Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 72 3 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
At a fixed material point, freeze the incremental elastic moduli at their local values and fix a unit propagation direction . For an arbitrary nonzero polarization , the rank-one matrix annihilates the added quadratic minor null Lagrangian, sinceThe assumed positivity therefore givesThus the acoustic tensor is positive-definite; this is strong ellipticity in elasticity. Major symmetry also makes it a real symmetric matrix. By the spectral theorem for real symmetric matrices, it has three real positive eigenvalues and an orthonormal basis of real polarizations . ThereforeEach polarization gives a real plane wave profile through the equation of part (a), in either sign of the propagation speed. Repeated eigenvalues still admit three independent polarizations; the claim is not that the three speeds must be distinct. For an inhomogeneous base deformation these are local, frozen-coefficient wave modes, rather than exact plane waves throughout the entire body.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 75 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Put and , the reduced gravity. Use the Boussinesq approximation, hydrostatic pressure, uniform vertical velocity and concentration profiles, negligible fluid entrainment and drag, and a flat bed. Integrating volume conservation, momentum conservation and the particle budget over the layer givesThe hydrostatic pressure resultant is ; the last right-hand side is the deposition flux. With , these areThe quasilinear coefficient matrix in variables isIts eigenvalues are , where . Therefore the characteristic curves and their compatibility ordinary differential equations areFor the last equation the left eigenvectors are , and multiplying the quasilinear equations by them gives the displayed source terms. This is the sedimenting rectangular-channel characteristic compatibility relation; it supplies one differential relation on each wave family, rather than three independently closed scalar equations there. The contact eigenvector has and . For reference, an equivalent form isOnly for constant without settling do become genuine Riemann invariants. With settling, the spatial buoyancy gradient cannot be silently omitted.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 76 5 a iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Write and . A well-posed anisotropic diffusion problem requires to be symmetric positive definite: and . For the normal mode in the source the dispersion relation isThe group velocity vanishes when . ConsequentlyThe requested anisotropic absolute-instability threshold for positive diffusion isFor positive definite diffusion this is also sufficient: the anisotropic Gaussian heat kernel has exponential factor and a prefactor, so its fixed-position growth rate is precisely .
Let the prescribed speed be and let be the positive eigenvalues of . The Rayleigh quotient for givesAbsence of absolute hydrodynamic instability for every direction therefore requiresThis is an upper bound on , not a minimum required value. The source's last sentence reverses this monotonicity: reducing the growth parameter always helps, so there is no finite lower threshold guaranteeing absence. If it had asked for instability in every direction, the corresponding condition would be . Without the positive-definite assumption, negative diffusion directions make the forward problem ill posed; a singular diffusion tensor requires a separate transport analysis and does not support the displayed inverse-matrix formula.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 79 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Choose depth positive downwards and harmonic time dependence . At normal incidence, P waves and the two polarizations of S waves are independent scalar problems: a P wave uses the longitudinal modulus , and an S wave uses the shear modulus . In a uniform layer with wave speed and seismic impedance , write velocity and compressive traction asAt a perfectly bonded interface the velocity and traction are continuous. For incident velocity wave amplitude one from medium 1 into medium 2, these two conditions are and . ThusReflection is determined by seismic impedance, not by speed alone. A step to larger seismic impedance reverses the reflected velocity/displacement field waveform; the pressure reflection coefficient has the opposite sign. Its transmitted pressure coefficient is . Equal seismic impedance eliminates the reflection even when speed and wavelength change. At a free surface traction vanishes and velocity reflects with coefficient ; at a rigid surface velocity reflects with coefficient .
The mean elastic-wave energy flux is for positive real . Therefore the reflected and transmitted energy fractions areA displacement field transmission coefficient greater than one is compatible with conservation of energy; its flux must be weighted by the receiving seismic impedance.
For many layers, use the seismic layer transfer matrix. A layer of thickness has wave phase thickness andThis follows either by eliminating between the two faces or by integrating and . For the complete stack put . With upper and lower half-space impedances , an outgoing lower wave satisfies . Solving this condition gives the input seismic impedanceHere is lower-face velocity divided by upper-face incident velocity, including the propagation wave phase. For lossless layers and real frequency, . This supplies a sensitive check on any spreadsheet or numerical implementation; it is not correct simply to multiply the individual interface transmissions and discard the elastic waves.
