Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 48 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Use the full definition of the special unitary group: and . The determinant condition is essential for the alternating tensors; unitarity alone would instead define . Assume when discussing proper invariant subspaces.
Let be the fundamental representation. A tensor belongs to . Its SU(n) tensor transformation isSince , complex conjugation exchanges upper fundamental and lower dual factors. Reordering the two index groups shows that is a tensor.
The invariant tensors follow directly. The Kronecker delta transforms to . For the alternating tensors, the determinant expansion givesThe lower tensor is preserved in the same way using . Thus , and are invariant.
When , the permutation of two upper slots commutes with the tensor product representation. Its and eigenspaces are nonzero proper invariant subspaces. The same argument uses two lower slots when . The remaining rank-two case splits into scalar multiples of and traceless second-rank tensors, since tensor contraction is equivariant. This covers every case except the fundamental, dual fundamental and scalar cases specified in the question. Those three are irreducible: the special unitary group acts transitively on unit vectors in its fundamental space, so a nonzero invariant subspace must be the full space, and the dual has the same property.
A symmetric tensor of upper rank has one component for each multiplicity vector with nonnegative entries and . Equivalently it is a homogeneous degree- polynomial in variables. Counting these monomials givesFor a totally antisymmetric tensor, any repeated index gives zero and the remaining components are indexed by increasing -element subsets. HenceThese are the dimensions of the symmetric power and exterior power, respectively.
For SU(4), the two-index antisymmetric representation has complex dimension six. To establish a six-dimensional real representation, one must exhibit a real structure; simply counting six complex components would give twelve real components. Normalize and define the antilinear mapThe invariant Hermitian form identifies the conjugate indices with lower indices, and the invariant volume tensor then returns an upper pair. Thus commutes with SU(4). The identitygives . Its fixed space hasThree arbitrary complex entries specify all the others, giving exactly six real degrees of freedom. The real structure of the SU4 exterior square therefore provesThe ordinary Hermitian norm restricts to an invariant positive real inner product on this fixed space.
Irreducible representations classify states because an exact symmetry commutes with the Hamiltonian, preserving energy eigenspaces. Irreducible multiplets are the smallest sets closed under all symmetry transformations; their labels and Casimir operators provide quantum numbers. Approximate flavour symmetry gives approximate multiplets and mass relations, with splittings caused by its breaking. Spin and internal quantum numbers are distinct labels.
For the light-quark flavour symmetry in Quantum chromodynamics, the quark flavours form . Their Triple tensor decomposition for the defining sl3 representation isThis algebraic decomposition alone does not determine the allowed ground-state baryons. The three-quark colour singlet is antisymmetric. The no-orbital-excitation ground state has a symmetric spatial wavefunction, so the Pauli exclusion principle requires the combined spin-flavour wavefunction to be symmetric. The three spin-one-half factors haveHere the four-dimensional spin representation has spin , while each doublet has spin . Symmetric decuplet flavour pairs with symmetric spin . The two flavour-octet copies and two spin-doublet copies carry the two-dimensional standard permutation multiplicity space; its tensor square contains one symmetric singlet. Their invariant pairing therefore supplies one octet with spin , not two independent ground-state octets. Antisymmetric flavour would need a completely antisymmetric three-quark spin state, which does not exist.
Equivalently the symmetric spin-flavour SU6 representation hasThus the Pauli constraint on three-quark flavour multiplets gives the concise spectrum classificationThese are the baryon octet and baryon decuplet. The three-quark flavour singlet requires a different spatial permutation symmetry and belongs to excited states, outside the symmetric ground-state approximation used here. If low-lying spatially excited states are also included while their orbital labels are merely suppressed, singlets can occur; the full flavour tensor cube has types . The absence of the singlet from the unexcited ground multiplet is a permutation-symmetry constraint, not a prohibition by alone. Light-quark mass differences make the flavour symmetry approximate rather than exact.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 48 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Use a real Lie algebra convention . Its Adjoint representation of a Lie algebra acts on itself:Linearity is immediate. The Jacobi identity givesso , the defining Lie algebra representation condition. In the basis , its matrix entries areThus the adjoint generators are the structure constants arranged as matrices. The representation has kernel equal to the center of a Lie algebra; it need not be faithful for an arbitrary algebra.
The Adjoint representation of a Lie group is . It satisfies , preserves the identity, and sends inverses to inverse matrices. Differentiating gives , soConsequently the positive adjoint exponentials furnish the representation on elements and their products, and the intrinsic conjugation action defines it globally.
