Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 122 4 a ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The braid group has generators and relationsIn the strict monoidal category , put and sendThe images are invertible because the Yang–Baxter operator is invertible. Distant images commute by the tensor interchange law, and adjacent images satisfy the braid group relations by the Yang–Baxter operator equation tensored with the remaining identities. Thus these assignments define group homomorphisms , and hence a functor .
Juxtaposition of braids puts generators into the corresponding two blocks of tensor factors, so their images are the tensor products of their images. Strictness of gives and exactly. The resulting functor is strict monoidal and sends to .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 125 1 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Write , so , , and . Let denote the class of modulo squares. The required two-torsion square-class homomorphism isThe last value is needed in the domain only if . Every displayed nonexceptional value is nonzero, because an affine point with necessarily has and equals .
Consider a nonvertical line whose three intersection points have -coordinates , counted with multiplicity. Since is monic,If none of these points is , evaluating at givesand therefore the product of their -values is in the square-class group. Tangencies are included by repeated factors. Since negation preserves the -coordinate, this identity says .
If the line passes through , put and write the line as . The other two intersection abscissae satisfyEvaluating at now givesThus , as required. This covers a tangent at a different point whose third intersection is as well.
The tangent at is vertical. For a vertical chord or tangent the two affine intersections are , so their product of square classes is ; in particular agrees with . Finally, adding changes neither side. These cases exhaust the chord-and-tangent group law, proving that the displayed map is a group homomorphism.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 126 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For a full-rank Euclidean lattice , its dual lattice isIf , then , and . The characters of a real torus identify the additive dual lattice with the multiplicative character group byThe map is well defined precisely because , and is injective. For surjectivity, a continuous group homomorphism from the compact torus into has compact image. Its modulus has logarithm a homomorphism into with compact image, hence is zero, so the image lies in the unit circle. Pull the character back to . Its continuous real lift under , normalized to zero at the origin, is additive: its additive defect is an integer-valued continuous function and vanishes at the origin. A continuous additive function is for a unique . Triviality on says , proving surjectivity.
Use the Fourier transform convention , and take to be a Schwartz function. The periodization of a Schwartz function is smooth and -periodic. On a fundamental cell , the coefficient of the torus character isThe equality follows by translating each cell and using . The rapidly convergent Fourier series can be evaluated at zero, yielding the Poisson summation formula for a Euclidean latticeThis argument keeps track of the covolume factor rather than tacitly assuming a unit-volume lattice.
For in the complex upper half-plane, let . Scaling the self-dual real Gaussian function gives its Fourier transform at , , and holomorphic continuation in gives the complex Gaussian Fourier transformThe branch is with the logarithm on the right half-plane; it is positive for . Both the integrals and the lattice sums are locally normally convergent on the complex upper half-plane. Applying the Poisson summation formula proves the lattice theta functional equationNo integrality or self-duality hypothesis on the lattice is needed.
Put , and . The Epstein zeta function converges absolutely for , and its Mellin transform representation isAt infinity, decays exponentially. Define the entire functionOn , substitute and then . Isolate the two elementary terms before integrating; this gives the pole-subtracted theta integral for an Epstein zeta functionThe formula initially holds for and continues the completed Epstein zeta function meromorphically to all . Apply the same formula to the dual lattice at , using and . The entire terms and the two rational terms match, provingFinally also continues meromorphically. Its only pole is a simple one at , with residue ; the pole of the completed function at zero is cancelled by , and . The residues and this cancellation make explicit why subtracting the constant theta term was necessary.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ia Paper 3 2E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
A subgroup of a group is a normal subgroup when for every , equivalently . The quotient group has the left cosets as elements, with , identity and inverse . Normality makes this multiplication independent of representatives.
The first isomorphism theorem for groups says that for a group homomorphism , its kernel of a group homomorphism is normal andThe image is taken with the induced group operation; surjectivity onto all of is not required.
