Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 ib Paper 4 16E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2011 ia Paper 1 5C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 29 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
For the unit-modulus prime values in this question, the Granville-Soundararajan distance isThe second identity uses . Thus it is the Euclidean distance between the finite weighted vectors and . Nonnegativity, symmetry and the triangle inequality follow from that norm representation, and it vanishes exactly when the two prime-value vectors agree. This proves the prime-restriction metric for pretentious distance.
On whole arithmetic functions at fixed it is a pseudometric. For example and have identical values at every prime and zero distance for every , but different values at four. Thus the literal identity-of-indiscernibles assertion needs the prime-restriction quotient.
Since ,For completeness, partial summation and the prime-counting form of the Prime number theorem giveTo verify the constant and the error, replace by in the first expression. Differentiating shows its two contributions combine to plus a constant. The error integral converges absolutely because , and . This proves the Mertens second theorem in the form needed here. In particular the pretentious distance between one and the Möbius function satisfies
For the last request, retain the earlier prime normalization ; the proof also works with the weaker assumption . Without a bound on prime values, the original definition and the absolute convergence of the displayed measure need not apply to an unrestricted multiplicative arithmetic function. For example is multiplicative and squarefree-supported, but for the displayed measure has infinite positive mass: its prime terms alone are , which diverges by the Prime number theorem.
Put , , and use the Fourier transform convention . Since is supported on squarefree integers, the defining property of a multiplicative arithmetic function gives the absolutely convergent Euler productThe bound on prime values gives for squarefree , so the total variation norm of a measure is bounded by ; thus is a finite measure. Expanding the logarithm of the modulus, with an absolute remainder since , givesAll constants here are uniform in . Moreoverusing the pole of the Riemann zeta function. The nonnegative deficits giveIndeed, the replacement of by for costs at mostby the Mertens first theorem, while discarding the terms costs nothing in this lower bound. Thus the large Fourier coefficient criterion for pretentiousness isIn particular,The comparison function is the Archimedean character with this sign because our Fourier transform uses .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 112 2 iv Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Choose a maximal subset whose distinct points have Euclidean distance greater than one. The volumetric bound for Euclidean metric nets makes the construction finite: the open Euclidean balls of radius about the points of are disjoint and all lie in , soMaximality means that is a metric net of radius one on the unit sphere. Thus every has some with . Since both are unit vectors,Now intersect the corresponding closed half-spaces:The Cauchy-Schwarz inequality shows that . Conversely, write any nonzero as and choose as above. Then , so . Hence , which also proves boundedness. This convex polytope has at most facets, since redundant inequalities can only reduce their number. It meets the required inclusions with .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 315 4 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Take an unresolved spherical planet at Euclidean distance , with uniform surface temperature , stationary isotropic emission, and no intervening extinction. Isothermality does not by itself imply blackbody radiation; first derive the geometric result for a uniform emergent specific intensity .
The observer sees the projected disc with apparent solid angle . Integrating its specific intensity over that angle gives the observed spectral radiative fluxwhere is the small angle to the detector normal. For a blackbody, , and the Stefan–Boltzmann law gives . HenceEquivalently, the surface radiative flux is and the luminosity of a spherical blackbody is , leading to the same result by inverse-square dilution. A uniform wavelength-dependent emissivity multiplies the spectral formula; an atmospheric spectrum can require a full angular radiative transfer integral rather than a single Planck function.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ia Paper 1 5C a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
Expanding the squared Euclidean distances givesThus one may takeThe normal is parallel to , so is its perpendicular bisector. If lies on both and , then , hence it also lies on . Geometrically, the three perpendicular bisectors of the noncollinear triangle concur at its circumcenter.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 4 25I b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
Since , Gauss-Bonnet gives , hence . If , the integral of the continuous nonnegative function is zero, so vanishes everywhere.
