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 ia Paper 1 7B Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
A matrix is a diagonalizable matrix if there is an invertible matrix for which is diagonal. Its columns then form a basis of eigenvectors, and the diagonal entries are their corresponding eigenvalues.
Here the given eigenvectors form an orthonormal basis. Put them into the columns of :Define . Its entries areThis proves the claimed diagonalization of a matrix, rather than merely guessing it:The trace follows directly from this factorization:because each column of has unit length. Trace is the sum of the eigenvalues, with multiplicity.
For the particular matrix, . If , every contributes one and contributes zero. If , precisely and contribute zero; the other terms contribute one. ThusApplying this identity to a nonzero eigenvector givesEvery eigenvalue is therefore or .
If is the multiplicity of , the trace formula for a diagonalizable matrix and the zero diagonal giveso . Up to ordering, the required diagonal form isFor this means just . For , the eigendirections are also transparent: the all-ones vector has eigenvalue , and the -dimensional subspace whose coordinate sum is zero has eigenvalue , since . The spectrum consists of one collective mode and zero-sum modes.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ia Paper 2 8A a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Write the system as , with . Its characteristic polynomial is , so its eigenvalues are and . An eigenvector for is . Thus is a complex solution, and its real part and imaginary part give real solutions:Their initial vectors are and , with determinant . Consequently they are linearly independent and span the two-dimensional solution space.
The general real solution is
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ib Paper 1 1F a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
The characteristic polynomial of the given matrix is . Solving the two eigenvalue equations givesFor example, multiplying the matrix by these three vectors gives respectively , and times the original vector. The eigenvectors form a basis: the matrix with these columns has nonzero determinant . Thus an eigenbasis and its diagonal matrix are
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ib Paper 3 10F ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
We prove the finite-dimensional spectral theorem for normal operators by induction on dimension. A complex linear operator has an eigenvector with eigenvalue , by the fundamental theorem of algebra. For a normal operator , the operator is also normal, andfor every . Applying this to shows .
Normalize . Its orthogonal complement is invariant under both and : the adjoint operator identities pair with through , and with through . The restricted operator on remains normal, and its adjoint is the restriction of . Induction supplies an orthonormal eigenbasis of , which together with gives one for .
Conversely, in an orthonormal basis of eigenvectors, is diagonal and is the diagonal matrix of the conjugate eigenvalues. The two diagonal operators commute. Thus normality is equivalent to an orthonormal eigenbasis. The zero-dimensional case is immediate.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 102 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Over the complex numbers, every finite-dimensional representation of a solvable Lie algebra has a basis in which every representing matrix is upper triangular. The Lie theorem is often stated first as the existence of a common eigenvector in every nonzero finite-dimensional Lie algebra representation of a solvable Lie algebra. Applying that assertion successively to quotient representations gives an invariant complete flag, and hence the upper triangular form. The same proof works over any algebraically closed field of characteristic zero.
We prove the common eigenvector assertion by induction on , writing the action as . The zero Lie algebra is immediate. If is solvable, its derived series of a Lie algebra shows that . Choose a codimension-one ideal of a Lie algebra containing , and choose . By induction there are and a linear functional such that for all .
Let be the span of . If , the first of these vectors form a basis, and is -invariant. We claim that for each ,For this is the definition of . For the induction step, use and . Applying the induction hypothesis to both and proves the claim. Consequently is -invariant, and every acts on by an upper triangular matrix with all diagonal entries .
Since both and preserve , the matrix trace of their commutator on is zero. The claim applied to givesHere characteristic zero is essential: in the field, so . Now the common weight spaceis nonzero and -invariant. Indeed, for ,An endomorphism of a nonzero finite-dimensional complex vector space has an eigenvector, so choose an eigenvector of in . It is a common eigenvector for . This proves the Lie theorem.
For the printed matrices in characteristic , , and there is no common eigenvector. Index the standard basis by . The cyclic entry in the PDF givesThe diagonal eigenvalues of are distinct in . Thus every eigenvector of is a scalar multiple of a single . Since , is never a scalar multiple of , proving the assertion even when is not an algebraically closed field.