For the given upper triangular matrices, take diagonal entries:The target is a direct product of groups, with multiplication of nonzero real numbers in each coordinate. Indeed the product of two such matrices has diagonal , proving the group homomorphism property. Any pair of nonzero diagonal entries is attained by a diagonal matrix, so is surjective. Its kernel of a group homomorphism consists precisely of the matrices with , namely . Hencewith coordinatewise multiplication, not addition on .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ia Paper 3 5E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Restrict the quotient projection to . This is a group homomorphism withIts image is a nontrivial subgroup of the prime-order quotient group, because is not contained in . By Lagrange's theorem for finite groups, the image has order and is all of . The first isomorphism theorem for groups therefore gives
For the second assertion, partition into conjugacy classes for . Because is normal, conjugation by permutes these smaller classes: . This group action is transitive since any two elements of are conjugate in . Elements of fix every -class, so the action factors through .
If is the number of smaller classes, the orbit-stabilizer theorem for this transitive action gives . ThusDistinct conjugacy classes are disjoint because they are orbits of a group action. This proves conjugacy class splitting in a prime-index normal subgroup without assuming all -conjugations are already conjugations by .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ia Paper 3 6E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Lagrange's theorem for finite groups states that for a subgroup of a finite group , . For , two powers among coincide, giving for some positive . The least such exponent is the order of a group element, and the cyclic subgroup generated by consists of the distinct powers . Apply Lagrange's theorem for finite groups to obtain .
Cauchy's theorem for finite groups states that if a prime divides the order of a finite group, the group contains an element of order .
The classification of a group of order eight isHere denotes the dihedral group of order eight, not a group of order sixteen. To prove exhaustiveness, every element order is or . An element of order eight generates the whole group, giving .
If no element has order four or eight, every nonidentity element is an involution. Since while and , we have . Choose an involution , another outside , and then outside the four-element subgroup . The factors commute and each added factor has trivial intersection with the preceding subgroup. The internal direct product theorem gives , an elementary abelian group.
Otherwise choose of order four and set . It has index two, so is normal. Choose . The two cosets show that generate and that . There is no element of order eight, so is either or .
If is abelian and , the internal direct product theorem yields . If instead , let ; commutativity gives and , producing the same direct product.
If is nonabelian, conjugation by is a nonidentity group automorphism of : otherwise would commute and hence so would all of . Thus . With these are the relations of ; with they are the relations of the quaternion group . In either presentation every word reduces to , , . The standard eight-element model maps onto , and equal orders make that group homomorphism an isomorphism.
Finally group isomorphisms preserve element orders. The following numbers of elements distinguish all five possibilities:
Thus the list is both exhaustive and pairwise non-isomorphic.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 1 10E b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
A finite nonabelian simple group cannot be a p-group: a nontrivial finite p-group has nontrivial centre of a group, since its class equation makes every noncentral conjugacy class size divisible by , and hence makes the centre size a positive multiple of . That centre is a normal subgroup, so must be the whole group if is a simple group, making it abelian; an abelian simple group has prime order. Therefore every Sylow subgroup here is nontrivial and proper. It cannot be normal, so .
To obtain a simple group embedding from Sylow conjugation, the conjugation action on Sylow subgroups gives a group homomorphism . This group action is transitive by the Sylow theorems and is nontrivial since . Its kernel of a group homomorphism is a normal subgroup, so the defining property of a simple group makes the kernel of a group homomorphism trivial: is an embedding. Now compose with the sign of a permutation . A nontrivial composite would again be injective because is a simple group, embedding in a group of order two, impossible for a nonabelian group. Thus lies in the alternating group . By Lagrange's theorem,The argument only invokes the factorial formula once ; the impossible case itself is also excluded by the embedding.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 125 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
For a nonzero isogeny of elliptic curves , its degree of an isogeny is the degree of the induced extension of function fields. Since commutes with negation, its first coordinate is a rational function of alone. Write it in lowest terms asThe coordinate maps are finite morphisms of degree two. Multiplying function field degrees in the commutative diagram gives the degree of an isogeny from its x-coordinate map:This is the total degree, so the argument also covers an inseparable isogeny of elliptic curves. Counting distinct points in the kernel of an isogeny would give only its separable degree. The zero group homomorphism is assigned degree zero separately.
