Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 102 5 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The formal character of a weight module is , where are formal basis symbols in the group algebra of the weight lattice, satisfying . For a finite-dimensional irreducible highest-weight representation, the highest weight has weight multiplicity one. Another standard result is that weight multiplicities are invariant under the Weyl group: .
A minuscule representation has all its weights in a single Weyl group orbit. Since the highest weight is present, that orbit is , and the invariance just stated shows every point of it is present with multiplicity one. Consequently the formal character of a minuscule representation isThe sum is over distinct weights, rather than over all elements of : summing over would count each weight times.
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 138 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Let be the group norm element. This is a nonzero vector in the group algebra , and is a trivial submodule of its left regular module. If were a semisimple algebra, this submodule would have a -linear projection . Write . Since for every , we would havewhereas a projection onto satisfies . Thus .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 138 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Put . A finitely generated module over is finite-dimensional over , and multiplication by is a nilpotent linear map with . Its Jordan normal form exists over because its minimal polynomial is a power of . Each Jordan block has size and is the cyclic module . HenceA submodule of is an ideal of , and its inverse image is an ideal of the principal ideal domain containing . The only possibilities are with . Thus all submodules form the chainEvery successive quotient is the one-dimensional simple module on which acts as zero. This is its unique composition series, so is a uniserial module and is an indecomposable representation: two nonzero direct summands would be incomparable submodules. Only is simple.
For of order , the group algebra satisfiessince in characteristic . Consequently, up to isomorphism, are precisely the finite-dimensional indecomposable modules, and . The finite-dimensional convention follows from the finite-generation hypothesis; “exactly” counts isomorphism classes.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 138 6 b i Solution 2026-10-03
Let act on the group algebra by conjugation. Its fixed-point algebra isand the centralizer consists of the elements of commuting with every element of . The Brauer morphism isThus deletes the coefficients of basis elements outside . The nonfixed -orbits have cardinality divisible by , so the usual orbit argument shows that this projection is a unital ring homomorphism. Hence
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 iii Paper 112 4 Solution 2026-09-28
A Wirtinger presentation from a connected knot diagram has one generator per arc and one relator per crossing, with one relator redundant. Its presentation complex is a finite two-dimensional CW complex with one zero-cell, one-cells, and two-cells, and the usual diagrammatic construction gives a homotopy equivalence .
The abelianization of the knot group is , generated by a meridian of a knot. Every homomorphism to the cyclic group factors through this abelianization, and reduction modulo two is its unique surjection. Thus the requested map is unique.
Its kernel determines a two-sheeted covering space . The nontrivial deck transformation acts on cellular chains and homology, giving them module structures over the group ringLift one copy of every cell of ; its two deck translates form a free -basis. Hence , , and . If is the infinite cyclic cover, its cellular chains are free over , and imposing gives
For an odd prime , the two idempotents and split the group algebraThe plus summand is the cellular chain complex of with coefficients, while the minus summand is . Therefore
On the minus summand, the boundary becomes multiplication by , which is invertible in , so . After the corresponding cancellation, the remaining square boundary matrix is an Alexander matrix specialized at . It is singular over exactly whenor equivalently when divides the knot determinant . Thus is nonzero exactly in that case.
Finally, is a nonzero odd integer, so the minus complex is acyclic over . Since a knot exterior has the rational homology of a circle,
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 iii Paper 160 1 b Solution 2026-09-28
The assumed one-dimensional-image property givesfor some . The coefficient of in is one, soThe tabloid bilinear form is invariant, and the involution on the group algebra fixes the Column antisymmetrizer of a Young tableau because inversion preserves sign. Thereforewhich proves the formula.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 111 3 c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Every Hecke parameter of a BN-pair divides and, because is a -group, is a power of . If , then in the field of characteristic . The specialized quadratic relation becomeswhile the braid relations are unchanged. These are the defining relations of the Coxeter group , so induces a surjective homomorphismBoth algebras have bases indexed by , hence the homomorphism is an isomorphism of group algebras.
Schur algebra 2026-10-07
The Schur algebra is the commutant of place permutations on a tensor power. It is the linear span of the diagonal general linear group action, by Schur–Weyl duality. Modules over correspond to homogeneous degree- polynomial representations. Over the complex numbers it is a semisimple algebra: decompose the tensor power as a module for the semisimple group algebra , and take its endomorphism algebra.
A field is a splitting field for a finite group if every simple module over its group algebra is absolutely simple: it remains simple over every extension field. Equivalently, the quotient by the Jacobson radical is a product of full matrix algebras over . In characteristic , containing all th roots of unity, where and , is sufficient. This is the modular splitting-field theorem; it is substantially stronger than merely having eigenvalues for one chosen group element.
Repeated coordinates contribute zero. Sorting a distinct tuple and subtracting the staircase gives a partition of , and its orderings have identical squared summands. The beta-set hook-product identity turns each summand into . Summing and using the Artin–Wedderburn theorem for gives . This is a normalized group algebra dimension identity.
Trace computation of Specht module dimension Created 2026-10-07 Updated 2026-10-14
Right multiplication by on the group algebra is an idempotent with image . Every diagonal entry in the permutation basis is the coefficient of the identity in , namely . Thus its rank equals its trace, giving . Triangular standard-tableau ideals and the Robinson–Schensted correspondence identify this dimension with the standard-tableau count.
Choose ordered minimal topological generators of a uniform pro-p group for odd , put , and choose . Ordered monomials give power-series coordinates in the integral completed group algebra. The displayed Non-Archimedean absolute value filtration gives a complete normed -algebra after completion of the rational group algebra. The power relation raises valuation by one, and interchanging adds terms of valuation at least , so multiplication does not decrease total valuation. The p-adic logarithm and p-adic exponential are inverse on the relevant small balls. In particular is a faithful realization of the Lie algebra of a uniform pro-p group, useful for verifying its intrinsic limit operations and the Baker--Campbell--Hausdorff formula without assuming the correspondence in advance.
Young symmetrizer 2026-10-07
For a Young tableau , let sum its row permutations and be the signed sum of its column permutations in the group algebra of the symmetric group. The product is a Young symmetrizer. The other order is another conventional realization. It satisfies , where is the hook product of a partition, so division by that scalar gives a primitive idempotent in characteristic zero. Acting on a tensor power constructs a Schur module.