Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 7 3 e Solution 2026-10-07
We first prove the needed Fredholm alternative for a compact operator without assuming self-adjointness. If is compact, the finite-rank approximation theorem for compact operators on a Hilbert space follows directly by covering the compact closure of 's unit-ball image by finitely many balls of radius , spanning their centers by a finite-dimensional space , and using the orthogonal projection . Then .
Choose a finite-rank with , put , and factorThe first factor is invertible by the Neumann series, and has finite rank. With and , the second factor has the triangular formIt is injective precisely when the finite-dimensional block is injective, and onto precisely when that block is onto. These properties are equivalent in finite dimension. This proves that is injective if and only if it is onto; in that case its inverse is bounded.
For , apply this result to . If lies in the spectrum of a bounded operator , then is not invertible, hence is not injective. Therefore every nonzero spectral point of is an eigenvalue. On its eigenspace , the operator equals . Compactness of would make the closed unit ball of compact after dividing by ; part (a) forces .
It remains to rule out infinitely many distinct eigenvalues away from zero. Suppose are distinct, with respective eigenvectors . Distinct eigenvalues give linearly independent eigenvectors. Let and choose a unit vector . Since is invariant and ,For , , and orthogonality gives . This contradicts compactness. Thus for each there are only finitely many distinct spectral points with modulus at least .
Taking shows that the nonzero spectrum is countable; if it is infinite, its distinct elements can be enumerated as a sequence tending to zero. Since the spectrum is closed, zero then also belongs to it. In an infinite-dimensional space zero belongs to the spectrum even if there are only finitely many nonzero spectral points: an invertible compact would make compact, contradicting part (a). The only possible accumulation point is zero, and every nonzero eigenspace is finite-dimensional. Zero need not be an eigenvalue. The argument uses invariant spans, not an orthogonal eigenbasis, which is unavailable for a general non-self-adjoint compact operator.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 7 3 g Solution 2026-10-07
Use the stated Fredholm definition of the essential spectrum, which applies to general bounded operators:For each , part (f) applied to says that is Fredholm exactly when is Fredholm. Taking the complement of these equivalent Fredholm conditions givesThis is the general Weyl theorem for bounded compact perturbations. Individual isolated eigenvalues can change; the Fredholm obstruction, and hence this essential spectrum, cannot.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 74 3 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Adding the two homogeneous reaction rates gives , so the unique positive Brusselator equilibrium isThe reaction Jacobian matrix at that state isA real two-dimensional linear system has strict asymptotic stability exactly when and : the eigenvalues solve . Real eigenvalues then have positive product and negative sum; a complex conjugate pair has real part . Conversely, stable eigenvalues require those signs.
Since , the Brusselator is homogeneously stable precisely forAt , the linear eigenvalues are , so strict decay is lost through a homogeneous Hopf bifurcation threshold. For larger the equilibrium is unstable. The source's matrix label is here written to distinguish it from the filament modulus in the preceding question.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 ia Paper 1 7B a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
We prove independence of eigenvectors for distinct eigenvalues by induction on the number of vectors. A single eigenvector is nonzero and hence independent. Suppose the first are independent, and let . Applying givesBy the induction hypothesis every coefficient in this shorter relation vanishes. The eigenvalues are distinct, so for . The original relation becomes , and gives . Thus the entire family of eigenvectors is linearly independent. The argument works over either the real or complex field.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 ia Paper 1 7B b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
Represent the quadratic form by the symmetric matrixThe block has characteristic polynomial . Corresponding orthonormal eigenvectors, together with the direction, areThe eigenvalues are . To eliminate the linear term, solve , obtainingIndeed the first equation gives , and the second then gives . Define the new coordinates by . The original polynomial takes the value at the center, so its translated and orthogonally diagonalized form isThusThe surface is an elliptic one-sheet hyperboloid, centered at , with axis parallel to . Its waist at is an ellipse with semiaxes and . Every constant- section is a nonempty ellipse, so the two signs of belong to the same connected sheet. This is an application of principal-axis reduction of a quadric.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 ia Paper 1 8B a ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
By the given matrix similarity, for an invertible . HenceThe characteristic polynomials are identical. Therefore the characteristic equations and eigenvalues, including algebraic multiplicities, agree. The conclusion is independent of the choice between and conventions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 ia Paper 1 8B b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
Let the repeated eigenvalue be , and choose an eigenvector . Complete it to a basis of . In this basis the matrix is an upper triangular matrix, with first column , say . Its characteristic polynomial is . By part (a)(ii), this must equal , so .
