Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 14 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The Frankl-Wilson theorem in its uniform form says: let be a prime number, let have size , and let have , while for every distinct pair of members. Then
The modular-intersection, nonuniform form of the Frankl-Wilson theorem is as follows. Let be a prime number, let have elements, and let satisfy for each , whereas for distinct . ThenThis nonuniform Frankl-Wilson theorem allows different sizes and different diagonal residues; in particular it applies when all sizes have one common residue outside .
To prove it by the polynomial method in combinatorics, work over the finite field and associate to each member the intersection polynomialReplace each positive power of in its expansion by to obtain its multilinear reduction on the Boolean cube . This preserves evaluation on every characteristic vector, whose coordinates are zero or one, and leaves degree at most . At the characteristic vector ,It is zero for distinct , and nonzero for by the diagonal hypothesis. If , evaluating at each forces . Thus the multilinear polynomials are linearly independent. They belong to the vector space with basis the square-free monomials for , whose dimension is the displayed sum. This proves the nonuniform form, including , where distinct members are impossible and the empty product is one.
For the sharp uniform form, we need the low-degree evaluation rank on a uniform layer. Form the integer matrix whose rows are indexed by with , columns by -subsets , and entries . These are evaluations of the square-free monomials. Over the rational numbers, the row of a -subset satisfiesIndeed, when the left side counts the -subsets between and , and otherwise both sides vanish. Since , the coefficient is a positive integer. Thus the degree- rows span all the rows over the rational numbers, giving . Every square submatrix of larger size has integer determinant zero, so its determinant remains zero modulo . HenceThis reduction of matrix rank is the reason one must not try to divide by directly in .
The evaluations of the on the th uniform layer of the Boolean cube lie in the row linear span of over . They are linearly independent as functions there, because restriction to the columns corresponding to still gives the nonzero diagonal evaluation matrix. Their number is consequently at most . This completes the proof of the uniform Frankl-Wilson theorem as well.
For the odd-cardinality problem the sharper Oddtown theorem follows directly from linear algebra. Let be the characteristic vector. The parity conditions sayFor any linear combination , take its dot product with . All off-diagonal terms vanish, leaving . Hence these vectors are linearly independent in an -dimensional vector space, givingThe singleton sets show that the bound can be attained. Notice why the constant term in the general nonuniform Frankl-Wilson theorem is unnecessary here: these dot products already give a diagonal evaluation matrix using only the coordinate functions.
For even , partition into the pairs and take every union of a selection of these pairs. This gives exactly distinct sets, including the empty set. Each has even size; every pairwise intersection is again a union of entire pairs and therefore has even size. This attains the proposed bound.
For any set family satisfying the even-cardinality conditions, let be the linear span of its characteristic vectors over . Now the self-dot products vanish as well as the off-diagonal ones. By bilinearity, for all , so : it is a self-orthogonal binary subspace.
For completeness the standard bilinear form on is nondegenerate, because a vector orthogonal to every coordinate vector has every coordinate zero. Thus the map from onto the dual space is surjective: every linear functional on extends to the whole vector space by extending a basis, and every such functional on is a dot product with a vector. Its kernel is . The rank-nullity theorem consequently gives . The inclusion implies . Finally, distinct members have distinct characteristic vectors, all in , and a -dimensional vector space over has exactly elements. ThereforeThis proves the Eventown theorem and also explains the suggested dimension contradiction if the set family had more than members.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 2 5 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let have dimension over , with a nondegenerate alternating bilinear form . The symplectic group isIt acts freely and transitively on ordered symplectic bases. Choose the first vector in ways, then choose with in ways. Their span is nondegenerate, so choose the remaining symplectic basis in its orthogonal complement. This gives the recurrenceand therefore
For the permutation module with even, put andIt is invariant under coordinate permutations and has codimension one. The dot product restricted to is alternating because . Since the ambient dot product is nondegenerate, . Evenness of ensures , soHere the word symplectic must be understood as an alternating form before quotienting: a form with a nonzero radical is degenerate. The nondegenerate symplectic form is induced on , of dimension .
