Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 32 5 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
For the increasing-supply resource-price dynamics, assume a finite network, positive weights , nonempty routes, nonnegative prices, and initially positive prices on every used resource. Resource announces price , and a route sees total price . Maximizing over gives : this is the route's weighted proportional fairness demand. The supply increases with its price, and the multiplicative resource-price dynamics raise a positive price when total demand exceeds supply and lower it otherwise.
The boundary equilibria of multiplicative resource prices show why the positivity qualification is necessary. With two resources, one route using both, , and , the prices and are distinct equilibria with well-defined route price one. The positive equilibrium is . A zero coordinate stays zero because it multiplies its own derivative. Thus the printed claim about all trajectories is false if these boundary initial conditions are admitted. We now prove the intended convergence for positive initial prices; unused resources may start at zero.
For positive-price convergence for increasing resource supplies, define . Strict increase of makes strictly convex, even without differentiability of . On the convex domain with every , the supplied function is strictly concave, since each logarithmic term is concave and the negative integral terms give strictness in every changed coordinate. Its gradient isIt is also coercive toward large prices: for fixed , when , while the positive logarithmic terms grow only logarithmically in the largest coordinate. If any route price tends to zero with the other prices bounded, . Consequently every nonempty superlevel set is compact and bounded away from zero route prices. attains a unique maximum .
For a used resource, the derivative at a zero coordinate is , since . Such a coordinate cannot vanish at the maximum. An unused resource has its unique maximizing coordinate at zero. Thus is positive on used resources and satisfies demand equal to supply there. It is the unique equilibrium in that positive domain.
Along any trajectory,The initial superlevel set traps the trajectory and supplies a global upper bound on every price, and a lower bound on every route price. On any finite time interval is bounded, so stays positive if initially positive. The bounded trajectory therefore exists for all positive times.
More strongly, each used resource has a uniform positive demand boundChoose with . While , its derivative is positive, so . Unused prices satisfy and converge to zero.
The nonnegative function has finite integral, since is increasing and bounded above. It is uniformly continuous along the trajectory: on the compact trapped set, the vector field is bounded, the trajectory is Lipschitz, and is a continuous, hence uniformly continuous function of . The criterion uniformly continuous integrable functions vanish at infinity applies here: otherwise separated intervals around positive peaks would give an infinite integral. Therefore . Since used prices stay bounded away from zero, on every used resource. Every limit point is thus the unique maximizer , with zero prices on unused resources. Compactness now implies . Only continuity and strict increase of the supply functions were used; differentiability or an unbounded supply was not required. The boundary counterexample remains a necessary qualification of the literal source assertion.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 49 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Take a positive gradient coefficient , a positive squared mass, a finite-volume regulator and an ultraviolet cutoff. Use the dimensionless statistical action convention : inverse temperature is absorbed into the coefficients. If denotes dimensional energy instead, the exponent below gains a factor and the covariance gains . These conventions cannot be mixed.
Choose the Fourier transform conventionIntegration of the quadratic gradient and source terms givesComplete the square with . Translation of the regulated real Gaussian variables leaves their measure unchanged, so the Gaussian integral givesHere is the source-free Gaussian partition function. For independent regulated real coordinates and a positive quadratic matrix , it is under Lebesgue normalization. The continuum determinant needs the stated regulator and a measure convention. Reality pairs the nonzero Fourier modes, so they must not be counted as two independent real fields.
A connected correlation function subtracts the product of the means. The logarithm generates its cumulants: differentiating twice with respect to the source, using the measure in the functional derivative convention, yieldsThe source changes the mean but not the covariance; the stated zero-source limit therefore follows immediately. Momentum conservation uses , appropriate for a real field without complex conjugation on either displayed factor.
For the continuum massive Gaussian field correlation tail, set and . Fourier inversion givesThe large-argument Modified Bessel function of the second kind has . Hence is proportional to at large distance andAt zero mass the exponential length diverges. For the critical continuum tail is algebraic, ; in lower dimensions infrared regulation needs additional care.