That is impossible for a compact regular surface in . Choose maximizing the Euclidean distance from the origin, after translating the origin off the surface if necessary. The sphere centered at the origin through is a supporting sphere. The supporting-sphere curvature bound shows that both principal curvatures at have the same sign and nonzero magnitude, so . Therefore , and . The classification theorem for surfaces now shows that is diffeomorphic to the sphere.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ii Paper 2 17F d Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Form the graph whose vertices are the points , joining two when their Euclidean distance is one. Two distinct points have at most two common unit-distance neighbours, because two unit circles intersect in at most two points. The graph is therefore -free. Part (c) bounds its unordered edges by , so the number of ordered unit-distance pairs is at most
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 130 4 Solution 2026-09-28
Let be the vertices of a regular polygon, indexed cyclically so that is an isometry. We first prove the product lemma needed for the cyclic-symmetry argument.
Suppose has the property that, for every number of colors, a finite witness forces a copy of on which the vertices corresponding to are monochromatic. We claim that for every there is a finite witness forcing an -invariant copy of . Proceed by mathematical induction on . The case is the assumption. For the step, choose a finite set that forces an -invariant for a coloring with colors, and choose that forces an -monochromatic for a coloring with colors.
Given a -coloring of , color by its complete vector . In the resulting copy of in , that vector is the same for every member of . Each can therefore be colored by the vector consisting of for one and the colors for . Applying the choice of gives an -invariant copy of , and its product with the chosen copy of in is the desired -invariant copy of . This proves the lemma rather than assuming it.
We now prove by induction on that a finite witness forces a copy of whose first vertices have one color. The case is trivial. For , use that a line segment is a Euclidean Ramsey set; each occurrence of a segment congruent to can be extended to a copy of the regular polygon, and only finitely many extensions are needed for a finite witness.
Assume the assertion for , and put . The product lemma lets us work inside an -invariantly colored copy of , with as large as required. For an increasing -element subset of and , define a word by putting in coordinate , with subscripts read modulo , and putting in every other coordinate. Color by the -tupleBy the Finite Ramsey theorem, for sufficiently large there are coordinates on which all -subsets have the same tuple color.
For , let be the word whose entries in coordinates arecyclically, and whose other entries are . For , the word differs from only in coordinate , where the two entries lie in . Similarly differs from only in coordinate , again by two members of . The -invariance and the homogeneous choice of the therefore giveHence have one color.
The cyclic words form an isometric copy of : in each of the varying coordinates the cyclic shift is an isometry, so every squared distance is multiplied by . Rescaling the finite witness by gives a copy of . The induction reaches , proving that every regular polygon is a Euclidean Ramsey set.
For three consecutive vertices of a regular -gon scaled to have side length one,Since the polygon is Euclidean Ramsey, choosing large enough proves that is an approximately Euclidean Ramsey set.
In fact every finite is approximately Ramsey. First perturb each coordinate of each point onto a sufficiently fine lattice , changing all pairwise distances by less than . For each coordinate, map the finitely many required integers to consecutive vertices of a very large regular polygon, scaled so that one angular step has arc length . If the step angle is , the chord replacing a difference of lattice steps has lengthas , uniformly over the finitely many differences involved. Taking the orthogonal Cartesian product of such polygons therefore embeds the perturbed points with a further distance error below . Each polygon is Euclidean Ramsey, and their product is Euclidean Ramsey by the product theorem for Euclidean Ramsey sets. A monochromatic copy of that product contains the corresponding approximate copy of , completing the proof.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ii Paper 1 31J d Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Assume andfor every . Expanding the squared euclidean distance givesHence minimizes the distance from over , so . This proves the sufficient direction of the variational characterization of convex projection.
Radius 2026-10-06
Sphere Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Travelling salesman problem 2026-10-06
Given finitely many locations and pairwise travel costs, find a cyclic visiting order minimizing the sum of its costs. For Euclidean distance this becomes the Euclidean travelling salesman tour problem.