Now put . Coordinate permutations preserve the induced form and give a homomorphism . To see it is faithful for , suppose a permutation acts trivially on . For every pair of distinct indices,The two weight-two vectors could differ by only if the complement of a two-element set also had size two. For that is impossible. Thus preserves every two-element set, and hence fixes every index: intersect two such sets with one common element. ThereforeFor , both groups have order , and the injection is onto. This provesThe lower bound matters: for the action on the quotient has the Klein four-group as group homomorphism kernel. The construction is the deleted permutation module in characteristic two.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 ia Paper 1 6C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
In an oriented orthonormal coordinate system, the dot product and cross product areThe scalar triple product is ; equivalently it is the determinant of the matrix whose columns are . The three vectors have linear independence when
Let and be column matrices. Since , we have . Multiplicativity of the determinant and its invariance under matrix transpose yieldA square matrix has maximal matrix rank exactly when its determinant is nonzero, equivalently when its columns have linear independence. A product of two real numbers is nonzero exactly when both factors are nonzero. Hence .
For the last construction, choose two standard basis vectors in and take for . If with , its first two coordinates give and , hence . Every pair therefore has linear independence. Every triple lies in the two-dimensional linear span of and has linear dependence. More explicitly, for distinct ,a nontrivial dependence. Thus .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 61 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For a circular orbit the origin of mean anomaly is arbitrary because there is no distinguished pericentre. Choose at the ascending node, so is also the argument of latitude. If a different periapsis convention is used, replace below by . The orbital-frame rotation from inclination and node givesIn particular the crossing at has increasing for prograde and , confirming the ascending node convention.
Put and . The binomial series expansion of the direct disturbing function isThe indirect disturbing function subtracts , cancelling the dipole term. The constant has no spatial derivative and does not perturb the particle. After omitting that constant, the leading stellar quadrupole disturbing function isThus the PDF's equality is understood modulo a dynamically irrelevant additive constant and higher multipoles.
Define and let be the star's orbital longitude as seen from the planet. Its orbital plane has . The vector from planet to star is the negative of the planet's heliocentric vector: if describes that latter vector, use . This sign matters in but drops out of . Expanding the two rotated unit vectors givesFor example, the particle's horizontal correction is , while its vertical component is ; their dot products with the corresponding stellar components produce these terms. No cubic terms occur because simultaneous reversal of both small orbital inclinations leaves the dot product unchanged.
The two mean longitudes are uniform for the circular Kepler orbits, so orbit averaging is uniform in both and . Set and through quadratic order. The needed averages follow by integrating sine and cosine products over :For the last identity, expand and factor the two integrations, each using . Squaring now yieldswhere the error includes all fourth-order combinations of the two orbital inclinations. ThereforeMultiplying this by gives the requested secular disturbing function. Equivalently, the exact angular factor for two circular rings is , where is their mutual inclination; its small-angle expansion gives the same result. This is the double-averaged circular tidal potential.
For aligned equatorial and planetary orbital planes, set . The secular stellar quadrupole disturbing function then has derivative . The supplied Lagrange planetary equations for nodal precession givesThe planetary quadrupole coefficient contributes , henceBoth are retrograde nodal precession rates. Equating them cancels and gives the Laplace radiusThe planetary quadrupole dominates inside and the stellar tide outside it. These are small-inclination rates for planet-bound Kepler orbits in the hierarchical regime . At exactly , the node itself is undefined; the rates are the limiting precession frequencies of an infinitesimal tilt.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2011 ia Paper 1 5C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
In the parametric description, is a point of the straight line and the nonzero vector gives its direction. The real parameter runs through every point of that line. For the cross product description, take another cross product with and use the vector triple product identity:Hence every solution has the representationHere and , as required. Conversely,Thus the perpendicularity assumption is sufficient, and the solutions form a straight line parallel to . When , the vector is perpendicular both to and to every position vector on the line; it is the normal to the plane through the origin containing that line. The point is the perpendicular foot from the origin. Its distance from the origin is , since .
For a general parametric straight line, minimize the squared Euclidean distanceThis strictly convex quadratic function has its unique minimum at , giving the orthogonal projectionFor the cross product description, , so this becomes
For the two planes, put and . Nonparallel unit normals give and . Seek the perpendicular foot in their span, . Its two dot products impose and . Solving gives both requested descriptions of the intersection:andIndeed the vector triple product identity gives . Conversely, since are linearly independent, equality to forces both plane equations. Thus neither description introduces extra points.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2011 ia Paper 3 3C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Differentiate the position vector with respect to each of the spherical polar coordinates. The derivatives areTheir lengths give the scale factors of orthogonal coordinates:Dividing the derivatives by these lengths yieldsEach has unit length. For example, ; the other two dot products vanish because their first two terms cancel. Thus these are mutually orthogonal vectors, and the total differential has the required form. The coordinates degenerate at and on the polar axis, but this does not affect an area integral.
