Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 4 4 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
A generic linear projection over an infinite field is not enough for the stated arbitrary field . Instead use Noether normalization by weighted substitutions to make the defining polynomial monic in one coordinate.
For , choose an integer at least every exponent occurring in a nonzero monomial of , put , and use the triangular polynomial change of variablesHere because the irreducible polynomial is nonconstant. This is an automorphism, with inverse , . A monomial contributes a highest powerThese weights are all distinct: the exponents are base- digits bounded by . All other terms in the expansion have smaller degree than that monomial's weight. Therefore the highest-degree term in the transformed comes from exactly one original monomial and has a nonzero coefficient in , independent of the other . No assumption about the cardinality or characteristic of enters this argument.
Multiply by the inverse of that coefficient to obtain a monic polynomial of some degree , where . The same construction for simply rescales to be monic over .
The monic polynomial quotient is finite free because division by gives a unique representative of degree less than . Thusas -modules. Uniqueness follows because any nonzero multiple of a monic has degree at least . In particular the map is injective.
The induced morphismis finite, since its coordinate algebra is a finite module, and flat, since tensoring with a finite free module is a finite direct sum of copies of the original module and preserves exactness. This is a finite flat Noether normalization of an affine hypersurface, with the explicit projection coordinates . The construction actually applies to any nonconstant polynomial, not only an irreducible one.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 13 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The point to retain in the direct-image theorem is quasi-compactness of inverse images of affine opens and of overlaps; no separation assumption has been supplied. The underlying space of a Noetherian scheme is Noetherian, so every open subset of is quasi-compact. Fix an affine open subscheme of , put , and choose a finite open cover by affine open subschemes . For each pair , choose a finite affine cover of . Empty overlaps contribute no terms.
Write . The sheaf gluing axiom gives the exact sequencewhere is the difference of the two restrictions to each overlap chart. All terms are -modules through . For , the inverse image of cuts each and by a principal open subscheme. Because is a quasi-coherent sheaf, sections on these smaller affine charts are the corresponding module localizations at . Exactness of localization and its commutation with finite products now identify the localized equalizer with the equalizer for the restricted cover. ThusThe isomorphisms respect restrictions, proving on the basis of principal open subschemes. Since was arbitrary, is a quasi-coherent sheaf. The finite covers of overlaps are what allow the proof to work for nonseparated Noetherian schemes; this is the quasi-coherence of direct image under a quasi-compact quasi-separated morphism.
For a quasi-coherent sheaf which is not coherent but has coherent direct image, use andThis infinite negative-twist sum with zero global sections is quasi-coherent: on each standard affine chart it is the sheaf associated with a direct sum of free rank-one modules. Its stalk at every point, modulo the maximal ideal, is an infinite-dimensional vector space. A finitely generated module would have a finite-dimensional quotient, so is not a coherent sheaf.
Nevertheless, . This follows from cohomology of twisting sheaves on projective space, or directly by gluing on the two standard affine charts: if , a section is a polynomial on the first chart and on the second with , which forces both to vanish. Global sections commute with this direct sum: they are the kernel of the difference map for the two-chart cover, and direct sums commute with that finite equalizer of modules. Hencewhich is coherent on . Both schemes in this example are Noetherian.
For a finite morphism, such an example is impossible. On an affine open subscheme of the target, its inverse image is , with a finite -module. Write . Its direct image corresponds to considered as an -module. If the direct image is coherent, is finitely generated over . The same generators also generate it over , because acts through . Since is Noetherian, is coherent. Conversely, a finite set of -generators combined with a finite set of -generators of gives finitely many -generators of . Thus coherence reflected by finite direct image gives the stronger equivalence
Finally, let , let be the punctured affine plane, and let be the open immersion. Both are integral schemes, but is not an isomorphism of schemes because it omits a point. The cover givesinside the field of fractions . Indeed, in a reduced fraction, membership in the first localization forces every denominator factor to be associated to , while membership in the second forces it to be associated to . Unique factorization and coprimality force the denominator to be a unit. By the theorem just proved, is quasi-coherent on the affine , hence determined by this module of global sections. The natural map corresponds to the identity of , soa coherent sheaf. This is a concrete case of codimension-two extension of regular functions on a normal variety.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 35 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Write , let be the identity matrix, let be the -by- all-ones matrix, and put , with one diagonal block per experimental block. The variance-covariance matrix isIts orthogonal decomposition is obtained by first subtracting each block's sample mean, then subtracting the grand sample mean from the block means. More explicitly, writing for coordinate in block , the three invariant subspaces areThey are pairwise orthogonal, with dimensions , and , and their direct sum is . On , both and vanish. On , and . On , and . Thus the eigenvalues and corresponding invariant subspaces areIf some eigenvalues coincide, their eigenspace is the direct sum of the listed subspaces with that value. Zero-dimensional rows are omitted when or . For an admissible covariance matrix the eigenvalues on nonzero subspaces must be nonnegative; these conditions are also sufficient for positive semidefiniteness. The expectation parameters do not affect this calculation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 36 4 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Interpret the angle as the directed subspace angle defined by the infimum of projected unit vectors; it is different from the smallest angle between two subspaces. WriteConsider the bounded linear operator given by . Its adjoint operator, between these two Hilbert spaces, is : for and , the orthogonal projections give . The two positive directed subspace angle cosines yieldThe first bound makes injective and gives a closed range. Explicitly, if converges, then , so is a Cauchy sequence. The closed subspace of a Hilbert space is complete, and its limit maps to the proposed range limit. The second bound gives . A vector orthogonal to the range has , so it must be zero. The range is therefore dense as well as closed in , and is onto. This is the mechanism of invertibility from lower bounds on an operator and its adjoint.
