Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 ii Paper 1 3F Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A plane plane crystallographic group is a discrete subgroup of the Euclidean isometry group with compact quotient. Its translations form a normal rank-two Euclidean lattice ; this is the standard translation-lattice structure of a plane crystallographic group. Its point group is the finite group of linear parts, equivalently the quotient by those translations. Conjugating a translation by an isometry sends its translation vector to its image under the linear part, so every point-group element preserves .
Choose a Euclidean lattice basis. A rotational linear part is then represented by an integer matrix , since it sends the basis to Euclidean lattice vectors. In an orthonormal basis the same map has eigenvalues , and its trace is independent of basis. ThusThese possibilities give rotation angles, modulo a full turn, , , , , and , respectively. Consequently the crystallographic restriction theorem isThe restriction comes from integrality of the Euclidean lattice action, not simply from finiteness of the point group.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2011 ii Paper 4 12G Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A Euclidean lattice in is a discrete additive subgroup, equivalently the integer span of zero, one or two real-linearly independent vectors. Its rank is the number of these generators, or the dimension of its real span. Discreteness makes its intersection with any bounded set finite, so shortest nonzero vectors exist.
First . Otherwise an element with noninteger could be reduced by its nearest integer multiple of to a nonzero vector of length at most , contradicting minimality. Therefore is not parallel to .
Write any as with real coefficients. Subtract nearest integer multiples to obtain , with . If , it is not on the first axis, yetwith strict inequality because the independent vectors cannot achieve equality in the triangle inequality; if one coefficient vanishes the inequality is also strict. This contradicts minimality of . If and , then , contradicting minimality of . Thus and both original coefficients are integers. Hence .
For and , minimality implies and , hence . The exact region isThese conditions are sufficient: in the generated lattice, vectors with second coefficient have smallest length when the first coefficient is zero, allowing ties at . A vector with second coefficient of magnitude at least two has length at least , since and . Vectors on the first axis have length at least one. Thus the shaded region includes exactly all allowable choices, including ties on its boundary.
For a second lattice basis, write , with integer coefficients, as just proved. Conversely each is an integer combination of the . The change-of-basis matrix and its inverse therefore both have integer entries. Their determinants are integers with product one, giving . Thus lattice bases are related by a unimodular matrix.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2011 ii Paper 4 20F i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Embed the ring of integers into by its two real embeddings. Its image is a full Euclidean lattice of some covolume . Fix and consider the symmetric rectangle , . Its area is , so the Minkowski convex body theorem gives a nonzero algebraic integer in it. Its algebraic norm is a nonzero integer with .
As , infinitely many distinct must occur: a finite collection of nonzero elements has a positive minimum of , whereas here that coordinate tends to zero. The principal ideals have norm . There are only finitely many ideals of bounded norm: they are subgroups of bounded index in a rank-two free abelian group, and integer Hermite normal forms give finitely many possibilities at each such index. Thus infinitely many of these elements generate one ideal. Ratios of two generators of the same ideal are units, because inclusion in both directions supplies inverse algebraic integers. Among infinitely many distinct generators choose two whose ratio is not . This gives a non-trivial unit without assuming Dirichlet's theorem.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 12 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Use the positive Laplace-Beltrami operator, . A flat torus is the quotient , where is a full-rank Euclidean lattice and the metric descends from the Euclidean metric. Its dual lattice isIf is the covolume of , the functions descend to the torus. Direct differentiation gives the spectrum of a flat torus:The multiset includes one entry for each dual vector. In particular zero has multiplicity one. Writing identifies the dual vectors with , . Standard Fourier series on the unit cube then prove that these functions are an orthonormal basis of on the torus. If , its Fourier coefficients satisfy . Thus every eigenfunction is a linear combination of the indicated shell of frequencies, with no additional eigenvalues. Compactness gives the discrete self-adjoint realization, whose eigenfunctions are smooth. For real functions the two characters at become cosine and sine, giving the same real multiplicities. The opposite Laplacian sign would negate all displayed eigenvalues without changing the rigidity conclusion.