On the parametrized surface , use as parameters. The surface integral area element isFor , its lateral area, with no closing disk, is thereforeAt the surface collapses to a line and its area is zero.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ia Paper 1 6A i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
View a possible complex eigenvector using the Hermitian inner product. For a real symmetric matrix, , so is real. Since and , every eigenvalue is real.
For eigenvectors with distinct eigenvalues , symmetry givesso . In particular, real eigenvectors are orthogonal in the real dot product.
Use the permitted diagonalizability assumption to take bases of the real eigenspaces whose union spans . Apply the Gram-Schmidt process within each eigenspace. Its linear combinations remain eigenvectors of that same eigenvalue; vectors in different eigenspaces are already orthogonal. The resulting union is an orthonormal basis of eigenvectors, giving an orthogonal diagonalization of a real symmetric matrix.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 38 6 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The mark-to-market value of holdings in the asset-price vector is the dot product . A self-financing strategy pays for every rebalancing from within the portfolio. Over a short interval, the gains on the currently held assets are , while consumption removes units of wealth. ThereforeThe holdings are predictable and integrable against the price semimartingale; the consumption rate is nonnegative and suitably measurable. This is the continuous-time self-financing-with-consumption convention.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 ia Paper 1 2C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Denote the four displayed matrices, from left to right, by . An orthogonal matrix has an orthonormal set of columns, equivalently . Direct column dot products give for . The first column of has squared Euclidean norm , so the third matrix is the unique nonorthogonal matrix.
For , the determinant is . A nonidentity orthogonal transformation of with determinant is a rotation: it has a fixed axis and restricts to a plane rotation on its orthogonal complement. Consequently is the rotation.
For , calculation givesA plane reflection fixes its entire plane, and therefore has eigenvalue . Since is invertible, is not a plane reflection. Thus is the combination of a rotation and a reflection. More explicitly, is an eigenvector with eigenvalue . On the perpendicular plane, is a rotation with , because . This gives a three-dimensional improper orthogonal transformation.
For , set . ThenThis reflection matrix reverses the normal and fixes every vector perpendicular to . Therefore is reflection in the plane . In particular, and . Finally represents none of the three listed orthogonal transformations, since each preserves the Euclidean norm.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 ia Paper 1 5B i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
The Cauchy-Schwarz inequality in isHere the Euclidean norm is induced by the dot product. If , the result is immediate. If , the squared Euclidean norm of the component of perpendicular to is nonnegative:Rearrangement proves the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality. Equality holds precisely when and are linearly dependent, including the cases of a zero vector.
Expanding the squared Euclidean norm and using the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality givesTaking nonnegative square roots gives the triangle inequality. Applying the triangle inequality once more gives
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 63 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Take the sky frame and disk frame to be right-handed orthonormal bases, with positive angular displacement measured from toward . In particular, positive is toward the observer, so material crossing the sky plane with positive is at the ascending node. Write , , , and . The disk frame's first unit vector lies along its ascending node, and its second has positive component. The orbital-frame rotation from inclination and node therefore givesEach column is a disk-frame unit vector in sky coordinates, so and the inverse is . At the disk's ascending node, the component of its tangential velocity is positive, confirming the sign of the tilt.
Let define a provisional planet frame whose first axis is the planet's sky-plane ascending node. Its normal is . Expressing that normal in the disk orthonormal basis, with , givesThe last component is the dot product of the two orbital normals, hence the cosine of the mutual inclination. The mutual ascending node points along : motion there has positive disk-normal component. SetThen , and the quadrant-correct longitude of ascending node is . ThusThe tangent alone cannot fix the quadrant, and is undefined for exactly coincident orbital planes.
For the two rotation routes, define as the oriented angle, within the planet's orbital plane, from its sky-plane ascending node to its disk-plane ascending node. If are the first two columns of , take . Both routes describe the same planet orthonormal basis:The left route goes through the disk frame; the right goes through the sky-node planet frame. Comparing their third columns gives the two boxed relations, while comparison of first columns fixes the extra in-plane angle.
Put and . A second-order Taylor expansion gives , and therefore the mutual inclination of nearly edge-on orbits satisfiesAll expansion angles are in radians. For plotting in degrees this is . The given planet has exact and . The exact minimum occurs at , with . At and , the second-order values are and .