For ,At the cyclic boundary,Hence . The two-dimensional Lie subalgebra has derived algebra , whose own derived algebra is zero, so it is solvable. It nevertheless has no common eigenvector, including after extending to its algebraic closure. This is a failure of Lie theorem in positive characteristic. In the proof above, the obstruction is precisely that can vanish as a scalar in .
The derived algebra of a complex solvable Lie algebra is nilpotent. First suppose . By the Lie theorem, put every element of in upper triangular form. The diagonal of a commutator of upper triangular matrices is zero, so consists of strictly upper triangular matrices. The Lie algebra of all such matrices is a nilpotent Lie algebra: if consists of matrices whose entries vanish whenever , thenTherefore the lower central series of a Lie algebra of reaches zero. Alternatively, every element of is a nilpotent linear map, and the Engel theorem states that a finite-dimensional Lie subalgebra consisting of nilpotent linear maps is a nilpotent Lie algebra.
For an abstract complex solvable Lie algebra , apply the preceding result to its Adjoint representation. The Lie algebra is nilpotent. Since is central in , some term of the lower central series of a Lie algebra of lies in that central ideal; the next term is zero. Thus itself is nilpotent.
Conversely, every nilpotent Lie algebra is solvable, since its derived series of a Lie algebra is contained term by term in its lower central series of a Lie algebra. If is nilpotent, it is therefore solvable, and is Abelian. More directly, the derived series of a Lie algebra of , after its first term, is the derived series of a Lie algebra of . Consequently the derived algebra nilpotence criterion is
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 106 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The definitions in a unital C-star algebra areThus a Hermitian element of a C-star algebra is self-adjoint, a Unitary element of a C-star algebra has inverse , and a Normal element of a C-star algebra commutes with its adjoint. We derive the needed C-star algebra facts directly from , as required.
First gives , andgives ; applying the same argument to gives equality. Thus the involution is an isometry. For a Unitary element of a C-star algebra ,The general Banach algebra spectrum bound gives for . Such a is nonzero, and the inverse spectral mapping theorem gives , so also . Hence
If , the convergent exponential series and the isometric involution give . These commuting exponentials multiply to , so is unitary for real . By the exponential spectral mapping theorem, if then . Taking gives , soOnly general Banach algebra spectral mapping theorem and the defining C-star identity were used.
Now prove spectral permanence for C-star algebras. Let be the norm-closed C-star subalgebra with the same identity. The algebraic inclusion always gives . For , both spectra lie in . If , choose nonreal . Since , each belongs to . By continuity of inversion in a Banach algebra, these inverses converge in to , which belongs to because is closed. Thus , proving equality for hermitian elements.
For the requested normal , suppose is invertible in . The element is hermitian and invertible in , so the equality just proved places in . ConsequentlySince already has a two-sided inverse in , multiplying by that inverse gives . Hence its inverse belongs to , and
We need one more elementary consequence of the C-star identity: the spectral radius norm equality for normal elements. If , then . If is normal, commutativity of givesEvery power of is a Normal element of a C-star algebra. Induction gives . The general spectral radius formula therefore implies
The continuous functional calculus is the unique unital -homomorphism taking the coordinate function to . For bounded linear operators on a Hilbert space, the adjoint identity gives . ThereforeThis proves the C-star identity for directly; completeness and submultiplicativity come from the operator norm. LetBecause is a normal operator, this is a commutative unital C-star algebra. Every element of is a Normal element of a C-star algebra, so the preceding norm identity says its Gelfand transform is isometric:Here is the compact character space from the general Gelfand representation theorem for commutative Banach algebras.
Each algebra character preserves the involution. Indeed, write with hermitian; and similarly for , so . Therefore the continuous mapis injective: its value determines and hence its value on all the dense polynomials. It is surjective because the general character description of the spectrum gives , and spectral permanence for C-star algebras identifies this with . A continuous function that is a bijection from a compact space to a Hausdorff space is a homeomorphism, so we identify with .