To prove two-dimensional spectral rigidity, let and recover its Gram matrix from its vector-length multiset. Let be the shortest nonzero length and choose with . This vector is primitive: a proper integer multiple would have a shorter lattice vector. Hence . From the spectral multiset subtract exactly two occurrences of each length , . The remaining multiset consists precisely of the vectors not on this line, including correct multiplicities at coincident lengths. Its least length is the length of a shortest vector independent of .
The pair is a basis of . Otherwise take a lattice point in a nonzero coset of and reduce its two coefficients into . The resulting nonzero lattice vector is not on , by primitivity of . Butwith strict inequality: when both coefficients are nonzero the triangle inequality is strict for independent vectors, and when one vanishes its length is at most . This contradicts the definition of . Subtract an integer multiple of from and, if necessary, change its sign to arrange ; minimality of makes this reduction possible without decreasing its length.
The covolume of is also spectral. The count of lattice vectors with length at most obeysFor example, translate a bounded fundamental parallelogram of diameter bound : the union of tiles with centres in contains and lies inside . Comparing their areas proves the leading coefficient. The spectrum supplies this count. Since is a lattice basis, its parallelogram area satisfies . ThereforeAll three quantities are determined by the spectrum. Equal Gram matrices give an orthogonal map between the dual lattices; taking duals gives an orthogonal map between the original lattices, descending to a Riemannian isometry of the tori. Isospectral flat two-tori are isometric. This is the two-dimensional lattice reconstruction from vector lengths; it uses lengths with multiplicities, not merely the set of distinct lengths.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 18 1 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Let , and let be the inverse image of the cyclic subgroup under the quotient map. Then is an inclusion of Euclidean lattices with . The Smith normal form supplies a basis of for whichChoose the orientation of this basis so that . Dividing the coordinate on by gives an isomorphism of complex toriHere maps to , and its class generates . Thus the isomorphism carries to the required cyclic subgroup. Every pair is represented: is surjective. This argument avoids assuming that an arbitrary integer lift of a primitive vector modulo is itself primitive.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 20 3 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The Arnold-Liouville theorem concerns a connected compact component of a regular common level of commuting independent smooth functions on a -dimensional symplectic manifold. It states that is a Lagrangian torus, and that a neighbourhood of has action-angle variablesin which every depends only on . If or, more generally, , its Hamiltonian flow satisfiesAngles have period here. The theorem is local near this regular compact component; it does not assert globally defined action-angle variables across singular levels or over an entire base with monodromy.
First, has dimension of a manifold by the submersion theorem. The Hamiltonian vector fields are independent, tangent to , and commute. They span . Moreoverso is a Lagrangian submanifold. Compactness makes these restricted vector fields complete. Their joint flow is an -action on . Its orbits are open because the fields span , so connectedness gives one orbit. The stabilizer of a point is discrete by the inverse function theorem, andCompactness forces to be a full-rank Euclidean lattice: otherwise an unbounded linear coordinate transverse to its span would descend to the quotient. Thus is an -torus.
Next choose a small ball of regular values near and a neighbourhood of this component which is a product family of compact tori . This local trivialization follows directly by choosing transverse vector fields with and lifting short radial paths in the base; compactness of gives a uniform neighbourhood where their flows exist. Hence deformation retracts onto . The commuting joint flows on nearby fibres have smoothly varying full-rank Hamiltonian period lattices. A basis of their periods can be chosen smoothly on this small ball: continue the return equations from a basis at the central fibre, using their nonsingular vertical flow derivatives and the implicit function theorem. No global choice of lattice basis is needed.
Because and retracts onto , its closed symplectic form is exact on . Choose a one-form with . Let be the smoothly continued cycles represented by the period basis and define the action integralsFor a transverse variation of the fibre, differentiating a cycle integral and using Cartan's magic formula eliminates the integral of the exact term. With the cycle parametrized by the joint-flow time , this givesThusThe period matrix is nonsingular, so gives coordinates on the base. The corresponding Hamiltonian vector fields satisfyTheir time- flows return along the basis cycles. They commute because each is a function of the commuting . Consequently they give a free torus action on .
