Invariant form on an irreducible sl2 module Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
In the irreducible sl2 Lie algebra module , use , with . The Lie-invariant bilinear form is nondegenerate: its anti-diagonal is nonzero. Invariance follows from , and . Its transpose equals , so it is a symmetric bilinear form when is an even number, and an alternating bilinear form when is an odd integer. The Weyl complete reducibility theorem gives a nondegenerate invariant form on any finite-dimensional module by taking the orthogonal direct sum of these forms.
Odd prime 2026-10-05
An odd prime is a prime number that is an odd integer. The only even number that is a prime number is , since every other positive even number has as a proper divisor. Thus every prime number greater than is an odd prime. There are infinitely many odd primes, by Euclid's theorem.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ia Paper 2 9F a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ib Paper 4 9H Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 75 1 c i Solution 2026-10-07
At zero field, and for every . The Ising-chain quasiparticle dispersion is flat: the bulk quadratic excitation costs no momentum-dependent energy. In spin language these are domain-wall excitations. A periodic finite spin configuration has an even number of domain walls, so the single bulk quasiparticle energy does not imply an allowed isolated one-wall spin state; the first such closed-chain spin excitation costs .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 75 2 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Take to be an even number for a perfectly bipartite periodic chain and make the bipartite spin rotation by about the axis on alternating sites. In the local frame the Néel state has all spins up, while a bond becomesThe linear spin-wave approximation keeps and . ThereforeEvery site has two neighbours. Fourier transform gives and pairing coefficient , soThe bosonic Nambu normal-ordering shift follows from . It adds inside the matrix expression, which must be subtracted in its constant. HenceA periodic chain with an odd number of sites is frustrated at the boundary and lacks this exact two-sublattice reference; the bulk thermodynamic calculation uses the even-chain sequence.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 75 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
For a trajectory connecting the degenerate minima in infinite Euclidean time, the first integral gives . The quartic double-well instanton and its reverse areTheir action isThe instanton fluctuation prefactor has dimensions of inverse time. It incorporates nonzero Gaussian fluctuation eigenvalues and the translation zero-mode Jacobian; a conventional determinant expression iswith common endpoint regularization and the prime removing the translation mode. Only its positive quantum tunnelling rate is needed here.
In the dilute instanton gas, well-separated crossings alternate in direction. Integrating ordered centers gives . A path returning to the same well has an even number, and one connecting opposite wells has an odd number. The common leading harmonic endpoint factor follows from the supplied harmonic oscillator transition kernel:Expanding these functions gives the sums over even numbers and odd numbers, with the position-kernel normalization that its abbreviated formula suppresses. Validity requires , and , so typical crossing separation greatly exceeds an instanton width. Local anharmonic corrections replace the harmonic well energy by its perturbatively corrected value; the leading formula does not claim uniformly negligible relative error at arbitrarily large .
The two exponents identify the double-well tunneling splitting:The superposition with an even spatial wavefunction is the lower state. Coherent quantum tunnelling removes the classical degeneracy, and the exponentially small splitting sets the long quantum tunnelling timescale.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ia Paper 4 1D b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
For a Pythagorean triple, each square number is or modulo . If neither nor were divisible by , modular congruence would give , impossible for a square number. Thus at least one of is divisible by ; both can be divisible, as in .
An odd number has square number congruent to modulo , whereas an even number has square number congruent to . If both and were odd numbers, their sum of square numbers would again be modulo , which no square number can be. Hence and cannot both be odd. They can both be even; the conclusion does not require the Pythagorean triple to be primitive.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 102 2 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Use the classification of finite-dimensional sl2 representations. In the irreducible representation , choose , , sowith vectors beyond the endpoints interpreted as zero. The invariant form on an irreducible sl2 module isIts anti-diagonal entries are nonzero, so it is nondegenerate. Lie-invariant bilinear form invariance under follows from the sum of the two weights. For , the two potentially nonzero terms are and . For , their coefficients coincide when , and their signs are opposite. These checks prove invariance under the generators of the sl2 Lie algebra.
Interchanging multiplies the form by , givingEquivalently it is a symmetric bilinear form in odd integer dimension and an alternating bilinear form in even number dimension. The Weyl complete reducibility theorem expresses any finite-dimensional representation as a direct sum of these irreducibles. Give each summand the displayed form and make different summands orthogonal. The resulting form is invariant and nondegenerate. On a reducible representation with both parities, this orthogonal sum need not itself be symmetric or alternating; the dichotomy in the preceding part required irreducibility.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ib Paper 4 9H b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
By independence of the two simple random walks, linearity of expectation, and symmetry of their transition probabilities,The Chapman-Kolmogorov equation identifies the inner sum as , soA simple random walk on the integer line can return to only at an even time. Since it is recurrent at , part (a) givesTherefore .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ii Paper 3 17G b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Suppose first that is bipartite. As one traverses any cycle in a graph, its vertices alternate between the two vertex classes. Returning to the initial class therefore requires an even number of edges, so contains no odd cycle.
Conversely, suppose that has no odd cycle. Work separately in each connected component of a graph, choose a root , and putwhere is the graph distance. If adjacent vertices were in the same class, then and parity would force . Choose a breadth-first spanning tree. The two tree paths from to and diverge at some last common vertex; their remaining segments have equal length, and adjoining the edge gives an odd cycle. This contradiction shows that every edge joins to , proving the odd-cycle characterization of bipartite graphs.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ii Paper 3 17G d Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
For each edge , let be the indicator random variable of the event that precisely one endpoint lies in . Independent inclusion of the two endpoints with probability givesBecause , linearity of expectation givesSome realization therefore has . Retaining its crossing edges gives a subgraph that is bipartite, with vertex classes and , proving the random cut lower bound.
Now suppose is an even number and instead choose uniformly among all subsets of size . For a fixed edge ,and the reverse orientation has the same probability. ThusAnother application of linearity of expectation givesAt least one such balanced choice attains this expectation, and its crossing edges give the required subgraph that is bipartite. This is the balanced random cut lower bound.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 ia Paper 4 5E b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
The binomial theorem statesThe required sum is the coefficient of inThere is no term when is odd. When is even, the relevant term has exponent and coefficient . Hence