovered at . The characteristic equations are precisely , ; the time-derivative dots, lost in the converted text, are present in the PDF.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 31 2 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The empirical spectral measures of the two real symmetric matrices arewhere is the Dirac measure at . Thus . Pair the eigenvalues in the specified increasing order and apply the triangle inequality followed by Lipschitz continuity with bound :This deterministic estimate uses only the Lipschitz bound; no entry independence or distributional hypothesis is needed here.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 44 1 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Define , where is the Dirac measure at . For the full sigma-algebra of subsets of a finite , affineness directly gives .
The statement also holds for an arbitrary sigma-algebra on a finite set. List each atom of a sigma-algebra as and choose . Points in one atom have identical Dirac measures on this sigma-algebra, so is constant on each atom and is measurable. Every probability measure decomposes as , whenceThis is the expected utility representation on a finite measurable space. It does not silently assume that each singleton is measurable.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 34 1 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Conditioning on the intensity in the Poisson mixture givesThus has the negative binomial distribution with two successes and success probability , counting failures; explicitly for . The probability generating function is finite for real .
The claim-size moment-generating function is . Substituting into the aggregate moment-generating function and using givesPut , the moment-generating function of an exponential distribution with rate . The identitythen yieldsThe gamma-mixed Poisson aggregate with exponential claims has three nonnegative mixture weights summing to one. By uniqueness of the moment-generating function near zero, the aggregate distribution isHere is the Dirac measure at zero. In particular , consistently with . The positive components have respective expected values and ; their mixture distribution accounts for the possibility of no aggregate payout.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 37 5 d 3 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For the Random-scan Gibbs sampler, the correct transition kernel is a measure, since a one-coordinate update is singular with respect to full-dimensional Lebesgue measure when . Write for all coordinates except . ThenEach Dirac measure fixes an unupdated coordinate. Equivalently, , with placed in coordinate . Replacing this kernel by an ordinary density on the whole product space would omit those fixed-coordinate constraints.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 201 1 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Put as above. Centering the linear interpolation also interpolates the centered values: for ,The absolute value of this convex combination is at most the larger endpoint absolute value. For every fixed , part (c) therefore givesHence there is uniform convergence on compacts in probability to the deterministic path , by Markov inequality. Equip with its standard compact-open topology, metrized byFor each finite number of terms their suprema converge to zero in probability, and the remaining tail is bounded deterministically by . Thus in probability. Convergence in probability to a deterministic point implies weak convergence of probability measures, so the fluid limit isHere is the Dirac measure concentrated on that continuous path. The topology is locally uniform convergence; no assertion of uniform convergence over the entire unbounded half-line is needed. The interpolation is intended for integers , including the initial interval . If the PDF's is interpreted as strictly positive integers, that initial piece is omitted from the displayed definition and must be supplied by the same formula using .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 3 26K d Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
The almost-sure bound gives , so Slutsky theorem transfers both consistency and the asymptotic normal law to . The continuous mapping theorem and delta method then giveIf , the latter is the Dirac measure at zero, conventionally a degenerate normal distribution; a nondegenerate second-order limit would need a different normalization and extra smoothness.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 106 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The Mazur theorem states that the weak closure and norm closure of a convex set in a normed vector space coincide:Norm closure is contained in weak closure because the weak topology is coarser. Conversely, if , the Hahn-Banach separation theorem provides a continuous real linear functional strictly separating from that closed convex set. In a complex space this is the real part of a continuous complex linear functional. A weak neighborhood of then misses , so . This proves the equality. It also gives the usual Mazur lemma: if , then lies in the norm closure of the convex hull of each tail, so one can choose tail convex combinations with .
Now let be a weakly compact set in a normed space . Each is bounded on because it is weakly continuous. The family in , where is the canonical embedding into the bidual, is therefore pointwise bounded. The space is Banach even if is not. Apply the Uniform boundedness principle and use to obtainThis proves that a weakly compact set is norm bounded without assuming completeness of the original space.
For the real-valued dual and integral formulas that follow, take to be real, as in the PDF. In a complex space the norming formula uses real parts, and the integral identities use complex-valued functionals instead.
If the separable Banach space is nonzero, choose a norm-dense sequence in its unit sphere. By the Hahn-Banach theorem, choose with and . For any unit vector , arbitrarily close satisfyScaling gives the countable norming family identityFor use the constant sequence of zero functionals. If is norm-Borel measurable, every is measurable, so its countable supremum is measurable. Equivalently, this also follows directly from continuity of the norm.
For any , continuity makes measurable, andThus the assumed integrability of the norm implies scalar integrability, anddefines a bounded linear functional on . Use the granted weak-star continuity of . By the continuous dual of a weak-star topology, is evaluation at a vector of . Indeed, continuity gives finitely many and such that whenever for all . Scaling shows that vanishes on the common kernel of these evaluations. It therefore factors through their finite-dimensional coordinate map, so . The Hahn-Banach theorem makes this representing vector unique. HenceIn this separable setting the vector is the Bochner integral.