For the disk evolution, neglect disk self-gravity, collisions that align the planes, and back-reaction on the planet. In the initial disk plane, use the complex inclination for a ring and for the planet. Linear Laplace-Lagrange secular theory has forced inclination and solution for initially flat rings. For an inner circular perturber, the Laplace coefficient formula is , with . Its quadrupole approximation uses , yieldingIn the plot referenced to the initial disk, every ring runs clockwise on the same circle centered at , starting at the origin. Inner rings advance more quickly. If the axes are instead referenced to the planet's plane, the relative tilt is : these circles are centered at the origin, and the mutual inclination is constant. Both conventions describe the same nodal precession; they should not be mixed.
At an intermediate epoch, rings with have tilted substantially while outer rings with remain near the original disk plane. This radial variation is a planet-induced debris-disk warp. The characteristic affected radius grows like . Conservative differential nodal precession preserves each ring's tilt relative to the planet, so it does not by itself align every orbit; an unresolved inner region can acquire a mean plane near the planetary plane through phase mixing. The secular interpretation is also described in Wyatt's planetary dynamics lectures.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 63 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let , , and restrict first to . The radiation-pressure coefficient reduces the grain's central gravitational parameter to , whereas the planet's is approximately . Their mean motions obey . Setting this ratio to gives the radiation-pressure shift of a mean-motion resonance:It lies interior to the planet exactly when , or . Equality puts the frequency commensurability at the planet's radius. For every such commensurability is exterior.
There is a frame qualification in the printed encounter formula. The circular inertial speed of the grain at is . Subtracting the planet's inertial velocity at conjunction gives the local planet-relative inertial speedThis is the velocity used in the question's two-body gravitational assist calculation. In a frame actually rotating about the star at , the grain's tangential velocity is instead , with magnitude . In particular its nonradiating shear is , rather than . Thus the requested expression uses a local translating, inertial encounter convention despite the source's rotating-frame wording. The following derivation consistently uses that convention, and its coefficients are an encounter estimate rather than an exact rotating-frame result.
Take impact parameter and a small gravitational scattering angle . Expanding the supplied hyperbolic scattering relation gives . Initially the relative tangential velocity is ; after the deflection it has tangential component . The relative speed is unchanged in the local hyperbolic Kepler orbit, but the stellar-frame kinetic energy changes. Taking the dot product with the planet's velocity givesThe specific orbital energy of the grain is . Comparing it immediately before and after the encounter at the same position givesConsequentlyThe encounter increases the grain's semi-major axis within this geometry. These steps assume , , and an orbital kick small enough for the subsequent linearization.
Choose the initial conjunction longitude as zero. The synodic period is , and the planet's longitude accumulated by the next conjunction isThese are unwrapped longitudes, counting complete revolutions. The second uses the new mean orbital period while neglecting the encounter's immediate phase offset and the difference between true and mean conjunction. A comparison reduced modulo could not implement the stated one-turn sensitivity test.
For , , so and . Conjunction-longitude sensitivity to an encounter givesRequiring this to exceed gives . At a high-index first-order mean-motion resonance, , henceThe interpretation of the resonance-overlap encounter estimate is loss of coherent encounter phases: a small kick changes the next synodic encounter time by more than one planetary revolution. Resonant protection by repeatedly meeting at controlled orbital phases can then fail, allowing irregular kicks and diffusion. This sensitivity criterion motivates an unstable region; it is not a proof that every orbit or resonant phase in it must escape.
For a quantitative sketch with radiation, put and . Differentiating the conjunction formula and substituting the kick givesEvaluate this at the positive and take as the critical-index curve. At small , increased encounter speed weakens planetary scattering, moving the threshold to larger . As rises further, the radiation-pressure shift of a mean-motion resonance brings each commensurability closer to the planet, strengthening the close encounters. The curve turns over and approaches the exterior-limit boundary . Larger planetary mass produces stronger kicks and a lower critical index. These competing effects are shown below; the curves retain the factors in , so their intercepts differ slightly from the leading high- formula. The boundary for disappearing exterior commensurabilities is geometric; divergence of the encounter approximation near should not be read as a precise physical scattering rate.
Encounter-estimate critical resonance index versus radiation pressure for three planet-to-star mass ratios
. Details. Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ia Paper 1 5A a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Use suffix notation with indices ranging from to , and sum over repeated indices. By the component definitions of the dot product and cross product,The Levi-Civita symbol is unchanged by a cyclic permutation of its three indices: the cycle is two transpositions and hence has positive sign. Thus . Commuting the scalar components givesTherefore the scalar triple product obeysCyclically moving the vectors preserves the scalar triple product; interchanging just two reverses its sign.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ia Paper 1 6B Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
For the reality of the eigenvalues, one may initially allow a nonzero complex eigenvector with . Since is real symmetric, it is a Hermitian matrix, andis real: the numerator equals its own complex conjugate and the denominator is positive. Once is real, a nonzero real or imaginary part of supplies a real eigenvector. We work with the real unit eigenvectors of the problem.