If , the matrix is already . If , rescale the first basis vector by and apply part (a)(iii); the upper-right entry becomes one. ThusThe second possibility is a size-two Jordan block. It has only one independent eigenvector, whereas has a two-dimensional eigenspace, so the two types cannot be related by matrix similarity. This repeated-eigenvalue classification in dimension two proves the required result without assuming the general Jordan normal form theorem.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 ia Paper 1 8B c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
Use the orthonormal right-handed basisDirect multiplication gives , and . Thus the matrix in this basis isThe last two columns are orthogonal and both have squared norm . Therefore is an orthogonal matrix precisely when , giving the unique positive valueIts determinant is , so it is a proper rotation matrix, not a reflection. The transverse block has cosine and sine both . ConsequentlyWith the oriented axis , the angle is positive by the right-hand rule, since . The axis also follows from the unit-eigenvalue eigenspace. As a check, .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 ib Paper 1 10G ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
For a prime , a diagonal matrix with two distinct nonzero eigenvalues exists. The same common-eigenspace argument makes the normalizer of a diagonal subgroup of GL2 precisely the monomial matrices. There are choices of nonzero entries for each of two permutation patterns, givingAt , however, the invertible diagonal subgroup is trivial. Every invertible matrix normalizes it, soThe first factor chooses a nonzero first column and the second chooses a column outside its one-dimensional span. The exceptional answer is necessary because the printed question permits every prime.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 ib Paper 1 14B ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
Use the drift-removing substitution for a Dirichlet Sturm-Liouville problem, . Direct differentiation gives . The homogeneous boundary conditions become , so the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions areThe self-adjoint weighted form isThus the weight and leading coefficient are both . The orthogonality of Sturm-Liouville eigenfunctions readsAfter multiplying the forcing equation by , it becomes . Expanding in the sine series of part (i) and dividing by givesEvery term satisfies the endpoint conditions. As a check, solving the transformed ODE directly gives , which has the same coefficients and forcing.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 ib Paper 4 10E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
A matrix is in Jordan normal form if it is block diagonal with Jordan blocks , where has ones immediately above the diagonal and zeros elsewhere. For a Jordan normal form matrix , number its diagonal positions and putChoose positive avoiding the finitely many values solving for . The matrix remains upper triangular and now has distinct eigenvalues, so it is diagonalizable. Its entries converge to those of . For arbitrary , use . This proves density of diagonalizable complex matrices.
If is diagonalizable with eigenvalues , conjugating by the same basis change conjugates to . On the four matrix units , this acts by . Thus, writing and , its characteristic polynomial isThe entries of depend linearly on those of , and the coefficients of its characteristic polynomial depend polynomially, hence continuously, on those entries. Apply the formula to the approximating and pass to the limit. The boxed formula therefore holds for every , including non-diagonalizable matrices. This is the two-by-two anticommutator characteristic polynomial.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 ib Paper 4 6B Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
Applying the angular momentum operator directly givesFor an eigenvalue , comparison with gives and . The first identity excludes ; differentiating it and using the second gives . No additive constant in is permitted. The possibilities are , , and , .
For , the polynomial is homogeneous of degree two and satisfies . Expanding the three squared orbital angular momentum operators gives, with ,Here and . Therefore . This is the degree-two case of angular momentum of a homogeneous harmonic polynomial; its angular labels are , .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 1 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
A linear map is a nilpotent endomorphism if for some positive integer , and a semisimple endomorphism if it is diagonalizable over . Decompose into its generalized eigenspaces , where . Define on to be , and set . Then is diagonalizable, is nilpotent, and both preserve these vector subspaces and commute. ThusFor uniqueness, suppose with semisimple, nilpotent and . Both commute with , so preserve each . On an eigenspace of of eigenvalue inside , the map is and has only the eigenvalue . Since the same subspace lies in , . Hence on , proving and . This is the additive Jordan–Chevalley decomposition.
We need a polynomial consequence of this decomposition. Hermite interpolation supplies a polynomial with , by prescribing for each eigenvalue. For any endomorphism , its semisimple part can likewise be expressed as a polynomial in with zero constant term: if zero is an eigenvalue, its interpolation condition already forces this; if not, add the independent condition .
On , the maps and commute. The first is diagonalizable, with eigenvalues on . The second is nilpotent, sincewhich vanishes for when . Uniqueness therefore proves adjoint compatibility of additive Jordan decomposition: .
Now assume . The condition implies that both and are invariant under , and every polynomial in with zero constant term maps into . Define to be multiplication by on . It commutes with . On , acts by . Polynomial interpolation on the finite set of differences gives with . The preceding paragraph then expresses as a polynomial in with zero constant term. Consequently , so .
The assumed trace orthogonality nilpotence lemma now follows directly. On , and , while the matrix trace of the nilpotent restriction of is zero. HenceEvery summand is nonnegative, so every eigenvalue of is zero. Its Jordan–Chevalley decomposition therefore has , and is nilpotent. Notice that neither nor was required to be a Lie subalgebra.