For any , choose the unique with . Then , so . Moreover, if , then and hence . Every vector has a unique decomposition, andThe direct sum is a topological one as well: the component depends boundedly on , with operator norm at most .
For precision, the quoted equality of the norms of complementary oblique projections needs both summands nonzero. For example, with , and , the oblique projection is , so but . The secant function has value one here, so the second equality in the quoted formula fails. With nonzero complementary summands its intended version is valid. The proof above does not use that formula. The angle itself is undefined on a zero source space because it has no unit vectors; expressing the hypotheses as the two lower bounds handles zero spaces without ambiguity.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 36 4 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Use . Positivity of the directed subspace angle cosine givesso is injective. The two vector spaces have the same finite dimension, . By the rank-nullity theorem, is also surjective. There is no need to assume a second positive directed subspace angle cosine in this finite-dimensional case.
For any , find with . Then . If , then , and injectivity gives . HenceThe direct sum is again bounded: . If , then and , so closedness of gives and the conclusion directly; no angle of an empty unit sphere is needed. Equal finite dimensions are essential to the surjectivity argument, whereas mere injectivity between infinite-dimensional Hilbert spaces is insufficient.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 36 4 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The linear independence of the first elements of each orthonormal system shows that and have the same finite dimension and are closed subspaces of a Hilbert space. Apply part (b) with and . Since , the positive directed subspace angle cosine givesLet be the oblique projection onto along . Define . Its residual is orthogonal to every with , so the required measurements agree. Conversely, if has the same measurements, then ; uniqueness of the direct sum decomposition gives . Thus this is finite-dimensional Hilbert sampling reconstruction.
There is also an explicit coefficient description. Use the inner product convention linear in its first entry and putThen . The orthonormal systems show and , so the smallest singular value of is . Hence , another direct proof of existence and uniqueness.
For , both summands of this direct sum are nonzero: the infinite orthonormal system contains . The permitted oblique projection norm formula therefore applies without its degenerate exception, givingThe operator norm immediately yields the stability estimate . For the approximation bounds, put . Because fixes , we haveso the operator norm estimate gives . For the lower bound, while . The Pythagorean identity givesThe unique measurement-matching reconstruction is stable and within the secant function factor of the best orthogonal projection approximation:If a zero-dimensional reconstruction is admitted, it is simply and its error equals the norm of ; that case is best stated directly instead of using the angle of a zero space.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 2 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The Weyl complete reducibility theorem states that every finite-dimensional Lie algebra representation of a finite-dimensional complex semisimple Lie algebra is a direct sum of Irreducible Lie algebra representations. Equivalently, every invariant vector subspace has an invariant complement.
We use the permitted Casimir operator properties in the following precise form. There is a central quadratic operator commuting with the action on every module; it is zero on the trivial Lie algebra representation, and on every nontrivial finite-dimensional Irreducible Lie algebra representation it is a nonzero scalar . This follows from the Schur lemma and the Casimir eigenvalue , using the Killing form normalization. We also use the permitted one-dimensional-representation fact: a complex semisimple Lie algebra has only trivial one-dimensional representations. Equivalently, it is a perfect Lie algebra, , so a character annihilating brackets must vanish. Neither fact assumes complete reducibility of the module being proved reducible.