Return to a weakly compact set and its inclusion . For each fixed , the identity makes weakly Borel measurable. Norm balls are consequently weakly Borel measurable. Separability gives a countable base of such balls, so every norm-open set is weakly Borel measurable. This proves measurability of , and establishes the equality of the weak and norm Borel sigma-algebras in a separable Banach space.
Put . For every finite signed Borel measure on ,For positive measures this is the integral in the question. For signed measures, the correct integrability condition uses the variation measure; define the integral by taking the difference of the positive and negative integrals. The printed in this clause should be , the domain of the inclusion.
The Riesz-Markov-Kakutani representation theorem now defines the bounded linear mapFor each the restriction is in , andThe right side is weak-star continuous in . The defining property of the weak topology therefore proves that is weak-star-to-weak continuous, for arbitrary nets. For a Dirac measure, .
If , let be its regular probability measures. This is a weak-star closed subset of : its conditions are and for every nonnegative . It is compact by Banach-Alaoglu theorem. Thus is weakly compact and convex, and contains because it contains all . It is weakly closed, hence norm closed, so it contains . By Mazur theorem, is weakly closed. Therefore it is a closed subset of the weakly compact set , provingThe empty case is immediate. In fact : a barycenter of a measure on a Banach space outside would be strictly separated by a functional , contradicting .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 108 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The Rudolph measure rigidity theorem has an essential ergodicity hypothesis. If a Borel probability measure on the circle group is invariant under both and , is ergodic for the semigroup generated jointly by these maps, and either map has positive Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy, thenEquivalently, a jointly ergodic common invariant measure other than Lebesgue measure has zero entropy for both maps. Joint ergodicity means that every set invariant modulo under both maps has measure zero or one. Positive entropy without this hypothesis is insufficient: , with a Dirac measure, is a common invariant measure of positive entropy and is not .
The Host equidistribution theorem states that if are relatively prime integers and is invariant and ergodic under , with , then for -almost every the sequence is an equidistributed sequence for Lebesgue measure. Explicitly, for every continuous on the circle,The non-ergodic form assumes invariance and positive entropy for almost every component in the ergodic decomposition . Applying the ergodic theorem of Host on each such component gives the same almost-everywhere conclusion for . More generally, its conclusion holds on the part supported on positive-entropy components. A positive value of alone does not eliminate zero-entropy components.
To deduce the joint version of the Rudolph measure rigidity theorem, suppose ; if only has positive entropy, interchange the roles. Write the ergodic decomposition as . Since commutes with , its pushforward measure sends a ergodic component to a ergodic component . On each component, is a factor of a measure-preserving system with fibres of size at most three. We use the standard entropy preservation under a finite-to-one factor:The reason for this standard entropy fact is that, conditional on a complete factor point, every finite orbit name has at most three possibilities; its conditional entropy is bounded by , and division by the orbit length gives zero relative entropy.
The component at is almost everywhere; this follows from commutation and the componentwise ergodic averages. The component entropy function is therefore invariant under both and . Joint ergodicity makes it constant almost everywhere, and affinity of entropy under ergodic decomposition identifies the constant as . Thus almost every component has positive entropy, exactly the condition required in the non-ergodic Host equidistribution theorem. It follows that -almost every point equidistributes for under .
For any continuous , invariance under and the dominated convergence theorem now giveContinuous functions determine Borel probability measures on the circle, so , proving the deduction.
For the normal-number example, let be independent fair binary digits and defineThis Cantor Bernoulli measure is supported on the middle-third Cantor set . If is the Bernoulli shift, then on the circle. Consequently is invariant and ergodic: a invariant event pulls back to an invariant event, which has probability zero or one.
Take the ternary digit measurable partition . Its block partition of length has, up to null endpoints, positive-measure atoms under , each of measure , and all other atoms have measure zero. HenceApply the Host equidistribution theorem with , . For -almost every , the sequence equidistributes for Lebesgue measure, so is a normal number in base by normality and equidistribution under integer multiplication.
The ternary expansion of -almost every such contains only and , so the frequency of digit is zero rather than . The ambiguous ternary endpoints form a countable null set and can be removed. Therefore is not a normal number in base . We have proved the stronger almost-everywhere existence statement
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 348 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
For a cost that is a Borel measurable function, a transport map is a measurable whose pushforward measure satisfiesThe Monge optimal transport problem moves every source point to one destination:The Kantorovich optimal transport problem permits mass to split. Its admissible transport plans are the probability measures on with prescribed marginal distributions:Thus a transport plan is a coupling of probability distributions. The set is never empty: it contains the product measure . Signed costs can also be used when their integrals are well defined, for example with an integrable lower bound of the form .