The physical reason is repeated wave interference. In one layer between media 0 and 2, let denote the velocity coefficients above and . The first transmitted wave has wave amplitude . Every extra round trip supplies . Summing the geometric series givesIn the time domain the successive arrivals are delayed by , producing reverberation. In the frequency domain the same delayed terms produce resonant maxima and minima. For a layer between identical half-spaces of impedance ,At the layer transmits all the incident energy: the internally elastic waves cancel the direct reflection. Halfway between these resonances, a large impedance contrast gives strong reflection. For unequal exterior impedances, a quarter-wave layer with transforms its lower load to , again giving zero reflection at its design frequency. This matching is narrow-band.
Periodic alternation produces a periodic seismic multilayer stop band. For a cell of two layers with total thickness , the cell matrix has reciprocal eigenvalues , soWhen the absolute value of this expression exceeds one, the infinite periodic medium has no propagating cell mode; a long finite stack has exponentially small transmission. The energy is reflected, not absorbed. Pass bands instead contain oscillatory transmission peaks, becoming more numerous as the stack length increases. Disorder removes the exact cell periodicity but not multiple scattering or frequency-selective interference.
For a concrete reproducible investigation, take , equal one-way travel times in both layer types, exterior impedance , and frequency coordinate . At each layer is a quarter wavelength; one cell has diagonal matrix entries . For cells,It is about for one cell, for four cells and for eight cells. The infinite-cell stop band is . The accompanying calculation also shows the first transmitted arrivals for a single high-impedance slab: their wave amplitudes are at times . Their sum is one, consistent with unit zero-frequency transmission. These calculations illustrate both the spectrum and the pulse train without assuming access to the course's spreadsheet.
Original transfer-matrix calculations showing a periodic stack stop band and the transmitted reverberation train of one slab
. Details. Finally, as for a fixed finite stack, every , so the response approaches that of a direct interface between the exterior half-spaces. Equal exterior impedances give . For wavelengths much longer than a repeating cell, expansion of to first order instead gives an effective medium with averaged mass density and harmonic-mean modulus , where . Its speed is , not generally the arithmetic mean of the layer speeds. Attenuation makes the energy balance an inequality, while for a fixed oblique horizontal slowness the scalar SH calculation uses and . Oblique P-SV waves require coupled displacement field and traction matrices because of mode conversion at a planar elastic interface. Thick evanescent layers require scattering or impedance recursion rather than exponentially ill-conditioned transfer-matrix products.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 ia Paper 1 2B Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Expanding the cross product component by component gives its cross-product matrix:It is a real skew-symmetric matrix and annihilates . By the vector triple product,so for a unit vector . Choose a unit vector and put . Then is an orthonormal basis and , , . Thus the characteristic polynomial is and the cross-product matrix spectrum isOver the complex numbers, corresponding eigenvectors are , , and . Only the zero eigenvalue has real eigenvectors.
For the specified third coordinate axis, direct multiplication givesIts zero eigenspace is , and its eigenspace is the whole plane . Hence the eigenvalues of are , with every nonzero vector in the appropriate eigenspace an eigenvector.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 ia Paper 2 7B Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
For , the polar coordinates satisfyA positive constant radius must therefore be one. The nonconstant periodic solutions arewith least period and counterclockwise orientation. The origin is also a stationary solution, hence periodic in the degenerate sense of a constant function; it is a point rather than a nontrivial closed orbit. There are no other constant-radius solutions.
For , put . Then , a logistic differential equation. Solving this separable differential equation givesThe denominator is positive for every forward time. When , the radius increases monotonically to one; when , it decreases monotonically to one; and when it stays there. Thus every nonzero orbit approaches the unit circle while continuing to rotate. More precisely, its distance from the phase-matched circular solution tends to zero; its Cartesian coordinates do not converge to a single point. For , the solution stays at the origin.
The origin is the only equilibrium point. Its Jacobian matrix iswhose eigenvalues are . It is an unstable focus. The unit circle is an attracting limit cycle, rather than a curve of equilibria: on it the vector field remains nonzero. Linearizing the radial equation at gives , confirming radial attraction. All other radii are strictly monotone, so there are no additional nontrivial periodic orbits.
