Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 101 1 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Here the coefficient fields are and . A polynomial ring in one variable over a field is a Euclidean domain, hence a principal ideal domain; its nonzero prime ideals are generated by irreducible polynomials. The fundamental theorem of algebra says that all irreducible polynomials over are linear. Combining it with complex conjugation shows that the monic irreducible polynomials over are exactly the linear polynomials and quadratics with no real root. ThusEvery nonzero prime ideal in this list is a maximal ideal; is a prime ideal because is an integral domain. Likewise,The map is contraction of an ideal along the inclusion. It sends to . For , the contraction of consists of the real polynomials vanishing at . If , the factor theorem gives the ideal . If , a real polynomial vanishing at also vanishes at its complex conjugate , so it is divisible by . Division by this real quadratic gives the converse and henceThus each real linear prime ideal has one preimage, each real quadratic prime ideal has the two conjugate preimages and , and has only above it. In particular, is surjective.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 101 2 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Yes: can have nonzero zero divisors. Let , a direct product of rings, where is any field. The nonzero idempotents and satisfy , so both are zero divisors.
There are exactly two prime ideals:Indeed, any prime ideal must contain or , since their product is zero. If it contains , it contains and corresponds to a prime ideal of the quotient ring , whose only prime ideal is zero; hence it equals . The other case gives .
For the localization at a prime ideal , every denominator has , andis an isomorphism. It is surjective using constant first-coordinate fractions. It is injective because a numerator with first coordinate zero is annihilated by , so its fraction is zero. Interchanging the coordinates proves .
Thus the localization at a prime ideal is a field in every case, although has zero divisors. The obstruction to using the previous part's argument is that the two nonzero factors of a zero product can survive at different prime ideals.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 101 2 e Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Let be the sequence with in coordinate and zero elsewhere. In the direct product of rings , the idealsform a strict ascending chain: every element of vanishes after coordinate , whereas does not. Hence is not a Noetherian ring.
Nevertheless, each has a coordinatewise generalized inverse , defined by when and otherwise. It satisfiesThis is the defining property of a Von Neumann regular ring. Fix any prime ideal , and take . Since , ; butConsequently in the localization at a prime ideal . All elements of therefore vanish. By the local ring description in part (a), is the unique maximal ideal, so is a nonzero field. A field has only the ideals zero and itself, and thus is Noetherian.
We have proved the stronger conclusionThe argument applies to every prime ideal, without assuming that it comes from a coordinate projection.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 101 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
False. In the polynomial ring over a field, takeThe ideal is a maximal ideal, with quotient ring . AlsoIn this last ring, an element with nonzero constant term is a unit, and an element with zero constant term is a multiple of and has square zero. Thus every zero divisor is a nilpotent element. This is equivalent to being a primary ideal: a zero product in the quotient ring with one nonzero factor forces the other factor to be nilpotent. Its radical of an ideal is , so is -primary.
However, , so . Moreover while , since every polynomial in has no term of total degree one. For every , , so . Hence
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 101 3 e Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
False: existence holds, but uniqueness fails. First, the Lasker–Noether theorem supplies existence; here is an argument from the preceding part. If some proper ideal in a Noetherian ring were not a finite intersection of irreducible ideals, the ascending chain condition would let us choose such an ideal maximal under inclusion. It is not irreducible, so with both and strictly larger than . By maximality, both are finite intersections of irreducible ideals, and therefore so is , a contradiction. Part (d) makes each factor a primary ideal. The whole ring is represented by the empty intersection if that convention is needed.
For a counterexample to uniqueness, work in over a field and put . The Hilbert basis theorem makes a Noetherian ring. There are two distinct minimal primary decompositions:The ideal is a prime ideal, hence a primary ideal. Each of the other factors has quotient ring isomorphic to , by substituting respectively and . As in part (b), each is -primary.