Under this identification, the Gelfand transform sends to and to . Its image is an isometric, and therefore closed, unital self-adjoint subalgebra of . It separates points because it contains . The complex Stone-Weierstrass theorem makes the image dense, hence equal to all of . Inverting the Gelfand transform and including into givesan isometric unital C-star homomorphism with .
To prove uniqueness without assuming automatic continuity of C-star homomorphisms, let be any other such map. Since every is normal, is normal. A unital algebra homomorphism preserves inverses, soUsing the normal-element norm identity yields . Thus is contractive. It agrees with on polynomials in , since both send them to the same polynomials in . These polynomials are dense by the Stone-Weierstrass theorem, so continuity proves . This establishes the continuous functional calculus with no unproved theorem specific to C-star algebras.
A disconnected spectrum gives a nontrivial closed invariant subspace. Write with nonempty and both open and closed in . The indicator function is continuous on , even though no such continuity is needed across the gap outside . Let . The continuous functional calculus givesIts isometry gives and , so . The linear projection has closed range . Its range is nonzero and proper, and proves invariance. Since it also commutes with , the same subspace is reducing. This proves disconnected spectrum gives a reducing subspace.
A disconnected spectrum and its continuous indicator, which produces a nontrivial reducing projection
. Details. The figure can be realized without any eigenvalues: take , where is planar area on the two closed disks, and let multiply by . Its adjoint multiplies by , so it is a normal operator. An eigenvector for would be supported on the area-zero singleton , hence would be zero in . Outside , multiplication by is a bounded inverse to . For , normalized indicator functions of have , excluding a bounded inverse. Thus its spectrum is exactly . The linear projection in the figure multiplies by , and its range consists of functions supported on the left disk.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 126 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Hecke operators give a commuting family of arithmetic symmetries of modular forms. They preserve the weight and cusp forms, and diagonalizing them turns the Fourier coefficients of a modular form into multiplicative arithmetic data. Odd weight spaces are zero by the action of ; in weight zero the operators act on constants by . For the substantive theory, fix an even positive weight and , and use the following normalization consistently.
Extend the slash operator for modular forms to byIt is a right action and positive scalar matrices act trivially. Let be the integral matrices of determinant . The determinant-n matrix representatives for Hecke operators for areInteger row operations reduce the first column to , after which a row shear reduces modulo ; uniqueness follows from these same conditions. The Hecke operator isRight multiplication by permutes the left cosets, so is again invariant under the weight- slash operator for modular forms. Each summand is a holomorphic function on the complex upper half-plane, and the coefficient formula below proves holomorphy at a cusp. Thus acts on and preserves . Geometrically, these operators sum over index- sublattices, or equivalently the associated finite-degree correspondences between complex tori; the factors above compensate for the weight's response to lattice scaling.
Write . The sum over is zero unless , in which case it is . Substituting into the displayed definition proves the Fourier coefficients of a composite-index Hecke operator formulawith . In particular, and . At a prime this becomeswhere if .
The Hecke multiplication relations areThey can be checked by applying the coefficient formula twice and regrouping the divisors. More explicitly, coprime indices factor independently, so if . At a prime, separating the terms in the divisor sum according to whether one more factor is available givesIteration gives ; combining the prime factors gives the full relation. Hence all Hecke operators commute, , and the Hecke algebra of modular forms is generated by the together with scalars.
The Petersson inner product on the finite-dimensional cusp form space isThe integrand is invariant and the integral converges because cusp forms decay exponentially at the cusp. The Hecke operators are self-adjoint for the Petersson inner product at level one. To see the underlying adjoint calculation, unfold the finite correspondence for a determinant- matrix and change variable . The invariant hyperbolic measure and the determinant-normalized slash factors transfer from one side of the inner product to . Scalar matrices act trivially, so one can replace by the integral adjugate , which again has determinant . This reverses the correspondence and permutes the same collection of terms, with the same real prefactor . Summing givesCommuting self-adjoint operators on a finite-dimensional inner product space admit a common orthonormal basis of eigenvectors. Thus has a basis of simultaneous Hecke eigenforms, with real eigenvalues.