On a Short Weierstrass form in characteristic of a field other than two, the elliptic-curve addition formula givesThere is no cancellation: at a root of , the numerator equals , which is nonzero because the elliptic-curve discriminant is nonzero. The numerator has degree four and the denominator degree three. HenceFor completeness, the same answer holds in characteristic two, where the displayed short equation is not a nonsingular model. On a general Weierstrass equation of an elliptic curve usewhere , , , and . The resultant of this numerator and denominator is . Their resultant is therefore nonzero in every nonsingular case; even when the denominator drops degree, the numerator retains degree four.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 125 2 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
An elliptic curve has good reduction over if it admits an integral Weierstrass equation of an elliptic curve with unit elliptic-curve discriminant. Equivalently, the reduction of its Minimal Weierstrass equation is a nonsingular cubic over the residue field . Its smooth integral projective model is a group scheme with the point as identity.
Choose homogeneous coordinates in the valuation ring with at least one coordinate a unit, and reduce them modulo its maximal ideal . This defines . The chord-and-tangent group law extends over the smooth integral model, so reduction is a group homomorphism. For any point of , choose an affine projective chart containing it. Smoothness means some partial derivative of its equation is nonzero in . Lift the other coordinate arbitrarily and apply the Hensel lemma to the coordinate with unit derivative. This constructs a point of above the prescribed point, proving the surjectivity of good reduction over a local field.
The kernel of reduction of an elliptic curve consists precisely of points reducing to . The parameter at gives a bijection between this kernel and : the integral formal-coordinate series solve the equation uniquely near . Addition in these coordinates is the formal group of an elliptic curve, not ordinary addition in . ThusHere the group operation on the last expression is its formal group law.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 125 2 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
In this setting a formal group law means a one-dimensional commutative series withThese identities force terms of total degree at least two. There is a unique formal inverse with .
A morphism to another formal group law is a series satisfying . The invertible morphism criterion for formal group laws isNecessity follows by comparing linear coefficients in . For sufficiency, solve recursively for a compositional inverse : at every stage the new coefficient is obtained by dividing by the unit , so all coefficients stay in . Applying to the morphism identity shows that is itself a group homomorphism of formal group laws.
In particular, the multiplication series satisfies . Since , the multiplication isomorphism of a formal group law makes invertible over . Its series and inverse converge on , so multiplication by is bijective on , and on for every finite extension .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 133 3 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Use the fact that infinite cyclic subgroups of hyperbolic groups are undistorted: if has infinite order in a hyperbolic group, then its stable word lengthis strictly positive. The limit exists by subadditivity and the Fekete lemma. It is invariant under conjugation, because conjugating changes its length by at most twice the conjugator's length. It also satisfies .
In the given Baumslag-Solitar group, has infinite order. To verify this without presuming the presentation's normal form, let act on the real line by and by . These affine bijections satisfy , and every nonzero power of is a nonidentity translation. Thus the element in the presented group cannot have finite order.
If an injective group homomorphism to existed, its images of and of would satisfy , with still of infinite order. Consequentlyforcing , a contradiction. ThereforeEquivalently, the relation gives , so powers of with exponent would have length at most . This contradicts the linear lower bound for an undistorted infinite cyclic subgroup. This alternative also makes the exponential compression obstruction explicit.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 302 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The two Lie groups have the same local infinitesimal structure, but different global topology. This difference determines which Lie algebra representations integrate to representations of each group.
An element of the SU(2) group is a unitary matrix of determinant one. Orthogonality of its columns and its determinant give the unique formThus its group manifold is the unit three-sphere in : this is SU(2) as the three-sphere. In particular it is compact, connected and simply connected. In terms of the Pauli matrices one may also write with real coefficients satisfying .