The inverse-conjugation formula in the PDF needs a minus adjoint exponent with this standard definition. Its first-order term is , whereas has first-order term . For example in a nonabelian algebra with already distinguishes the two. The inverse conjugation and adjoint antirepresentations identity explains the group-order issue as well: satisfies . Retaining the printed inverse conjugation as a left action without this order reversal would not give an ordinary group representation.
The Killing form is the symmetric bilinear formTo prove degeneracy for a non-semisimple Lie algebra, take its nonzero solvable radical and the last nonzero member of its derived series of a Lie algebra. This is a nonzero abelian ideal of a Lie algebra. For , maps into and kills . Every preserves . Hence maps the full space into and has zero restriction there, so its trace is zero. Thus for every . This is the abelian ideals lie in the radical of the Killing form argument, and establishes a nonzero kernel and vanishing determinant.
For a compact real semisimple Lie algebra, the adjoint action is unitary in an invariant positive inner product. Its infinitesimal generators are skew-Hermitian, givingStrictness follows because the adjoint kernel is the zero center. This explains the compactness criterion from the Killing form: “strictly negative” means negative-definite, not that every entry of its matrix is negative.
In the first three-generator example, take columns to be images of the basis . Direct use of the brackets givesTaking traces of products yields the Killing form for cyclic three-generator bracketsIt is nondegenerate, hence semisimple by the preceding degeneracy result, but it has mixed signature and is not compact. An explicit realization iswhich span the real traceless two-by-two matrices and satisfy exactly these brackets.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 70 5 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The orthogonal projection has range , not all of : the latter is an infinite-dimensional vector space whereas is a finite-dimensional vector space. For a concrete counterexample, cannot belong to any finite-degree piecewise polynomial space, since all its derivatives are nonzero on every open interval. For , the B-splines are continuous, so the orthogonal projection is a map . For order one it instead has a generally discontinuous piecewise constant range. For example, a single interval indicator on is the projection of the constant function one onto its span, and is not continuous.
Write . Since is a positive scalar multiple of , the operator normal equations are equivalent toThe mixed-normalization spline Gram matrix is invertible: where and is the ordinary positive-definite matrix of inner products of a linearly independent basis. The positivity and unit-integral normalization of a B-spline give . The subpartition of unity for B-splines givesHere the operator norm of a matrix on is its maximum absolute row sum. Consequently,This proves the maximum-norm bound for spline projection.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 70 5 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For on an equidistant spline knot sequence, is the triangular hat with value one at and support . Its slopes on the two pieces are and , and . Direct integration givesNonadjacent hats have disjoint interiors of their supports, so their inner product vanishes. Dividing by therefore givesThis linear-spline mixed Gram matrix is tridiagonal. Every diagonal entry is , including the first and last: the distinct-knot hats have their full supports inside . End rows simply lack one off-diagonal neighbor; there are no repeated endpoint spline knots here.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 70 6 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
An orthonormal multiresolution analysis consists of closed subspaces of a Hilbert space of the Hilbert space such thatThere is a scaling function whose integer function translations form an orthonormal basis of . Consequently form an orthonormal basis of ; in particular is invariant under integer function translations.
Let be the orthogonal complement of in . Nesting, density and the trivial intersection imply the orthogonal direct sumFor example, telescoping and letting , gives this decomposition; the corresponding orthogonal projections converge strongly to zero and the identity by the intersection and density properties.
To construct the orthonormal wavelet, use to write the scaling refinement equation , with and . Put . The orthonormal translates and Fourier periodization criterion proved in part (b), applied to the scaling refinement equation, yieldsThis is the quadrature mirror filter identity. DefineThe Fourier series of is , and . The two rows and form a unitary matrix almost everywhere: both have squared norm one and their inner product is zero. This wavelet completion of a multiresolution filter proves not just orthogonality but completeness. Splitting a finer-scale coefficient Fourier series into its values at and , this invertible two-channel matrix resolves it into a coarse-scale channel and its complementary channel. Thus the integer function translations of form an orthonormal basis of .
The dilated functions therefore form an orthonormal basis of each . The orthogonal direct sum proves the conclusion: every orthonormal multiresolution analysis produces an orthonormal wavelet basis of .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 70 6 b 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let . By the Tonelli theorem, is integrable on , since its integral is . The Plancherel theorem and periodization giveConsequently, if almost everywhere these inner products are , proving orthonormality. Conversely orthonormality says that every Fourier coefficient of is zero. The uniqueness of Fourier coefficients in L1 implies almost everywhere. HenceThis proves orthonormal translates and Fourier periodization, including both directions and the normalization constant associated with the printed Fourier transform.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 78 4 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the inner product convention linear in its first argument. A singular value system consists of positive singular values and orthonormal bases of and of , withFor an infinite-rank compact operator, ; a finite-rank operator has a finite system. Applying the spectral theorem for compact self-adjoint operators to constructs , with eigenvalues , and then . This solution uses the input/output naming of this problem, which is the reverse of another common singular-vector convention.