First prove that every finite-dimensional short exact sequencewith trivial quotient splits. If is nontrivial irreducible, the Casimir operator has image in and restricts to there. Consequently is a one-dimensional invariant complement to . If is trivial irreducible, has a basis in which every action is . The Lie algebra representation identity makes , so the one-dimensional-representation fact gives and again the sequence splits.
For general , induct on . Choose an irreducible submodule . The induced sequence with kernel and middle term splits by induction. The inverse image of its invariant complement is a submodule fitting into . The irreducible-kernel case gives an invariant line in mapping isomorphically to the quotient. It is also an invariant complement to in . The case starts this induction. This proves splitting of a trivial quotient for a semisimple Lie algebra, including kernels that are not assumed completely reducible.
Now let be any invariant subspace. On the Hom representation the action isLet consist of the maps whose restriction to is a scalar multiple of . This is a submodule, and restriction givesThe right-hand map is surjective because an ordinary linear projection exists; its quotient action is trivial because a commutator with is zero. The splitting just proved supplies an invariant with . Thus intertwines the actions, , andThe cases and are immediate. Choosing an irreducible submodule and repeating this complement construction proves the Weyl complete reducibility theorem. This last step is invariant complement from an equivariant projection.
Dropping finite dimensionality gives an example with the complex simple Lie algebra . Its Verma module of highest weight zero has a basis withwhere . These actions obey , , . The span of is a proper submodule and the quotient is trivial. It has no invariant complement: such a complement would be a trivial line, while is injective on the entire module. Thus a simple Lie algebra can have an infinite-dimensional representation that is not completely reducible, even over .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 2 3 Solution 2026-10-06
Work over . Decompose as the direct sum of the generalized eigenspaces of . Define to be on and set . Then is a diagonalisable endomorphism, is a nilpotent endomorphism, and they commute. For uniqueness, any commuting decomposition has and commuting with , hence preserving each . Decompose further into eigenspaces of . On a nonzero such space with eigenvalue , the operator has only the eigenvalue , so . Since is diagonalizable, throughout . Thus and . This is the Additive Jordan decomposition.
The Chinese remainder theorem for the pairwise coprime polynomials also gives a polynomial with , where is the largest Jordan block size. Consequently and . This polynomial description shows that both parts preserve every -invariant subspace.
On the operator is the scalar , so it is diagonalizable. The nilpotence of commutation by a nilpotent endomorphism makes nilpotent. They commute, since . Uniqueness of the Additive Jordan decomposition therefore gives the adjoint compatibility of additive Jordan decomposition:Now let be a complex semisimple Lie algebra and . Since the semisimple part of is a polynomial in , it preserves . Thus . By the Weyl complete reducibility theorem, the Adjoint representation of on has a decomposition into invariant subspaces. Write with and . For , the vector lies in , and invariance of puts it in as well. Hence .
Decompose into Irreducible Lie algebra representations. Each is preserved by and by , hence by . The Schur lemma makes . A semisimple Lie algebra is a perfect Lie algebra, so every representing element of has zero trace on every . Also , because is nilpotent there. It follows that . In characteristic zero, , so . Therefore and . This proves that semisimple matrix Lie algebras are closed under additive Jordan decomposition, including representations with repeated isomorphic irreducible summands.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 2 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Define the exterior square over the arbitrary field by . Write the image of as . Then and ; the basis is with , in characteristic two as well. The exterior-power Lie algebra representation isThe tensor product of Lie algebra representations descends to this quotient: is a linear combination of square tensors, namely . On the wedge basis its coefficients follow directly from the original representing matrices. Expanding both actions shows .
The inclusions of and into their direct sum define the mapA combined basis shows that this sends a basis to the pure-, pure- and mixed wedge basis vectors, with no overlap and no omission. The defining action on each wedge proves equivariance. Hence the exterior square of a direct sum givesNo division by is involved, so the proof remains valid in characteristic two.
For the complex special linear Lie algebra , write for the irreducible highest-weight representation with Dynkin labels , and . First the sl3 decomposition of the symmetric-square dual tensor product isIndeed contraction is a surjective Lie algebra representation homomorphism onto . Its 15-dimensional kernel contains the highest-weight vector of weight . The Weyl dimension formula gives , and the Weyl complete reducibility theorem identifies the kernel and splits the map. With , the direct-sum identity reduces the requested calculation to , and .
