Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 ii Paper 2 14C i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ib Paper 3 14E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 ii Paper 2 14E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 ii Paper 2 8E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2011 ii Paper 1 23G Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2011 ii Paper 1 2F ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2011 ii Paper 3 8E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 23 3 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The Riemann xi function is the entire functionwith . Its Hadamard factorization iswhere the Nontrivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function are repeated by multiplicity and the factors are canonical genus-one factors.
Here is the growth estimate needed for the Jensen zero-count bound. For , functional symmetry reduces to . Euler summation truncated at bounds by a fixed power of , uniformly in that region; the multiplication cancels the pole at one. The logarithmic gamma estimate bounds by , including the bounded small- part separately. The remaining elementary factors obey the same bound. ThusFor a zero with , its contribution in Jensen's formula on radius is at least . ConsequentlyIf a zero lies on the integration circle, use nearby radii and continuity of the zero-count estimate. Hence for . The growth also gives order at most one and justifies the stated Hadamard factorization; the zero-count bound gives convergence of its genus-one factors.
The printed logarithmic Stirling hint drops the term . The correct expansion is in a fixed sector. Its consequence is all that the argument needs.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 60 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The Malgrange–Ehrenpreis theorem states that every nonzero constant-coefficient linear differential operator on Euclidean space has a distributional fundamental solution. With and , the conclusion is an such that . If , simply take ; hence assume .
We construct a Hörmander staircase in frequency space. The highest-degree homogeneous part is not identically zero on real vectors, since a polynomial vanishing on all real vectors has all coefficients zero. After an orthogonal transformation of coordinates, we can arrange that . Thus, for each real , the polynomialhas degree in and the same nonzero leading coefficient , independent of . This constant leading coefficient of a polynomial is what makes a uniform staircase possible.
For a fixed , factor , counting repeated roots of a polynomial. Consider the heights , . A given root has imaginary part within distance less than one of at most one of these heights. By the pigeonhole principle, some height avoids every root, and thenThis is finite-height polynomial root avoidance. Root labels need not be chosen continuously or even measurably. Instead define the closed setsContinuity in extends the inequality from rational to every real . These Borel sets partition . The Hörmander staircase assigns the horizontal contour over ; its height is bounded by , and the denominator has the uniform lower bound . For , the transverse space is a single point and only one horizontal contour is needed.
Use the Fourier transform convention , with inverse factor . Define the candidate fundamental solution of a linear differential operator byFor a test function supported in a fixed compact set , Fourier decay in a bounded complex strip gives, for any integer ,Indeed, this is the real Fourier transform of with reversed frequency, and repeated integration by parts with proves the estimate. Taking and using the denominator bound proves absolute convergence and a continuity estimate on . Thus is a distribution; no unsupported interpretation of a divergent inverse Fourier transform is being used.
For its distributional derivatives, the formal transpose of a differential operator is . Sinceapplying cancels the denominator. For each fixed , the numerator is an entire function of . The Cauchy integral theorem, applied to a rectangle between the lines and , givesThe two vertical edges tend to zero by the same bounded-strip decay. The resulting contour deformation is performed separately for each transverse frequency, so discontinuities of the staircase height introduce no additional boundary terms. Absolute convergence permits integration over the partition . The Fourier inversion theorem then yieldsThis proves the Malgrange–Ehrenpreis theorem. Undoing the orthogonal change of coordinates gives the fundamental solution of a linear differential operator for the original operator; the Dirac delta distribution is unchanged by that change of coordinates.
For a one-dimensional operator of degree , with leading coefficient , we may choose the single staircase contour below every pole. Take and integrate on . The corresponding formula is the Bromwich contour version of the construction above, after putting . Its poles all lie above the frequency contour. For , close that contour downwards; the exponential function decays and there are no enclosed poles. For , close upwards, where the exponential function again decays, and apply the residue theorem. The bound justifies the large arcs, including by the Jordan lemma away from their endpoints. Thus away from the retarded fundamental solution is , whereThe sum is over distinct roots of a polynomial, with the residue including the whole multiplicity. For simple characteristic roots of a constant-coefficient differential equation, it reduces to . Repeated roots give exponential polynomial solutions of a constant-coefficient differential equation through differentiation of .