The Moore–Penrose inverse of an operator isIts domain is , equivalently the data satisfying the Picard criterionIt ignores the component in and lies in . The series then converges in by orthonormality and is the minimum-norm least-squares solution. If , it is an exact solution; all other exact solutions are with . Compactness does not make the inverse bounded when there are infinitely many positive singular values.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 78 4 c i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For , interchange the integrals in the inner product of the Volterra integration operator:Thus the adjoint operator is . The triangular integration kernel is square-integrable, so is a Hilbert-Schmidt operator and hence a compact operator.
Set and . Direct integration givessince . Product-to-sum identities give . For completeness, satisfies , , . The associated Sturm-Liouville problem has precisely the complete mixed-boundary cosine basis ; gives the mixed-boundary sine basis , with , . Both and are injective, since differentiation of their zero integrals recovers their inputs. Their singular vectors therefore cover the entire two Hilbert spaces, rather than just proper orthogonal complements.
The given functions form the complete singular value system, with . This is the mixed-boundary singular system of the Volterra operator.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 ib Paper 2 1E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
Write for the conjugate transpose. Taking determinants in gives . Since the Hermitian matrix is invertible, every such is invertible and . The identity belongs to ; if , then ; and multiplying by and gives . Associativity comes from matrix multiplication, so this is a group.
The Hermitian form obeys precisely when . Thus is the group of linear isometries of this nondegenerate Hermitian form; positivity of is unnecessary.
For , is a unitary matrix. Here is a direct diagonalization of a matrix proof. Over , its characteristic polynomial has a root, giving a unit eigenvector with . Preservation of the inner product gives . If , then , so is invariant. The restriction is again a unitary matrix. Induction on the dimension supplies an orthonormal basis of eigenvectors. In that basis, is diagonal, with diagonal entries on the unit circle.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 16 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Use the positive Laplace-Beltrami operator . A Riemannian submersion is a surjective smooth submersion for which, at every , the restriction of to is a linear isometry onto . The spaces and are its vertical and horizontal spaces. Its fibres are totally geodesic submanifolds precisely when is vertical for vertical vector fields : their second fundamental form vanishes. Equivalently, a geodesic initially tangent to a fibre remains in that fibre while defined.
For a smooth , its basic function is constant along each fibre. The Riemannian gradient of is the horizontal lift of a vector field through a submersion of , sincefor horizontal , and for vertical . In particular no derivative of in a vertical direction occurs.
Here is the needed connection fact, which also follows directly from the Koszul formula: for horizontal lifts of vector fields on , the horizontal component of projects to . To see this, pair the Koszul formula with a third horizontal lift . The horizontal inner products are pulled back from , and the horizontal components of their Lie brackets of vector fields project to the brackets on . Thus all six terms are the pullbacks of the corresponding terms on .
Choose an adapted Riemannian orthonormal frame , with the horizontal lifts. Using , the connection fact givesFor a vertical , both and , the latter because the fibres are totally geodesic submanifolds. Taking the negative metric trace of the Riemannian Hessian therefore proves the basic-function Laplacian identityThis identity is local and does not require compactness. Vanishing mean curvature of the fibres would already suffice; total geodesicity makes each vertical summand vanish separately.
For the discrete eigenspace assertion, assume the two Riemannian manifolds are closed manifolds. Without a discrete spectral realization, an unrestricted noncompact version need not have an eigenbasis. The projections of the Riemannian product are Riemannian submersions with totally geodesic submanifolds as fibres. Its Levi-Civita connection splits into the two factor connections. Consequently its positive Laplace-Beltrami operator isThe cross term in the product rule for the positive Laplace-Beltrami operator is zero because the two factor Riemannian gradients are orthogonal.
We use the standard compact elliptic compact elliptic spectral theorem: the positive Laplace-Beltrami operator on a closed manifold is self-adjoint, has compact resolvent, and has a complete orthonormal eigenbasis of smooth eigenfunctions, with finite-dimensional eigenspaces and eigenvalues tending to infinity. Let and . Fubini's theorem and completeness on each factor show that form a complete orthonormal basis of . For example, a function orthogonal to all these products has, for each , zero -coefficient as an function, hence is zero.