For completeness, these decompositions can be checked entirely by formal characters. Let , , and . Then . The Weyl character formula takes the determinant formSubstitute into and collect the determinant characters. This gives the exterior square of the sl3 representation of highest weight (2,1) and the sl3 highest-weight tensor rule:The first line has dimensions ; the tensor product has dimension . Equivalently, enumerate weights with the sl3 interlacing character formula and subtract characters from the highest weight downwards. FinallyIts dimension is . The exterior square here is taken of the entire 18-dimensional tensor product; taking it only of would be a different representation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 101 6 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For a finitely generated module over the graded ring , with each of degree one, its Poincare series of a graded module isThis is also its Hilbert series. One usually takes ; allowing an integer grading also permits finitely many negative degrees. Homogeneous generators of degrees give a surjection , where the graded shift is defined by . Consequently every is a finite-dimensional vector space and for all sufficiently negative .
The Hilbert-Serre theorem in the standard grading saysFor a nonnegatively graded , the numerator is in . Equivalently, the only possible pole of this rational expression is at , with order at most .
We prove the Hilbert-Serre theorem by induction on the number of variables. For , and is a finite-dimensional graded module; thus is a Laurent polynomial. Suppose and putThe Hilbert basis theorem makes a Noetherian ring, so is a finitely generated module, as is . Both are graded modules killed by , hence finitely generated over .
The graded exact sequenceidentifies the kernel and cokernel of multiplication by . Taking the alternating sum of the finite-dimensional degree components yieldssoBy induction the right side has denominator , which proves the required denominator . Since has no negative powers when is nonnegatively graded, its Laurent polynomial numerator is an ordinary polynomial in that case.
For , this also implies the usual Hilbert polynomial consequence. Writing and usinggives, for all sufficiently large ,a polynomial in of degree at most . For , the graded pieces are eventually zero.
For the final request, a free resolution of is an exact sequencewith each a free module. In the graded setting we take finite direct sums of shifts and maps preserving degree. The resolution has length at most if for every . The syzygy modules are the successive kernels which record the relations among generators, then relations among those relations, and so on.
Put , the homogeneous maximal ideal with . Choose a homogeneous -basis of and lift it to . These lifts generate by the graded Nakayama lemma: a bounded-below graded module satisfying must be zero, since a nonzero homogeneous element of least degree could not be a sum of variables times elements of lower degrees. Apply this to the quotient by the submodule generated by the chosen lifts. This gives a surjection inducing an isomorphism modulo .
Its kernel is finitely generated because is a Noetherian ring. Repeat the construction for that kernel, then for each subsequent kernel. We obtain a minimal graded free resolution, meaningIndeed, at each stage the free cover induces an isomorphism modulo , so its kernel lies in times its source. The sequence is exact by construction, though it may at first appear infinite.
The Koszul complex on iswith basis vectors given degree one, and differentialThe hat means omission of that factor. Every pair of terms in cancels with opposite signs, so this is a chain complex. The sequence is a regular sequence: after quotienting by the first variables, the next variable is a non-zero-divisor in the remaining polynomial ring.
The Koszul complex is consequently exact in positive degrees and has , so it is a Koszul resolution of of length . For completeness, one proves this by induction: for one variable it is . Appending constructs the mapping cone of multiplication by on the previous chain complex. Its homology is zero in positive degrees because acts injectively on ; its degree-zero homology is the further quotient. Here a mapping cone combines a chain complex with a shifted copy and adds the given multiplication map to the differential, thereby measuring its kernel and cokernel on homology.
The Tor functor is defined as the degree- homology of for a free resolution of . It can equally be computed as the homology of , using the Koszul resolution of . To see the equality, form the double complex . Taking homology first along leaves , since each is a free module; taking homology first along leaves , since each is free. The finite sums along each total degree identify both with the homology of the total complex. This also explains the symmetry used in computing the Tor functor.
Since for , we have for . On the other hand, all differentials of the minimal graded free resolution become zero after tensoring with , soThus for , and the graded Nakayama lemma implies for those . We have proved the required Hilbert syzygy theorem:where some initial may be zero. The argument supplies finitely generated graded free modules, which is stronger than merely giving an ungraded free resolution.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 102 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The form attached to is . More generally, for a Lie algebra representation , the Trace form of a Lie algebra representation isThe unqualified Killing form is the special case of the Adjoint representation,The distinction matters: a Trace form of a Lie algebra representation can be degenerate even when is semisimple, for example on the trivial Lie algebra representation.