For two such eigenvectors, symmetry givesDistinct eigenvalues therefore give zero dot product. Together with the prescribed unit lengths,These vectors form an orthonormal basis of .
Expand a real unit vector as . Then , and its Rayleigh quotient isMoreover,Every coefficient on the right is strictly positive, so equality forces for . Equality occurs precisely along the top eigendirection:
To obtain a unit vector in using just , let and denote their first coordinates. If , takeThen and . Hence has first coordinate zero and unit length. If , simply take . In either case the Rayleigh quotient of the constructed vector isThe continuous quadratic form attains its maximum on the compact space , so
For , deletion of the first row and column gives , while . The spectral theorem for real symmetric matrices applied to identifies its largest eigenvalue with this maximum:Combining the upper bound for every unit vector with the constructed lower bound provesThis is largest-eigenvalue interlacing for a principal submatrix: restricting a quadratic form to a coordinate hyperplane cannot exceed its old maximum, but leaves some direction in the span of the top two eigenvectors.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 109 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
We prove both the general modular intersection bound for a set family and its sharper uniform version, the Frankl-Wilson theorem. Let be prime, let have size , and let be a family of subsets of . Suppose each member's cardinality modulo is outside , whereas every intersection of two distinct members has cardinality modulo in . Then the general modular intersection bound iswith for . If every member has the same size and , the uniform Frankl-Wilson theorem sharpens this toHere , so in particular . Primality matters because the argument takes place over the finite field .
For each , define the polynomialAt the indicator vector of another member , this polynomial is zero if and nonzero if . Replace every positive power of by in its expanded monomials, obtaining a multilinear polynomial of degree at most . This multilinear reduction on the Boolean cube preserves values at every zero-one vector.
The resulting polynomials are linearly independent. Indeed, if , evaluating at leaves ; the nonzero diagonal value forces for every . But multilinear polynomials of degree at most lie in the vector space with basis , whose dimension is . The bound on the dimension of a vector space gives the general modular intersection bound for a set family. This is the polynomial method in combinatorics: the intersection conditions produce an evaluation matrix with nonzero diagonal and zero off-diagonal entries.
To prove the sharper uniform bound, we first establish injectivity of inclusion between adjacent set layers. Over a field with field characteristic zero or greater than , suppose coefficients , indexed by -sets in , satisfyThen all coefficients are zero. For this is immediate. For , fix distinct and subtract the equations for and , where is a -set avoiding . The result isApply mathematical induction with degree on the remaining coordinates; its size condition holds because . This forces for every such . Since all -sets are linked by one-element exchanges, all coefficients equal some . An original equation then gives , and the characteristic assumption gives .
For every with , now form the multilinear polynomialThis is the multilinear reduction of , so it vanishes at every indicator vector of a -set. These are linearly independent: in a nonzero linear relation choose the largest degree of a coefficient-bearing . The degree- terms have coefficients . The inclusion lemma makes these nonzero unless all degree- coefficients vanish, a contradiction. It applies because , , and .
The are also independent jointly with the . Evaluating a relation at the indicator vectors of the family first forces every coefficient of to vanish, since the vanish there; their own independence then kills the remaining coefficients. All these polynomials have degree at most , soSubtracting the lower-degree contribution proves the sharp Frankl-Wilson theorem. For the general bound already gives , so no auxiliary polynomials are needed.
For the even cross-intersection assertion, work instead in the vector space over a finite field and letThe parity assumption is exactly in . By bilinearity, all vectors in are orthogonal to all vectors in , giving . The coordinate dot product is nondegenerate over , so . There is no requirement that be zero; only this dimension formula is used. Each distinct set has a distinct indicator vector, and a dimension- binary vector space has elements. Therefore the even cross-intersection bound isThis is the even cross-intersection bound, including empty families, for which the product is zero.
For odd intersections, append a final coordinate one to every indicator vector:Their dot product is in . Applying the same orthogonal complement over the binary field argument to their spans, now in dimension , gives the required odd cross-intersection bound:Appending the coordinate preserves distinctness of the vectors, so the span-cardinality estimates remain valid. This proves the odd cross-intersection bound directly by reducing the odd condition to an even one in a larger vector space.