Differentiate and at . The tangent space consists of traceless skew-Hermitian matrices:The Lie bracket of a Matrix Lie group is the matrix commutator. With , the Pauli matrix multiplication law givesThis derives the SU(2) Lie algebra as a three-dimensional real Lie algebra. The Hermitian physics generators instead obey ; they are times the skew-Hermitian tangent generators, so these are consistent conventions.
The SO(3) group consists of real orthogonal matrices with determinant one. Differentiating at the identity givesThe determinant condition gives no additional infinitesimal constraint because a skew-symmetric matrix already has trace zero. Define . The cross product identity impliesTherefore the SO(3) Lie algebra has the same structure constants and is a Lie algebra isomorphism.
The global relation is the Adjoint double cover from SU(2) to SO(3). For , define byConjugation preserves the real space of traceless Hermitian matrices and its inner product . Hence is orthogonal. Continuity and connectedness, together with , put it in . Composition of conjugations makes a group homomorphism. If , then commutes with every Pauli matrix, hence is scalar; unitarity and determinant one leave precisely . The differential sends to , so it is an isomorphism. More concretely,induces rotation through angle about , by the Rodrigues rotation formula. Every three-dimensional rotation has such an axis and angle, proving surjectivity. ConsequentlyThe matrices and are antipodal points on the three-sphere, so the SO(3) group manifold is Real projective space . Equivalently, the closed axis-angle ball has opposite boundary points identified. The fundamental group is , whereas . A rotation lifts from to ; a rotation returns to . Thus the covering is the universal cover and the groups are not globally isomorphic.
For representation theory, specify finite-dimensional complex continuous representations. Compactness permits an invariant Hermitian inner product, obtained by averaging against Haar measure, and therefore complete reducibility. Complexifying either real Lie algebra gives the sl2 Lie algebra. Its finite-dimensional irreducibles are indexed by , have highest weight , and have dimension . By integration of a Lie-algebra representation, since is simply connected, every such Lie algebra representation integrates uniquely. The resulting homogeneous polynomial representation of SU2 isIn the spin angular momentum notation , its Hermitian eigenvalues are . The central matrix acts on the symmetric power by , so descent of an SU(2) representation to SO(3) occurs exactly when is even. HenceFor a reducible representation, every summand must satisfy the descent condition. The spin-one-half doublet is a genuine representation of the covering group but does not define a single-valued representation of ; the spin-one triplet does and is its vector representation. The distinction is topological, rather than a difference in their isomorphic Lie algebras.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 1 18G b ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Let be the stated diagonal matrices and the interchange matrix. Since , direct matrix multiplication givesThe complete presentation established by the preceding normal-form argument therefore defines a group homomorphism . More explicitly, setMultiplication of normal forms uses , and the matrices obey exactly the same rule, so this is well-defined and multiplicative. It is the required complex group representation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 1 20I b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
For loops based at , the product of their transported loops is represented byThe middle contracts relative to its endpoints, leaving . Hence is a group homomorphism. The reverse path induces the inverse: transporting back produces , whose outer retraced paths contract. Similarly the other composite contracts at . ThereforeThis proves the asserted group isomorphism without needing any global path-connectedness hypothesis beyond the supplied path between the two points.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 2 18H a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
For a number field with real embeddings and conjugate pairs of complex embeddings , use the logarithmic embedding of number field unitsIt is a group homomorphism from multiplication to addition. A unit has field norm , so the coordinates sum to zero. Deleting one coordinate identifies this hyperplane with and gives the desired map.
If its image coordinates remain in a bounded set, the omitted coordinate is bounded too, and every conjugate of has bounded absolute value. The coefficients of its monic minimal polynomial are integers and elementary symmetric expressions in at most bounded conjugates. They are therefore bounded integers. Only finitely many such polynomials, and finitely many roots of them, exist. Thus the inverse image of every bounded set is finite. In particular the kernel is finite and the image is discrete. This argument includes the zero-dimensional target case; it does not yet assert the full-rank part of Dirichlet unit theorem.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 2 19I a i Solution 2026-10-05
The pushout of groups isIts maps from agree on , and every other pair of group homomorphisms agreeing on factors through one unique homomorphism from . This is the universal property. When the are injective, it is the amalgamated free product, and the two factors and the identified copy of embed in it. Some conventions use this name for the quotient even without injectivity; the embedding assertion requires injectivity.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 114 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
For chain maps , a chain homotopy from to is a family of group homomorphisms satisfyingIf is a chain cycle, then is a chain boundary. Consequently , so on every homology group.