The Trace form of a Lie algebra representation is bilinear and symmetric, because . It is an invariant bilinear form on a Lie algebra:This follows by expanding both commutators and cyclically permuting factors under the matrix trace. Equivalently,Its radical of a bilinear form is an ideal of a Lie algebra, since if , then . The Killing form is also preserved by every automorphism of a Lie algebra, because the corresponding adjoint operators are conjugate. On a complex finite-dimensional Lie algebra, the Cartan criterion for semisimplicity says that the Killing form is nondegenerate exactly when the Lie algebra is semisimple. The Cartan solvability criterion says that is solvable exactly when .
We next construct the sl2 subalgebra associated with a root. Use the root-space decompositionFor , , invariance of the Killing form givesThus unless , and for nonzero . Nondegeneracy of on now implies that is a root and that pairs and nondegenerately.
Nondegeneracy of defines a unique byChoose and with . Their Lie bracket lies in the zero root space, namely , andTherefore .
The essential nonisotropic root lemma is that . Suppose instead that it vanished. Then , so would be a solvable Lie algebra with derived algebra . Apply the Lie theorem to its action on by the Adjoint representation. The commutator is strictly upper triangular in a suitable basis, hence nilpotent. But , so the root-space decomposition makes diagonalizable. A diagonalizable nilpotent linear map is zero. Thus is central in . The center of a Lie algebra of a semisimple Lie algebra is zero; equivalently a central element lies in the radical of the Killing form. This forces , contradicting .
Writing , defineThe root-space decomposition and giveThe three vectors are linearly independent because they lie in the distinct summands , , and . Their span is therefore a copy of the sl2 Lie algebra.
The weight lattice consists of the functionals integral on all coroots. With the coroot above, the weight lattice iswhere the fundamental weights satisfy for the simple roots . Here lies in the real span of the roots, viewed inside .
The classification of finite-dimensional sl2 representations says that every finite-dimensional complex sl2 Lie algebra representation is a direct sum of irreducibles , , on which the standard has eigenvalues . Restrict any finite-dimensional Lie algebra representation of to each sl2 subalgebra associated with a root. If has weight , then , so is an integer. Thus every weight lies in . The same restrictions show that the commuting simple coroots act diagonalizably, justifying the simultaneous weight-space decomposition.
For , the roots are , , and . Work on with the alternating bilinear form having matrixThe symplectic Lie algebra isUsing the matrix units , take the Cartan subalgebraDefine . A regular diagonal element of has centralizer precisely , and every element of acts diagonalizably. Thus it is a Cartan subalgebra. The requested Cartan decomposition is the root-space decompositionChoose positive roots , , , . The symplectic root sl2 triple are given explicitly byFor the negative root spaces, use the corresponding . These eight root vectors, together with , form a basis: the block description above has dimension , and the ten listed vectors are independent. Finally, the matrix unit identityverifies for every row. The diagonal differences verify and . Thus each row supplies a basis of the required sl2 subalgebra associated with a root.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 102 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Schur's lemma says that a nonzero intertwiner between irreducible representations is an isomorphism; over , every endomorphism of a finite-dimensional irreducible representation is scalar. To prove the Schur lemma, let be a intertwining operator between irreducible representations. Its kernel and image of a linear map are invariant. If , irreducibility forces and . This proves the first assertion over any field. In particular the endomorphisms of an irreducible representation form a division ring.
When is finite-dimensional over an algebraically closed field, an endomorphism has an eigenvalue . The endomorphism has nonzero kernel. By the first assertion it must be zero, so . Consequently, for complex finite-dimensional irreducible representations, the space of intertwining operators has dimension zero for nonisomorphic representations and dimension one for isomorphic representations.
Every finite-dimensional representation of a complex semisimple Lie algebra is completely reducible. We prove the Weyl complete reducibility theorem using the allowed Casimir operator facts, without assuming a splitting in advance. For dual bases with respect to the Killing form, the Casimir elementis central in the universal enveloping algebra. Hence its Casimir operator commutes with the action on every Lie algebra representation and is compatible with subrepresentations, quotient representations, and intertwining operators. On the trivial Lie algebra representation it acts by zero. On every nontrivial finite-dimensional Irreducible Lie algebra representation it acts by a nonzero scalar.
For clarity, the last fact can be expressed by the Casimir eigenvalue formula: on an irreducible with dominant integral weight , the scalar is , with the inner product induced by the Killing form and the half-sum of positive roots. On the real span of the weights this inner product is positive definite, and the scalar is positive for . For a semisimple Lie algebra with several simple factors the scalars add, so a nontrivial representation still gives a nonzero scalar. These are properties of the Casimir operator being used here.
