Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 5 2 3 Solution 2026-10-06
Use the assumed separability of the Hilbert space to choose a countable Hilbertian basis . For , every scalar sequence is bounded. Repeated extraction followed by the diagonal subsequence argument gives one subsequence with all these coordinates converging, say to . The Bessel inequality gives for every , so exists and .
For , let be its finite basis truncation. Coordinate convergence gives , while the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality bounds the remaining inner product by , uniformly in . First choose large, then large. ThusThis proves the asserted sequential conclusion. To obtain actual compactness for the weak topology, note that on a bounded ball it is induced by the metricFinite coordinates and the uniformly small tail show that gives coordinate convergence; uniform boundedness of the ball extends this to every inner product as above. Hence this metric induces exactly the restricted weak topology. In a metric space, sequential compactness implies compactness. The closed unit ball is therefore weakly compact, and the limit remains inside it.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 ii Paper 1 22H a ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Conversely, supposeand defineFor every , Bessel inequality and passage to the limit giveHence . The partial sums are therefore Cauchy; completeness of the Hilbert space gives an element
Let . For fixed , coordinate convergence givesThe Hilbertian basis property gives , andFirst choose large and then large. This provesfor every , so . This establishes the coordinate criterion for weak convergence in a separable Hilbert space.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ii Paper 2 22G b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
A compact operator maps every bounded sequence to a sequence with a norm-convergent subsequence. A Hilbertian basis is a complete orthonormal sequence.
If is compact and does not tend to zero, some subsequence has
. The vectors
are pairwise separated by at least , so they have no convergent subsequence, a contradiction.
. The vectors
are pairwise separated by at least , so they have no convergent subsequence, a contradiction.
Conversely, if , define the finite-rank operatorThenAn operator-norm limit of compact operators is compact, so is compact.
Separable Hilbert space 2026-09-28
A Hilbert space is separable when it has a countable dense subset, equivalently a countable Hilbertian basis.