Counterclockwise spirals approach an attracting unit circle around an unstable equilibrium
. Details. Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 ia Paper 3 11A Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
At a critical point of a twice continuously differentiable real function, and the Taylor expansion isThe real symmetric Hessian matrix has an orthonormal eigenbasis, so writing gives . If every eigenvalue is positive, this quadratic form is at least , and the remainder cannot change its sign for sufficiently small nonzero . Thus is a strict local minimum. If every eigenvalue is negative, the analogous argument gives a strict local maximum. If positive and negative eigenvalues both occur, displacement along the corresponding eigenvectors gives values above and below , so is a saddle point of a scalar function.
The second-derivative test can be inconclusive when the Hessian matrix is singular and semidefinite: higher-order terms along directions in the kernel of a linear map matter. For example and have the same Hessian at zero, but the first has a strict minimum and the second a saddle point of a scalar function. A zero eigenvalue does not prevent a saddle conclusion if other eigenvalues already have both signs.
For the given function write . Its first derivatives areThe origin is a critical point for every real , withIts eigenvalues are , so it is always a saddle point of a scalar function. If one coordinate at a critical point is zero, the other must also be zero. If both are nonzero, the derivative equations force , possible only for . Hence for the origin is the only critical point.
For there are four additional critical points,At such a point,Thus the two equal-sign points are strict maxima, and the two opposite-sign points are strict minima. They are global: implieswhere the last maximum occurs at and equality also requires .
As , the four nonzero critical points have distance from the origin and escape to infinity, rather than merging with the origin. Their values diverge as . As from below there are no extra critical points, while the origin stays a saddle throughout. This is critical points escaping to infinity in a Gaussian-weighted bilinear function.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 ia Paper 3 6D Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Represent the Riemann sphere by the complex projective line, with finite represented by and infinity by . An invertible matrix acts by , giving the stated fractional map on finite points. Applying and then is exactly matrix multiplication , including at poles and infinity. Thereforeso is a group homomorphism from the special linear group to the Möbius group.
Every Möbius transformation has an invertible complex matrix representative . Choose with . Such a nonzero square root exists in , and has determinant one while representing the same projective map. This proves surjectivity. If the map is the identity, fixing zero and infinity forces , and fixing one forces . The determinant-one condition gives . Conversely both scalar matrices and act trivially. HenceFor the normal forms, use the fact that a complex matrix has a Jordan normal form: either it is diagonalizable or it has one nontrivial Jordan block. For a determinant-one representative, distinct eigenvalues are . Diagonalizing gives , whose projective action is . Distinctness means , so is neither zero nor one.
If the eigenvalue is repeated, the determinant condition gives . A diagonalizable representative would be and would give the identity, excluded here. A nontrivial Jordan block is similar to , giving . Any invertible conjugating matrix gives a Möbius transformation; rescaling it to determinant one does not change that map. Thus these matrix similarities are genuine conjugacies in the Möbius group, proving the requested Möbius conjugacy normal forms.
Conjugacy preserves fixed points bijectively. A nonidentity scaling has exactly the two fixed points zero and infinity, while either translation has exactly one, infinity. The identity fixes every point. This proves all three possibilities and excludes any further finite number of fixed points.
Finally, suppose , with and . Then for every finite in the topology of the Riemann sphere; infinity remains infinity. Since is continuous on that sphere,This is iteration of a one-fixed-point Möbius transformation. The limiting statement includes the unique fixed point itself and uses spherical convergence, which also handles intermediate iterates equal to infinity.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 ib Paper 2 10C ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The cyclic matrix acts by . For each fourth root of unity , the vector satisfies , because . This supplies the four distinct eigenvalues and nonzero eigenvectors:Eigenvectors for distinct eigenvalues are linearly independent. Thus, with these columns in the indicated order,They form a basis over , so there are no other eigenvalues. Equivalently the characteristic polynomial is .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 ib Paper 4 1B Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the standard complex inner product , conjugate-linear in its first argument. A unitary matrix satisfies , and a Hermitian matrix satisfies , where is conjugate transpose.
For eigenvectors and , the Hermitian matrix identity gives . The already established reality of the eigenvalues therefore implies . Thus distinct eigenvalues have orthogonal eigenvectors.