First establish Casimir splitting of a trivial quotient. Supposeis a short exact sequence of finite-dimensional Lie algebra representations, with trivial quotient. The generalized eigenspaces of are invariant, soEach with maps to zero under : applying a sufficiently large power of and using gives . Thus .
Take a composition series of a module of . The Casimir operator is nilpotent on , so its scalar on every irreducible composition factor is zero. The stated Casimir operator property makes every such factor trivial. In a basis adapted to the composition series of a module, the image of on therefore consists of strictly upper triangular matrices, so that image is solvable. The allowed fact that a semisimple Lie algebra acts trivially on every one-dimensional representation implies that is a perfect Lie algebra: otherwise a nonzero linear functional on would define a nontrivial one-dimensional Lie algebra representation. Thus , and its image is consequently a perfect Lie algebra too. A perfect Lie algebra that is also a solvable Lie algebra is zero, since its derived series of a Lie algebra is constant until it vanishes. Hence acts trivially on . Choose with . The map is an invariant section, proving the split short exact sequence assertion.
Now let be any nonzero subrepresentation. On the Hom representation the action isConsider the invariant subspaceRestriction produces a short exact sequenceSurjectivity follows by extending to a linear map on . The quotient is trivial, because commutes with the action on . The preceding Casimir splitting of a trivial quotient yields an invariant with . Thusand is invariant. The zero subrepresentation also has a complement. Repeatedly splitting off an irreducible subrepresentation now gives a direct sum of irreducibles, proving the Weyl complete reducibility theorem.
A derivation of a Lie algebra is a linear map satisfying the Leibniz ruleThe space is a vector subspace of . Equip it with the commutator . Expanding the Leibniz rule twice givesSubtracting proves that is again a derivation of a Lie algebra. Antisymmetry and the Jacobi identity hold for the commutator in every associative endomorphism algebra, so this defines the derivation Lie algebra.
The Jacobi identity says that is a derivation of a Lie algebra. Moreover, for ,soThis makes an ideal of a Lie algebra in .
Finally suppose is semisimple. Let act on by . The Weyl complete reducibility theorem supplies an invariant complement to . For , invariance gives , while the ideal identity above gives . Their intersection is zero, so for every . The center of a Lie algebra of a semisimple Lie algebra is zero, hence for every , and . ThereforeEvery derivation of a Lie algebra is inner, and the element giving it is unique because the center of a Lie algebra vanishes.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 1 9F iii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
True. Use the lifted basis above and put . If , applying gives , so all . Thus the form a basis of , and takes this basis to the basis of . It is a linear isomorphism.
In fact the right inverse gives the stronger splittingFor every , write ; the first term is in the kernel and the second in . Their intersection is zero because is injective. This is a direct sum decomposition.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 1 9F iv Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
False. Take , , , , and . Then is a direct sum, but , so their intersection is not zero. Their ordinary sum is , as always follows from surjective function and ; the failure is precisely the direct sum assertion.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 1 9F v Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
False. Take , , and . Then , but because is missing. Thus the premise does not force spanning. It need not force zero intersection either: with the same , take and . Their images still have a direct sum, while .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 2 1F Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
For a linear map with a finite-dimensional vector space, the rank-nullity theorem isChoose a basis of the kernel of a linear map and extend it to a basis of . The vectors span the image of a linear map, because the kernel basis contributes zero. If , then belongs to the kernel and is a combination of the ; independence of the extended basis makes every . Thus the image basis has elements and , proving the theorem.
For a rank-two map on , the direct sum occurs for : its kernel is and its image is . It fails for : the kernel is , contained in the two-dimensional image . The rank-nullity theorem fixes the sum of the dimensions, but does not imply zero intersection.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 4 1F Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
For a basis of the real vector space , the Gram-Schmidt process constructs an orthonormal basis successively:The inner product makes orthogonal to all earlier . Moreover , since otherwise would be a linear combination of its predecessors, contrary to linear independence. Induction gives . Starting with a basis of a linear subspace and extending it to a basis of gives the same construction with the first vectors spanning .
The orthogonal complement is . For every , set . Then and . If , then , so by definiteness of the inner product. Thus the direct sum isThis also covers and .
For the polynomial space, the form is immediately a symmetric bilinear form, and . A nonzero polynomial of degree of a polynomial at most two cannot have three distinct roots of a polynomial, so this form is an inner product for . For , the nonzero polynomial has . Therefore, among the stipulated positive integers,