Choose a section over the action-coordinate ball and use this torus action to define angles . Since , the symplectic form takes the formThe closed base two-form is exact on the ball: write , , by the Poincaré lemma. Changing the angular origins by removes this term, since . This completes the construction of action-angle variables. The functions are constant on the fibres, so are functions of alone, and Hamilton's equations give the claimed straight-line motion. This proves both the topological and symplectic parts of the Arnold-Liouville theorem.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 16 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Construct the Euclidean lattices in an orthogonal coordinate system whose squared axis lengths areThus an integer coordinate vector has squared norm . These four numbers are linearly independent over : the four sign changes of in their field extension isolate the four coefficients of a rational relation. The independence will distinguish the two flat tori; equality of their length spectra will hold for every positive choice of axis weights.
LetHere and below these integer coordinates are interpreted in the weighted orthogonal axes. Direct multiplication gives , , andIn particular both are full-rank Euclidean lattices. Denote their four generator columns by . Modulo the two matrices have the same columns, and the nonzero words of the given ternary tetracode are exactlyThese are the reductions of , respectively. The first and fourth displayed words are the specified generators, and the middle two arise from their sum and difference, up to sign. Thus reduction modulo maps either Euclidean lattice onto precisely .
To construct a length-preserving correspondence, find the kernels of this reduction. The inverse matrix is . Hence exactly when . These congruences are equivalent toFor clarity, the first congruence is ; subtracting the others gives evenness of each required pair sum. For the matrix the first congruence is ; the remaining congruences again give equality of the four parities. Substitution proves the converse in each case.
Let be the orthogonal reflection changing only coordinate . If the coordinates of are even, this changes their sum by a multiple of ; if all are odd, it changes the sum by modulo . ThereforeEach Euclidean lattice is the disjoint union of its kernel and the eight cosets , since has nine words. Define a map by using on and on each of and . Each piece maps bijectively onto the corresponding coset. Thus is a bijection satisfyingIt also commutes with . The closed geodesics of a flat torus have lengths for nonzero translation vectors in its Euclidean lattice. Consequently the two length spectra agree, including the multiplicities of translation classes and with either consistent orientation convention. If only primitive closed geodesics are counted, the same conclusion follows by removing iterates in increasing order of length: the total multiplicity at is the sum of primitive multiplicities at , and there are only finitely many such contributions below any fixed length. The correspondence need not itself preserve primitiveness to give this conclusion.
It remains to prove the two flat tori are not isometric. An isometry of flat tori lifts to an affine Euclidean isometry; its linear part of an affine map must carry onto . In integer coordinates write this part as . For every , both and have integer coordinates and have equal squared norms. Rational independence of the impliesApply this to for all . Two squared linear forms agreeing on all integer points agree as polynomials; their difference factors, so one form is the other or its negative. Since is invertible, is consequently a diagonal sign change .
Modulo , such a must preserve . Each nonzero word of has exactly three nonzero coordinates, and for each choice of zero coordinate there are just two such words, differing by an overall sign. Preserving these words forces the three signs on each support to agree. The four overlapping supports then force . Thus only and are possible. Neither changes .
Finally : it has the same ternary word as , but their difference is , which fails the congruence defining . Hence and no such linear isometry exists. This completes the tetracode length-isospectral lattice construction.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 24 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The idele group is the multiplicative restricted productwith respect to at the finite places of a number field; is the completion of a valued field at the place . Thus each tuple has nonzero components, and all but finitely many finite components are units. Its restricted product topology on the idele group has basic open sets , where is finite and contains the infinite places, and each is open in . In particular is an open subgroup.
Embed diagonally. Take a neighbourhood of one whose finite components all lie in and whose infinite components satisfy in the usual real or complex modulus. A diagonal element there is an algebraic unit . If , then is a nonzero algebraic integer, so its field norm is a nonzero integer. Buta contradiction. Thus is discrete. It is also closed: in a topological group, a subgroup with an isolated identity cannot have an external accumulation point, since quotients of two nearby subgroup elements would approach the identity.