For a uniform source , perform a momentum-shell renormalization group step: separate slow modes and fast modes . In a Gaussian field theory they decouple; the uniform source couples only to the retained zero mode. Integrating fast modes contributes only a field-independent determinant to the free energy. Restore the cutoff by , andThe factors from the measure, gradient and two fields cancel in the gradient term. The mass term gains , and the linear source gains . ThereforeHere is the positive mass; for signed thermal coordinates it is the squared-mass relation that applies. The Gaussian fixed point has thermal scaling eigenvalue , source eigenvalue and zero anomalous dimension.
Under the formal homogeneous Gaussian scaling hypothesis, substitution of those eigenvalues givesThe last two values are independently visible in and , agreeing with Landau-Ginzburg theory. The specific-heat power follows directly from the determinant: after two thermal derivatives its singular contribution is proportional toThe change of variables proves this power because the rescaled integral converges at large exactly when . The two-dimensional free energy itself has a resonance, while its second derivative still has the indicated power.
The printed magnetization exponent is a formal Gaussian scaling index, not a proved ordered-phase law of the purely quadratic model. The ordered-phase obstruction in a Gaussian scalar model is explicit: the uniform field has energy density . At it tends to as , and the partition function diverges. For , the mean is and tends to zero as , so there is no spontaneously ordered branch. Thus no literal for can be established from this Statistical Hamiltonian alone. The value follows from the scaling dimension of the field if one assumes such a branch; for its nonpositive value further warns against that interpretation. Adding a stabilizing quartic interaction defines an ordered phase, but below four dimensions that interaction is relevant and generally leads to the Wilson-Fisher fixed point, not these Gaussian thermodynamic powers.
For the Gaussian specific-heat infrared threshold, at the same determinant integral grows like , so as a power exponent, with a logarithmic divergence. For , it has a finite cutoff-dependent limit; the leading heat capacity is a regular constant and has no divergent power, again described by in the requested convention. After subtraction of this background the Gaussian singular term can still have the negative power index ; it is not correct to erase that distinction. In a stable quartic Landau-Ginzburg theory above four dimensions, the quartic coefficient is a dangerously irrelevant coupling: it is needed for the ordered phase and contributes , giving the mean-field specific-heat jump and while invalidating naive hyperscaling relation. At four dimensions, marginal interactions can add further logarithmic corrections. The agreement with Landau theory is in the leading heat-capacity power; it does not assert the absence of logarithms or supply a missing stable Gaussian ordered phase.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 61 1 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The first relation is vertical hydrostatic equilibrium. In a thin disc, the central object's gravity near the midplane is ; the pressure gradient balances it. The second is an equation of state combining ideal gas pressure with isotropic radiation pressure. Write , so and ; is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant and the mean molecular weight in proton-mass units.
The third is local energy balance: the increase of upward radiative flux with height equals viscous dissipation. Here is dynamic viscosity, not mean molecular weight. A Keplerian disc has shear , so its heating rate is . The fourth is optically thick radiative diffusion, with opacity per unit mass and diffusion directed down the temperature gradient. Midplane symmetry gives and oppositely directed fluxes from the two faces. The four relations express vertical force balance, gas–radiation thermodynamics, local heating, and diffusive cooling.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 61 3 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Let be the uniform background surface density, , and write , , . The background sheet has no horizontal gravitational gradient; its vertical field is irrelevant to the stated planar equations. Put . Keeping first-order terms givesThe contribution comes from , while the Coriolis acceleration supplies the remaining coupling. The prescribed tidal potential has no perturbation, and its background force already balances the background Coriolis term. The isothermal pressure linearizes to .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 7 1 g Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Fix the standard Jacobian matrix convention . With column gradients, the commuting velocity derivative for kinetic transport isIf the symbol is instead defined with derivative indices as rows, the printed expression is this same formula. Under the standard convention it needs a transpose.