To check both intersections, let , for . Substitution identifies with . The class of is zero exactly when , equivalently when . Therefore andThe two are different, since belongs to but has nonzero class modulo . Both decompositions are irredundant: , while . Applying the radical of an ideal operation to the two components in either decomposition gives and , respectively.
The second uniqueness theorem for primary decomposition explains the distinction: the component at an isolated prime of a primary decomposition is unique, but embedded primary components need not be. The counterexample varies an embedded component.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 101 4 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
No. For example, take , any field. It is an Artinian ring, since its only ideals are zero and itself. In the formal power series ring , however,is a strictly descending chain of ideals. The inclusion is strict because has a nonzero coefficient of , whereas every element of has that coefficient zero. Thus fails the descending chain condition and is not Artinian.
The same argument works for any nonzero coefficient ring : the coefficient in cannot be produced by a multiple of . Therefore is never Artinian when . The zero ring is the harmless exception.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 101 4 e Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
No. Take over a field , and inside takeThis is a subring containing : its elements have arbitrary constant coefficient in as polynomials in , and every positive-degree coefficient is divisible by ; that condition is preserved by sums and products. The ring is Noetherian. Indeed, a nonzero ideal of has an element of least degree, and division by shows that every element of the ideal is a multiple of . Thus is a principal ideal domain, and its ideals are finitely generated.
In , let . These form an ascending chain. We show that . If it belonged, we could writeCancel in the integral domain , then apply the evaluation homomorphism . Every becomes a scalar in , so this would givewhich is impossible by comparison of degrees. Hence for every , andThis is a constant-plus-ideal non-Noetherian subring construction: the restricted coefficients prevent a finite list of positive powers of from generating all the required powers.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 101 5 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
A Dedekind domain is a Noetherian ring which is an integral domain, is an integrally closed domain, and has Krull dimension one. Explicitly, every ideal is finitely generated; every element of the fraction field that is an integral element over already belongs to ; and every nonzero prime ideal is a maximal ideal, with itself not a field.
With this convention, an equivalent local characterization is that is a Noetherian integral domain that is not a field and whose localization at a prime ideal is a discrete valuation ring for every nonzero prime ideal . The integrally closed domain condition rules out singularities such as those represented by the subring , where is integral but missing.
Some conventions also include fields by allowing Krull dimension at most one; the conclusions about ideals below remain valid under that convention.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 101 5 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
TakeWe justify that this is a Dedekind domain. It is an integral domain inside the number field . As an additive group it is free of rank two over . The subgroup theorem for finitely generated abelian groups says that every subgroup of such a group is finitely generated. Thus every ideal has finitely many additive generators, and those same elements generate it as a -ideal. This proves that is Noetherian.
We use the standard formula for the ring of integers of a quadratic field: for squarefree , it is if , and otherwise. Since , is the ring of integers of a number field , meaning all elements of integral over . We also use transitivity of integral extensions. If an element of is integral over , it is integral over because is integral over , and therefore belongs to . Thus is an integrally closed domain.
Every nonzero prime ideal is maximal. Indeed, choose . Multiplying by its algebraic conjugate puts the nonzero integer in . Hence the integral domain is a quotient of the finite ring , and is finite. Every finite integral domain is a field, since multiplication by a nonzero element is injective and therefore surjective. The element has no inverse in , since , so is not a field. Consequently is not maximal, and a maximal ideal above it is nonzero. Together with the preceding result, this gives Krull dimension exactly one.
Finally, consider the idealReduction modulo with identifies with , so the additive index is . If were the principal ideal , multiplication by its nonzero generator would have integer matrixin the basis . The index of its image is the absolute determinant, soThere are no integer solutions: makes the right side at least , while would require . Thus is a nonprincipal ideal in the integers adjoined a square root of minus five, and is a Dedekind domain that is not a principal ideal domain.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 101 6 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The Krull dimension of a commutative ring isThe length counts strict inclusions, so a chain with prime ideals has length . The supremum may be infinite. A field, for example, has just the prime ideal and therefore has Krull dimension zero. For the zero ring, the spectrum of a commutative ring is empty; under the convention , its dimension is .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 103 1 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Fix a Young tableau of shape , let be its column stabilizer, and putThese are the Column antisymmetrizer of a Young tableau and its polytabloid. The Specht module is generated by as a cyclic module, so the nonzero R-module homomorphism has . Because its extension commutes with the group algebra action,Expand in the tabloid basis of the Young permutation module . At least one tabloid therefore satisfies .