Order the vertices of the simplex as . Its simplicial chain complex hasand zero groups otherwise. An arbitrary ordering represents the sign of the permutation times the increasing ordering. Its boundary operator isIn each face obtained by deleting the vertices in positions occurs twice. Deleting first gives sign , whereas deleting first gives . These signs are opposite, so all terms cancel. The case follows directly from . Thus .
For the homology calculation, add the augmentation sending every vertex to . Regard as the group in degree of an augmented chain complex. Define the simplicial cone chain contraction byIf the simplex does not contain , expansion of its coned boundary gives . If it contains , the only face on which is nonzero is the face omitting , and . In degree zero this uses the augmentation, and in degree it says . HenceEvery positive-degree chain cycle is therefore a chain boundary. In degree zero, the same identity says , so the augmentation induces an isomorphism , with inverse . Thus, including ,This is a direct chain homotopy calculation and uses no result about cellular homology.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 302 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
For a Matrix Lie group, the exponential map of a matrix Lie group is the convergent matrix exponentialIts domain is the Lie algebra , and for every real when . Because multiples of the same matrix commute, and . Thus take to obtain the image of a one-parameter subgroup.
Here is the precise classification of nontrivial one-parameter subgroups. For , the smooth group homomorphism has a closed kernel . A closed subgroup of is zero, for some , or all of . Indeed, if positive elements have infimum zero, their integer multiples approximate every real number, so closedness makes the subgroup all of ; otherwise the infimum is attained and is its least positive generator. The last possibility is excluded by . Give the image the quotient topology and smooth structure from . Its inclusion in is an injective immersion, since never vanishes. Consequently it is a Lie subgroup, withIn the periodic case is also a parameter interval covering the image, with endpoints understood modulo .
Two qualifications matter. If , the image is the trivial group, a third possibility omitted by the wording “two”. Also, a general one-parameter subgroup need not be closed or embedded: an irrational winding in a two-torus is an example, where is a planar rotation. The classification uses the intrinsic immersed Lie subgroup structure, rather than assuming that the matrix subspace topology is the topology of .
For the real special linear group, differentiating at the identity shows that its Lie algebra consists of traceless matrices. Conversely for a traceless matrix. HenceChoose the standard basis of the real sl2 Lie algebra,Their squares have the required values. Direct matrix multiplication gives the Lie bracketsWriting , these specify all the nonzero Lie algebra structure constants: , , , together with their negatives on reversing the lower indices.
The three requested exponentials areThus the first two images are isomorphic to the additive real group, while the last is , the circle group. The PDF gives here; the local TeX's is a transcription error.
For a general generator, put . Direct multiplication gives . If , the eigenvalues give an unbounded exponential image. If but , it is a nilpotent linear map with exponential , again unbounded. If , the power series instead giveswith least positive period . Its image is a continuous image of a circle and is compact. Equivalently, is a real complex structure and is similar over to the rotation generator. Therefore the exact criterion for compact one-parameter subgroups of SL2R isFor a nonzero generator only the strict inequality remains.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ia Paper 3 7D Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
The first isomorphism theorem for groups states that for a group homomorphism ,The map is well defined because two representatives differ by an element of the kernel; it is a surjective homomorphism onto the image and is injective because exactly when .
For and , normality of givesand . Hence is a subgroup. Also , since conjugation by preserves both and , and because .
If , then is a normal subgroup: it is a subgroup by the calculation above, and . Without normality a product need not be a subgroup. In , take and . The set has four elements, so it cannot be a subgroup of the six-element group by Lagrange's theorem for finite groups.