Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 ii Paper 3 20F ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Write . A projective hypersurface singularity must have and all four first partial derivatives zero. If all coordinates were nonzero, writeOn , differentiation gives , a contradiction. Thus some coordinate is zero; by symmetry take . The surface equation gives , so a second coordinate is zero, say . Then , so a third coordinate is zero. The remaining four projective possibilities indeed have every first derivative zero. Therefore all singular points areOver the usual characteristic-zero ground field, each is an ordinary double point: near , the affine equation has nondegenerate quadratic part , and symmetry treats the others.