If a row of contains two entries from the same column of , their transposition fixes . Pairing the terms indexed by and in makes them cancel. This remains valid in characteristic two, since the paired coefficients sum to zero there as well. Thus each row of meets each column of in at most one entry.
The first rows of consequently contain at most entries from column of , where is the conjugate partition. HenceBy the dominance order on partitions, this provesThis is dominance from a nonzero column antisymmetrizer. The extension is what allows us to apply to an element of without dividing by the column stabilizer's order, which might vanish in the given field.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 109 4 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Work in the prime field and set . We will choose , use the other to enumerate , and ensure that the first values of are distinct. The zero-sum condition will then force the last value to be the missing field element.
Consider the polynomialIt has total degree of a polynomial . Its terms of highest total degree form the homogeneous polynomial given by the square of the Vandermonde determinant, . For coefficient extraction we need the coefficient of ; lower-degree terms of cannot contribute to it.
Apply the Dyson constant-term identity from part (i) in variables, with every exponent equal to one. Pairing its factors for givesThe constant term is . Thus the desired coefficient issince none of is zero in the prime field.
For completeness, the coefficient form of the Combinatorial Nullstellensatz, also called the Alon-Tarsi lemma, says that if and each finite set in a field has size , thenTo justify this formula, the univariate Lagrange interpolation polynomial coefficient functional kills powers below and takes the value one on . Apply the product of these functionals to each monomial of . Every monomial of total degree at most other than the target has some exponent below the corresponding , so it is killed. The target survives with coefficient one. In particular, a nonzero target coefficient ensures a point of the product set where is nonzero.
Use and for every . The degree bound holds with equality, so there is with . Its first factors ensure that the are distinct; its second factors ensure that , , are distinct. With , the enumerate the whole prime field.
Let be the unique field element missing from , and write . Since ,The same sum is , hence . Taking completes the enumeration. We have proved zero-sum sequences as differences of permutations of a prime field:No distinctness assumption on the was used. The argument also includes : then , the products defining are empty and equal to one. Keeping explicit avoids assuming that the sum of all field elements is zero, which would fail for .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 138 2 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The roots-of-unity criterion for a splitting field for finite group representations says that the assumed th roots of unity make a splitting field for . Fix a multiplicative identification of the group with the complex th roots of unity. For a p-regular element , its order divides ; the operator is diagonalizable because has distinct roots in . If its eigenvalues, counted with multiplicity, are , define the Brauer character bywhere hats denote the chosen complex lifts. This defines a class function on the p-regular elements, not on arbitrary elements of .
A short exact sequence can be represented by block triangular matrices, so the eigenvalue multiset is the union of those on its submodule and quotient. Thus Brauer characters are additive on short exact sequences. If are the simple -modules, the Jordan–Hölder theorem givesWe use the standard Brauer–Nesbitt theorem in its character form: over a splitting field the Brauer characters of the nonisomorphic simple modules are linearly independent over . ThereforeBoth the modular splitting-field criterion and this independence theorem are the representation-theoretic results used here.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 138 3 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The modular representation ring is the abelian group generated by isomorphism classes of finite-dimensional -modules, with relationsThe Jordan–Hölder theorem says that it is a free abelian group with basis the classes of the simple modules, and . To see independence, composition multiplicity for each fixed simple is an additive map to and reads off its basis coefficient.
Define , using the diagonal action in the tensor product of group representations. Tensoring over a field is exact in either argument, so multiplication respects the defining relations. Associativity and the symmetry give a commutative ring with identity , the trivial representation. Thus .