Send an idele to its associated fractional ideal byOnly finitely many exponents are nonzero. This homomorphism is onto, by choosing powers of local uniformizers, and its kernel is . Diagonal elements map to principal fractional ideals. The resulting quotient givesIt is a topological isomorphism when the ideal class group is given the discrete topology, since is open.
Use normalized local moduli: real modulus, squared complex modulus, and at a finite place. The idelic modulus defines , the norm-one idele group. The product formula puts inside this kernel. Every ideal class has a representative in , because an infinite component can be rescaled to correct the modulus without altering its fractional ideal. The compact space therefore maps continuously onto the discrete ideal class group. Its image must be finite, proving is finite.
For the Dirichlet unit theorem, put and . Let count real embeddings and count conjugate complex pairs. Infinite logarithms define a continuous surjectionusing at real places and at complex places. Its kernel is compact: it consists of real signs, complex unit circles, and the product of compact finite-place unit groups. More generally the inverse image of a bounded closed subset of is compact. Since is closed and discrete, its intersection with each such inverse image is finite. Hence is discrete in , and the kernel is a finite group. It is exactly the roots of unity , since every element of a finite multiplicative group has finite order and every root of unity has all local moduli one.
The image of in is an open subgroup, hence also closed, and is homeomorphic to . The assumed compactness therefore makes compact, and its continuous quotient is compact. A discrete cocompact subgroup of a real vector space is a full Euclidean lattice, of rank . Thus , and lifting a lattice basis splits off the free factor:This derives both finiteness and the unit rank from the stated compactness assumption, rather than assuming either conclusion to prove compactness.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 28 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
A normalization is important here. I use the covolume-one theta function of a fractional ideal, for which the requested limit is , and also give the formula for the unnormalized Gaussian theta sum.
Let , let , and choose one field embedding for each Archimedean place. The Minkowski embedding of a number field identifieswith a real inner product space havingIts Euclidean Lebesgue measure is . With this convention, the covolume of a fractional ideal lattice iswhere is the field discriminant and is the positive absolute norm of a fractional ideal. Thus the Euclidean lattice has covolume . DefineThis Gaussian theta sum converges absolutely whenever every .
The trace dual of a fractional ideal isHere is the inverse different. Since , we have . There is a subtle distinction between the trace pairing and the positive inner product: the dual lattice of is , where the bar conjugates the complex coordinates and fixes the real ones. Indeed,Consequently . Coordinatewise complex conjugation preserves the weighted squared lengths in the Gaussian theta sum.
Here are the precise analytic formulas used in the proof. For a Schwartz function on , take the Fourier transform to beFor a full Euclidean lattice of covolume , the Poisson summation formula for a Euclidean lattice isFor , the Gaussian Fourier transform, applied in orthonormal real coordinates, givesMore generally, for a real positive-definite matrix that is symmetric. Each complex coordinate contributes two real coordinates, which explains its exponent .
Apply the Poisson summation formula for a Euclidean lattice to , whose covolume is , and use the preceding description of its dual lattice. The anisotropic theta functional equation isFor comparison, the unnormalized Gaussian theta sumhas the functional equationand its corresponding limit is rather than . Explicitly, our normalization is .
For the small-parameter asymptotic of a lattice theta sum, means that every coordinate tends to zero. In , the zero lattice vector contributes . Every nonzero vector contributes a term tending to zero. Once every , all these terms are bounded by the summable Gaussian theta sum . The dominated convergence theorem therefore gives . Using the anisotropic theta functional equation,The condition that every coordinate tends to zero matters; alone would not justify this argument.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 117 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
A flat torus is the quotient , where is a full-rank Euclidean lattice, with the Riemannian metric induced from the Euclidean metric. Translation by a lattice vector is a Riemannian isometry, so this metric is well defined and has zero curvature. Its volume is the covolume of .