The displayed operator identity makes an eigenfunction with eigenvalue . Conversely, if , self-adjointness of the positive Laplace-Beltrami operator givesAll other coefficients vanish. Only finitely many pairs can have , since both spectra are nonnegative and have finitely many eigenvalues below any fixed bound. Thus the product Laplacian eigenspace decomposition isThe tensor product summands are mutually orthogonal; their elements are actual smooth eigenfunctions, so this is an equality of eigenspaces, not just a formal expansion.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 16 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Let be a closed manifold with a Riemannian metric and use , the positive Laplace-Beltrami operator. This is the setting in which the final discrete eigenfunction expansion applies without additional boundary or noncompact spectral hypotheses. A Riemannian heat kernel is a smooth for such thatfor every smooth initial function . Here solves the heat equation. The limit is the statement that the initial kernel is the Dirac delta distribution on the diagonal. In the closed setting this uniquely determines the heat kernel; it is symmetric, preserves constants, is nonnegative, and satisfies the semigroup property.
A heat parametrix is an approximate version with the same delta initial limit and with errorregular enough at to correct by a convergent integral series. One may construct it by the local Gaussian ansatzwhere near the diagonal and is supported in a convex normal neighborhood, and the smooth coefficients solve the usual radial transport equations. The leading coefficient accounts for the Riemannian volume form. Taking sufficiently large makes the residual extend continuously, with any prescribed finite number of derivatives, to . Alternatively a smooth asymptotic summation of all transport coefficients gives a residual vanishing to every order. These local construction, extension and differentiability facts are used here as subsidiary results, as permitted.
For the correction proof take a heat parametrix whose residual is smooth up to on a short interval . We also use its uniform integral bound , its approximate-identity limit, and the following standard differentiability property: convolution with a smooth time-dependent kernel gives a smooth kernel for , and differentiating it yields the identity below. These properties follow from the Gaussian estimates and the delta initial limit; no conclusion about the final exact heat kernel is assumed.
Define the Volterra convolution of kernels byIt is associative wherever these integrals converge. The delta term at the upper endpoint givesSeek . Then its error vanishes exactly when . The solution is the Volterra parametrix correctionThe signs matter: the first correction is .
To prove convergence, let and . The time variables in range over a simplex of volume , soThe series for therefore converges uniformly on . Derivatives obey analogous bounds, with polynomial factors in , by the quoted residual extension and differentiation properties. Thus the series can be convolved and differentiated as above. Associativity and absolute convergence give , proving . The correction has integral norm by the integral bound on and boundedness of . It has zero initial limit, so has precisely the required delta initial data.
For uniqueness, a smooth solution with zero initial data satisfies the heat equation energy identityIts initial norm is zero, hence . Applying uniqueness to consecutive evolutions proves the semigroup property. Choose and, for arbitrary , compose enough kernels that . The resulting kernel is independent of the subdivision by uniqueness, is smooth for positive time by the quoted differentiability property, and extends the construction to every . This proves a parametrix determines the global heat kernel in the closed setting. The heat equation maximum principle gives nonnegativity and applying uniqueness to the constant initial function gives conservation of total mass. Self-adjointness of the positive Laplace-Beltrami operator gives symmetry.
Finally let be a complete complex orthonormal eigenbasis of , with eigenvalues , repeated by multiplicity. As subsidiary analytic facts we use the compact elliptic compact elliptic spectral theorem, elliptic regularity bounds making each fixed derivative of grow at most polynomially in , and a polynomial eigenvalue-counting bound. The spectral expansion of the Riemannian heat kernel converges because exponential decay makes the following series converge with every derivative when :Indeed, evolving initial data gives by direct substitution into the heat equation and uniqueness. For general , completeness and the heat equation energy identity giveThe smoothly convergent kernel series represents this same operator, and equality for all smooth identifies it pointwise with the constructed heat kernel. The complex conjugate is required by the inner product; for a real eigenbasis it may be omitted. A noncompact Riemannian manifold may instead require a spectral integral, and the unqualified discrete formula should not be asserted there.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 1 6 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The complexification of a Lie algebra is , with the Lie bracket extended complex-bilinearly. Equivalently write , whereComplex conjugation is an antilinear map and a Lie algebra automorphism whose fixed subalgebra is .
If the solvable radical of is nonzero, its complexification is a nonzero solvable ideal of . Conversely the solvable radical of is preserved by complex conjugation, because it is the unique largest solvable ideal. Consequentlyfor , both and belong to . If , is a solvable ideal of . This proves is semisimple if and only if is semisimple. Consistently, the complex Killing form is just the complex-bilinear extension of the real one; its determinant in a real basis is unchanged by extending scalars.