To prove the claim, put . Differentiating in givesThe terms cancel, so each component of satisfies the transport equation. Multiplication by the smooth coefficient and differentiation preserve the same uniform compact support, hence componentwise. At , . The L2 norm calculation in part (d), summed over components, givesOne can also differentiate the explicit solution: the term cancels the derivative of , leaving the initial velocity derivative transported along the characteristic curves.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 57 1 a ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
In Bohmian mechanics the particle has a definite position at every time. Its wavefunction obeys the usual autonomous wave equation, while its actual position follows the guidance equationHere is the probability current. The Born rule is the quantum-equilibrium choice of initial position distribution ; quantum equilibrium equivariance ensures that this distribution persists because it obeys the same probability continuity equation as the wave amplitude. The guidance equation fixes the initial velocity as well as subsequent velocities: the second-order equation below does not permit an independent arbitrary initial velocity.
Define the quantum potentialTaking the gradient of the real Madelung equations givesOn any smooth phase patch , so . Along the actual path, differentiation is the material derivative . ThereforeThis is the Bohmian mechanics Newton form: the classical force is supplemented by the amplitude-dependent quantum potential. Neither division by nor a smooth phase is justified at a wavefunction node, so the derivation applies on nonzero-amplitude regions. A nonzero circulation around a node is compatible with the locally curl-free guidance equation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 57 1 b i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The rotational invariance of a central-potential Hamiltonian allows a simultaneous eigenstate of energy and the two-dimensional orbital angular momentum . For a separated wavefunction , the Laplacian in polar coordinates givesThe term must be a constant; write . The angular eigenfunctions can be chosen as . Single-valuedness under imposes , hence . The radial equation in the separation of a two-dimensional central-potential eigenstate isFor a real central potential and the usual real self-adjoint radial boundary conditions, the radial equation admits a basis of real solutions: real and imaginary parts of a complex solution obey the same equation and boundary conditions. Choose a real normalized radial eigenfunction. Since the plane area element in plane polar coordinates is , the normalization isThis establishes the intended separated simultaneous eigenstate form. It is not the form of every stationary state. The radial equation depends on , so the and sectors have the same energy. For , their normalized superpositionis a single-valued stationary state with that energy but is not a single angular exponential. Quantum degeneracy is precisely why separation of variables selects a convenient eigenstate basis rather than all vectors in an energy eigenspace. The printed assertion needs this qualification. The printed polar-coordinate aid also labels a gradient component tuple as a divergence; the gradient used below is the two-dimensional vector .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 64 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
An image segmentation separates an observed image signal into regions that are smooth within themselves and separated by meaningful image edges. Pure image smoothing blurs the very transitions that ought to define these regions. The Mumford–Shah segmentation model instead chooses the reconstruction and its discontinuity set together. For a bounded planar Lipschitz domain and bounded grey-value data , one standard normalization isHere is the relatively closed edge set and can have different traces on its two sides. The first term is quadratic fidelity, the second penalizes variation within regions, and the Hausdorff measure term charges total edge length. It balances fitting, denoising and economical region geometry. The model was developed by David Mumford and Jayant Shah; their 1989 paper formulates this joint variational approach.
All three terms matter. Without fidelity, a constant reconstruction with no edge has zero energy. Without the gradient term, smooth data can be fitted exactly with no edge penalty. Without the length term, fine partitions with nearly constant region means can drive fidelity arbitrarily low while creating excessive boundaries. This is segmentation overfitting without an edge penalty. Increasing favors flatter regions; increasing makes extra boundaries more expensive and can remove small features. These parameter effects describe a balance, not a guaranteed monotone evolution of every individual boundary.
For fixed , varying gives the fixed-edge Euler-Lagrange equation for Mumford–Shah:The boundary condition is a separate one-sided Neumann boundary condition on each side of an edge, not continuity of across it. The fidelity makes this fixed-edge problem strictly convex, so its weak solution is unique by the Lax-Milgram theorem. Optimizing the edge set remains a different geometric problem. The nonconvexity of Mumford–Shah segmentation prevents a general uniqueness assertion or a guarantee that a numerical stationary point is globally optimal.
The piecewise-constant Mumford–Shah problem imposes on regions . It minimizesThe factor counts each shared internal boundary once. The region means in piecewise-constant segmentation give , provided . Thus the remaining optimization concerns the partition. For a smooth interface between and , moving it in the normal pointing out of changes fidelity by per unit displacement, while length changes by its curvature . The resulting segmentation interface curvature balance isWith equal isotropic interface costs, three freely meeting smooth edges satisfy the triple-junction angle in isotropic segmentation: force balance of their unit tangents gives angles of degrees. These are local stationarity conditions on regular interfaces, not a description of every singular edge configuration.