A nonzero simultaneous cuspidal Hecke eigenform has : if and , comparison of the first coefficients gives for every , so . Normalize . ThenConsequently the full Fourier series is determined by the eigenvalues, and a simultaneous eigenvalue system has a one-dimensional eigenspace. The Hecke multiplication relations translate intoIn particular the coefficients are multiplicative at coprime indices and are determined by the prime coefficients. This is the elementary multiplicity-one statement for normalized level-one Hecke eigenforms.
The Hecke eigenvalues are algebraic integers. One way to explain the arithmetic input is to use the rational structure supplied by the graded ring . The rational cusp form space has a basis with integral Fourier coefficients, for example from appropriate monomials in . Its subgroup of forms whose entire expansions are integral is a full lattice: a finite initial coefficient map is injective by the valence formula for the modular group, so it embeds this subgroup into a finite-rank integer module. The coefficient formula shows that every preserves this lattice, and therefore has a monic integral characteristic polynomial. Its eigenvalues are algebraic integers. Simultaneous diagonalization also makes their number field finite over ; conjugating the rational coefficient data gives another eigenform, whose eigenvalues are again real by self-adjointness. Thus the coefficient field is totally real.
For a normalized cuspidal Hecke eigenform, define its L-function of a cusp form by . The coefficient relations yield the Euler product of a Hecke eigenformIndeed the prime-power recurrence gives , and multiplicativity assembles these factors. These identities hold analytically in an initial right half-plane, as well as formally. For instance boundedness of on the full complex upper half-plane gives , so suffices for absolute convergence.
The Mellin transform of a cusp-form L-function relates this arithmetic to the modular transformation:Splitting at one and using givesExponential cusp decay makes the last integral entire in . This proves the analytic continuation and functional equation of the L-function of a cusp form, complementing its Euler product. The root number is .
Two examples show the scope of the theory. For even , the Eisenstein series is an eigenform with . This follows from its divisor-sum expansion and the same multiplicativity relations; its associated positive-index Dirichlet series is proportional to . The constant coefficient gives , so an eigenbasis of the cusp space together with gives an eigenbasis of the whole modular-form space. The ordinary Petersson inner product above is only used on the cusp space, where it converges. In weight twelve the valence formula for the modular group gives : cancellation of the first coefficients of two independent cusp forms would give a nonzero form with order at infinity at least two, exceeding . Thus the normalized modular discriminant is a Hecke eigenform; writing gives the Ramanujan tau function relations for coprime and .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 210 4 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For a symmetric matrix with simple largest eigenvalue and spectral gap , the Davis-Kahan curvature lemma says , where is its leading unit eigenvector. Applying this to a leading eigenvector of , the maximal Rayleigh quotient and duality of the operator norm and trace norm give ; the projector difference has matrix rank at most two. This is a rank-one eigenprojector perturbation bound.
Here has independent centered bounded upper-triangular entries, apart from symmetry. The spectral norm bound for a centered Bernoulli adjacency matrix gives . Taking and therefore gives, for the largest-eigenvalue estimator,The printed argmin selects the wrong end of the spectrum. For a minimizing unit eigenvector , compare its Rayleigh quotient with any unit vector orthogonal to . This yields , and hence . Its mean projector error is at least , using . Along with sufficiently large even , the printed parameter restriction holds and this lower bound tends to , contradicting an error of order . Replace argmin by argmax, or negate the entire matrix before minimizing.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 210 4 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For partitions, the appropriate Hamming distance between unlabelled bipartitions is . It counts vertices assigned to the wrong group after the better global exchange of the two group names. The printed signed-indicator formula does not implement this exchange: negating a zero-one indicator is not taking its complement. It must be read as this partition distance, or written with the membership vectors.
Use the corrected leading eigenvector estimator from 4(b), and orient its sign to minimize . At every wrongly signed coordinate, this difference has magnitude at least . Therefore the sign rounding bound for a unit eigenvector givesThe last inequality uses the projector distance bound . Taking the expected value of this Frobenius norm estimate proves . The assertion relies on the corrected estimator and partition-distance definition.