To establish the equality also at the origin, rather than leave a possible point-supported term undecided, verify the distributional jump formula for a Heaviside product. The residue expression is an entire function of , andIts initial derivatives areThese identities follow by integrating over a large circle: for the integrand is , whereas for its coefficient of is . The distributional jump formula for a Heaviside product therefore gives . Moreover, since is a tempered distribution, its Fourier transform satisfiesThere are no real zeros of this polynomial, so its reciprocal is the transform. This is exactly the shifted-contour construction, proving equality there as a distribution as well. HenceThe sign of matters: for the operator in the preceding solution, and the last initial derivative is .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 8 3 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
For infinite products, a nonzero limiting product requires that its factors tend to one. A useful sufficient condition isAfter finitely many factors, and the principal holomorphic logarithm satisfies . Therefore the sum of logarithms converges, and exponentiating it gives a finite nonzero product. The same argument on compact sets proves infinite product convergence from logarithmic tails: a locally uniformly absolutely convergent tail of holomorphic logarithms gives a holomorphic nonvanishing tail product. Finite factors then determine all zeros and their orders.
Work with entire functions on . As usual for prescribed exact zero orders, the distinct zero locations must have consistent multiplicities. The literal statement allows repeated locations with conflicting orders; that cannot be true, for example if the same point is prescribed order one and order two. Remove consistent repetitions rather than adding their orders, and separate a possible zero at the origin.
List the distinct nonzero locations as , with prescribed orders , and write for the prescribed order at zero, or zero if the origin is not prescribed. Choose large enough thatThen the Weierstrass factorization theorem construction isOn every compact set, for all sufficiently large because . Its logarithmic tail is bounded byThus the product converges locally uniformly, is entire, and has exactly the specified zeros with exactly their orders. At a prescribed zero, only its own finite factor vanishes; all other finite factors and the tail product are nonzero.
Without escape to infinity the conclusion fails in general. Distinct proposed zeros accumulate at zero. The identity theorem would force an entire function with those zeros to vanish identically, which does not have precisely the prescribed isolated zeros. A finite zero set can of course be realized by a polynomial.
For entire functions with the same zero divisor, the quotient extends through every common zero by cancelling equal local powers. It is entire and nowhere zero. Hence is entire and has a primitive on the simply connected plane. Choose with and putThe derivative of vanishes, and its value at zero is one. ThereforeIf also , then everywhere. The continuous difference takes values in the discrete set and so is constant on the connected plane:The whole-plane hypothesis matters: a zero-free holomorphic quotient on a multiply connected domain need not possess a global holomorphic logarithm.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 8 4 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The printed differential in the transform integral is ; it must be , since is the transform parameter. We prove the Newman Tauberian theorem in this corrected interpretation. Setalmost everywhere. The finite-interval transform is entire.
Fix . Because the analytic domain contains the whole imaginary axis, compactness supplies a such that the thin rectangle , lies in the domain. Let be the right semicircle of radius , oriented from to . Join its endpoints by a leftward path along the other three sides of that rectangle. This is a closed positively oriented contour.
Use contour damping for bounded Laplace transforms withThe residue theorem givesOn , with ,Thus the integrand has modulus at most , and this half-circle contributes at most after division by .
On , the term tends to zero as : every interior point of the path has negative real part, is bounded on this fixed compact path, and the remaining kernel factor is bounded because the path avoids zero. Dominated convergence applies, with the two endpoints irrelevant to the path integral.
For the term, deform to the left semicircle of radius . This deformation uses only the entire function ; it does not demand that extend across a large left half-disk. Both paths lie to the left of zero and their enclosed deformation region avoids the kernel pole. On , for ,The same circle factor gives another bound . ConsequentlyThe radius is arbitrary, soThis proves convergence of the ordinary improper integral, not merely a damped limit.
For the weakened domain hypothesis, take . Its Laplace transform is , analytic on the open right half-plane, but diverges. Analyticity only in the open right half-plane is insufficient.