A simple piecewise-constant segmentation contrast threshold explains why small objects can disappear. On a domain of area , suppose two constant intensities differ by , occupying areas and with internal boundary length . Keeping that boundary fits the data exactly and costs . Merging both regions costs the within-region squared error . Among these two candidates, splitting wins precisely when . Other partitions may beat either candidate, so this is not a universal global segmentation formula.
This original synthetic example compares those two candidate geometries using their least-squares means. It illustrates the edge cost; it does not claim to compute the globally optimal Mumford–Shah segmentation.
Existence is cleanly stated in the relaxed SBV space formulation:where is the jump set of a bounded-variation function and the Cantor part of a bounded-variation derivative is absent. Clip a minimizing sequence to the bounded data range: this cannot increase fidelity, gradient energy or jump length. Its values are uniformly bounded, its gradients bounded in , and its jump lengths bounded. The SBV compactness theorem supplies an -convergent subsequence staying in the special class; bounded values also give strong convergence. The fidelity then converges, while gradient energy and jump length are lower semicontinuous. The direct method in the calculus of variations produces a minimizer. The essential closedness of Mumford–Shah jump sets is the additional regularity result connecting this relaxed minimizer to a closed-edge formulation; existence in alone does not assert that every edge set is smooth.
A practical continuous approximation is the Ambrosio–Tortorelli approximation, introduced in Ambrosio and Tortorelli's 1990 paper. An auxiliary field is near one in regions and near zero at edges. One normalized energy isThe edge field weakens smoothing across a narrow transition, and its own energy approximates interface length. The Gamma-convergence result, together with the required compactness, relates global minimizing sequences to the limiting segmentation energy; it does not make the finite-parameter problem jointly convex. Alternating the two fields solves quadratic elliptic subproblems, but initialization and stopping can affect which local stationary configuration is found. The strengths of the model are joint denoising and segmentation, sharp transitions and a geometric cost. Limitations include competing local minima, sensitivity to scale parameters, loss of fine texture, and boundaries driven by intensity rather than semantic object identity.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 75 4 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
A homogeneous static saddle minimizes for . With and ,The mean-field Bose-Einstein condensate has a macroscopic coherent occupation of the uniform mode. Its continuous particle-number phase symmetry is , the circle group generated by particle number. Choosing one phase breaks it, and the saddle manifold is a circle. For , the constrained minimum is the vacuum , so the condensed saddle requires the stated positive-density regime.
Spontaneous symmetry breaking is understood through a phase-selected thermodynamic description: an exact finite-volume number eigenstate has vanishing field expectation. The resulting Goldstone boson is a gapless phase/sound mode, while phase gradients carry the superfluid velocity . This is the saddle-point conclusion requested, not a proof of true condensate order in every dimension or temperature. Long-wavelength phase fluctuations can invalidate the assumed order, as quantified below.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ia Paper 3 11A iv Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Rotational symmetry of the vector field means : rotations fixing force the field to be parallel to , and rotations between directions make its magnitude depend only on . Its flux integral over the radius- sphere is . Applying the flux identity from part (i) to the ball, with the spherically symmetric source, givesTherefore the origin-regular spherical Poisson flux law isOnly source values at occur. Changing the exterior source can change the scalar potential by an interior constant, but cannot change this radial gradient. Regularity on all of , inherited from the Poisson equation setting, matters: on a punctured domain alone an additional would have zero divergence away from the origin and would not be fixed by the local source. It is excluded here by the origin regularity needed for the ball flux identity.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ia Paper 3 3A a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ia Paper 3 3A b i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Apply the product rule and the preceding gradient formula to the vector field . Summing over the repeated index givesHere for the Kronecker delta. Thus the divergence and curl of a radial vector field give, in any dimension,
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ia Paper 3 4A a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Parametrize the smooth path by . The chain rule turns the line integral of the gradient into a one-variable derivative:This is the fundamental theorem for line integrals; in particular the integral has path independence.