On the Polish space , take the Dirac measuresEvery measurable map satisfies , which cannot equal . A transport map cannot split an atom of a measure, whereas the transport plan can.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 348 1 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The intended monotone rearrangement isHere is the quantile function of , agreeing with the ordinary inverse when is continuous and strictly increasing. With an atomless measure , its cumulative distribution function is continuous, and the probability integral transform makes uniform on for . Thus . The one-dimensional monotone rearrangement theorem says this transport map minimizes the cost for convex continuous , whenever the cost integrals are well defined. Values at exceptional endpoints may be chosen arbitrarily.
The printed assumptions omit an essential source condition. Invertibility of alone does not ensure an admissible transport map. For example, and a standard normal distribution satisfy the stated condition on , but is always a Dirac measure. There is no solution to the Monge optimal transport problem in this example. The boxed answer therefore requires the additional assumption that is an atomless measure, or an equivalent condition making the displayed map admissible. For arbitrary sources the always admissible monotone transport plan is , which need not be induced by a map.
SetSymmetry here means , so and . The bounded Hessian matrix and the fact that is an orthogonal matrix giveThus the particle system is . On the configuration space with norm , its vector field has Lipschitz constant at most :The Picard-Lindelöf theorem gives local existence and uniqueness. Linear growth and the Gronwall inequality give , which rules out escape to infinity in finite time and extends the solution to every .
The associated empirical measure isHere each is a Dirac measure. The finite first absolute moment follows from . Pairing equal particle labels defines a coupling, soConsequently
Use the corrected piecewise-deterministic Markov process from part (b). For a smooth test function , its time-dependent infinitesimal generator isIndeed, over an interval of length , deterministic motion contributes , while a jump has probability and changes the conditional mean of by . Terms involving both drift and a jump contribute only to the remainder. Thus .
The Dynkin formula, or this infinitesimal expansion integrated against the current probability distribution, gives the weak evolution identityTake , so integration by parts has no boundary contribution. Assuming the displayed jump integrals are finite, Fubini's theorem givesConsequently the forward equation of a piecewise-deterministic Markov process isHere is the formal adjoint operator acting on probability density functions. Its terms are transport, loss from , and incoming mass from every . In particular, the incoming rate is , evaluated at the departure state. The operator denoted in the source is generally time-dependent. Because , the gain and loss integrals cancel; with vanishing transport flux at infinity, .
The deterministic initial state in part (b) does not actually yield an everywhere smooth full density. For finite times the no-jump contribution is the positive measurewhere is the Dirac measure at . Smooth jump destination probability density functions cannot remove this positive atom. The density equation above is therefore conditional on the extra density hypothesis, for example with a suitable random initial probability density function. For the specified fixed initial state, write for the whole probability measure and use insteadThis weak measure evolution includes both the atom and any continuous component. It becomes the displayed partial differential equation whenever with the assumed regularity. It does not describe the literal hidden-reset construction without the correction in part (b).
Point process Created 2026-10-07 Updated 2026-10-14
A point process records random locations by a random measure that counts them. Examples include arrival times of a queue, positions of stars, and the finite eigenvalue configuration of a random matrix. The count in an observation window is a random variable; its expected value is supplied by the intensity measure of a point process, while its fluctuations and relationships with other windows require more information.
For a precise spatial convention, take with its Borel sigma-algebra and a probability space . A locally finite point process is a measurable function from to the space of locally finite point measures, equipped with the sigma-algebra generated by evaluations for Borel sets . Each realization has the formwhere is finite or countable and repeated locations are allowed; is a Dirac measure. Here a point measure is a counting measure with possible multiplicities, rather than the counting measure of a set of distinct locations.[ref]
Lectures on the Poisson Process by Günter Last and others. Section 2.1, Definition 2.1, printed pp. 10-11: point measures and the sigma-algebra generated by evaluations
Local finiteness means for every bounded Borel set , on a single almost sure event. In it suffices to check the countable collection of balls of integer radius centered at the origin, and this is equivalent to finiteness on every compact set. On a general measurable space there is no notion of boundedness without additional structure: state a metric or an explicit family of observation windows. Another convention on locally compact spaces requires finiteness on compact sets; this need not coincide with finiteness on all bounded sets outside . Local finiteness does not require finitely many points in all of .[ref]
Lectures on the Poisson Process by Günter Last and others. Section 2.4, Definitions 2.11 and 2.13, printed pp. 16-17: bounded-set local finiteness and the countable ball exhaustion
Simple locally finite point measure 2026-10-14
A point measure is a countable sum of Dirac measures. It is simple if all its atoms have mass one, and locally finite if every bounded set has finite mass. Simplicity lets fine enough cells count individual points, whereas occupation indicators would lose multiplicities in a nonsimple measure.
Support of a measure 2026-10-06
For a positive Borel measure on a topological space, the support consists of the points whose every open neighborhood has positive measure. For a finite regular complex measure use its variation measure. Regularity makes the complement of the support null: compact subsets of that open complement have finite covers by null neighborhoods. A regular probability measure on a compact Hausdorff space whose support is a single point is therefore a Dirac measure.