The dual lattice is . For , the function descends to the flat torus, and direct differentiation givesConversely, write and . Ordinary Fourier series on have frequencies , corresponding to . After normalization they form a complete orthonormal basis in , and the Fourier coefficients of a smooth function decay rapidly. Applying the Laplace-Beltrami operator term by term shows that a smooth eigenfunction with eigenvalue has nonzero coefficients only where . Thus the spectrum of a flat torus isThe formula counts multiplicity over either the real or complex numbers: the two frequencies give the real sine and cosine functions.
For the rigidity assertion in dimension two, it suffices to reconstruct a rank-two Euclidean lattice from its vector-length multiset. The multiset first determines its covolume . Indeed, a bounded fundamental parallelogram, and comparison of the cells meeting a disk with slightly larger and smaller disks, give the lattice-point asymptotics by fundamental cellsThe spectrum determines , including multiplicities, so it determines .
Let be the smallest nonzero vector length, and choose with . This vector is primitive: with would contradict minimality. From the length multiset subtract the two vectors at every positive length , for . The shortest remaining length is exactly the length of a shortest vector . This subtraction is legitimate even if several directions have length : it subtracts just two copies, and then . It also proves that is independent of our choice of shortest direction. Replace by to arrangeThe replacement stays outside and cannot be shorter than , so a reduced choice still has length .
The shortest-independent-vector basis lemma says that are a basis of . To prove it, choose coordinates with . Because is primitive, ; let be the smallest positive vertical coordinate in . Write , with after changing its sign. If , a vector of vertical coordinate , reduced horizontally modulo , hasThis contradicts the definition of , since . Hence and generate .
The Gram matrix of this basis is , with , and its determinant is . ThereforeChanging the sign of one basis vector allows . The numbers , all audible from the spectrum, consequently determine the Gram matrix, and hence , up to an orthogonal transformation. Taking dual lattices gives the same conclusion for . Isospectral flat two-dimensional tori are isometric. The argument uses the special basis property of rank-two Euclidean lattices, so it does not claim higher-dimensional rigidity.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 118 2 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Let be the quotient covering maps. Since the source universal cover is simply connected, the lifting criterion for a covering space gives a lift of . The lift is a holomorphic map because is locally a biholomorphism.
For every , the difference belongs to the discrete Euclidean lattice . It is a continuous function of on a connected space, hence is constant. Differentiating shows that each coefficient of is -periodic. Such a coefficient is bounded on a compact fundamental parallelepiped, and periodicity bounds it on all of . The several-variable Liouville theorem, obtained by applying the one-variable theorem on coordinate lines, makes every coefficient constant.
Consequently for a constant complex-linear map and . The period differences become . Thus the affine lift of a holomorphic map between complex tori givesEvery holomorphic map between complex tori is a homomorphism followed by a translation. The translation vector is determined modulo , while is the derivative of any lift and is unaffected by that ambiguity.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 118 2 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Choose a constant positive Hermitian form on . Its underlying flat Kähler metric is translation-invariant and descends through the Euclidean lattice to the compact complex torus . The Dolbeault Hodge decomposition gives a unique Dolbeault Laplacian-harmonic representative of every Dolbeault cohomology class. By the Kähler Laplacian identity, these are also Hodge Laplacian-harmonic.
Choose a constant coframe on . A lifted harmonic form is a sum of constant wedge basis forms with smooth periodic coefficients. For the flat metric, the Hodge Laplacian acts coefficientwise by the scalar constant-coefficient Laplacian. Each coefficient is a harmonic function on a compact flat real torus, hence is constant: integration by parts gives . Conversely every constant-coefficient form is harmonic. Thus the harmonic representatives are exactly the translation-invariant differential forms of type (p, q).
The constant covectors form ; the constant covectors form the space of antilinear maps . Sending a constant wedge form to its cohomology class givesThe map is intrinsic and does not depend on the auxiliary flat metric: that metric proves every class has exactly one constant representative, while the inclusion of constant forms is defined directly by the quotient. The Dolbeault cohomology of a complex torus consists of constant forms, and in particularFor indices outside , both the exterior-power expression and the cohomology group vanish.