Take the sl2R Lie algebra and the special unitary Lie algebra . Both complexify to . This is immediate for the former; for the latter, the real basis consists of traceless matrices that are skew-Hermitian matrices and is also a complex basis of .
They are not isomorphic as real Lie algebras. Their Killing forms are , but on this is negative definite. On the basis has a diagonal Gram matrix with entries , so the signature of a quadratic form is . A Lie algebra isomorphism preserves the Killing form and therefore its signature.
A real split semisimple Lie algebra has a Cartan subalgebra whose Adjoint representation of a Lie algebra is simultaneously diagonalizable over , so its root-space decomposition is defined over . The example is split: the diagonal Cartan subalgebra has eigenvalues and real root spaces . The example is not split. Invariance makes every skew-adjoint for the positive definite inner product , so its eigenvalues are purely imaginary. If it were diagonalizable over , all these eigenvalues would be zero and . The center is zero, so only has this property; no nonzero split Cartan subalgebra exists. Thus is split and is not.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 35 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
An orthogonal block design has treatment contrasts orthogonal to block contrasts after removing the grand mean. This is a statement about vectors on the experimental units, with the usual inner product; the two full spaces are not orthogonal because both contain the constant vector.
For a counting criterion, let count experimental units receiving treatment in block , let , let , and let . The inner product of the centered indicators for treatment and block is . ConsequentlyIn particular, equal-sized blocks must contain each treatment in the same proportion. Under an additive block-and-treatment model, adjustment for blocks then does not change the fitted treatment contrasts.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 36 2 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
For one-column Gram matrices, unit Euclidean norm of the columns gives . The restricted isometry constant formula therefore gives . For a two-column Gram matrix, put . The difference from the identity matrix has the formup to the convention for the complex inner product. Its characteristic polynomial is , so the eigenvalues are and its matrix 2-norm is . Maximizing over pairs gives , where is the mutual coherence.
Part (b), together with the minimality defining the restricted isometry constant, gives . Every summand defining cumulative coherence is at most the mutual coherence, so . Thus, for normalized columns and ,The upper range matters because the printed definition of cumulative coherence stops at . For , only is needed; the maximum over pairs defining mutual coherence is otherwise empty.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 36 4 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The linear independence of the first elements of each orthonormal system shows that and have the same finite dimension and are closed subspaces of a Hilbert space. Apply part (b) with and . Since , the positive directed subspace angle cosine givesLet be the oblique projection onto along . Define . Its residual is orthogonal to every with , so the required measurements agree. Conversely, if has the same measurements, then ; uniqueness of the direct sum decomposition gives . Thus this is finite-dimensional Hilbert sampling reconstruction.
There is also an explicit coefficient description. Use the inner product convention linear in its first entry and putThen . The orthonormal systems show and , so the smallest singular value of is . Hence , another direct proof of existence and uniqueness.
For , both summands of this direct sum are nonzero: the infinite orthonormal system contains . The permitted oblique projection norm formula therefore applies without its degenerate exception, givingThe operator norm immediately yields the stability estimate . For the approximation bounds, put . Because fixes , we haveso the operator norm estimate gives . For the lower bound, while . The Pythagorean identity givesThe unique measurement-matching reconstruction is stable and within the secant function factor of the best orthogonal projection approximation:If a zero-dimensional reconstruction is admitted, it is simply and its error equals the norm of ; that case is best stated directly instead of using the angle of a zero space.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 44 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Fix the current sign convention by defining the localized variation as . For a first-derivative Lagrangian invariant without a boundary term under constant parameters, this means ; include the usual improvement term if the constant variation is a total derivative. On solutions, arbitrary compactly supported parameters imply . The Noether charge is and is conserved if the spatial flux vanishes. This sign convention matches the printed Ward identity; reversing the current also reverses the corresponding generator convention.
Assume an invariant regulated functional measure, invariant vacuum boundary conditions and no quantum anomaly. Changing variables in the normalized path integral gives . Integration by parts then yieldsFor a product of scalar fields, the local Ward identity contact terms areAway from the insertions this is current conservation. Time-ordering or the distributional functional identity supplies the contact terms.
For the gauge theory write and use the left-acting BRST differential , with . It obeys the graded Leibniz rule andAssume the structure constants satisfy the Jacobi identity and the dot product is invariant; antisymmetry alone would not be enough. Since and are odd, their Lie brackets are symmetric in these two arguments. ConsequentlyAlso . The graded Jacobi identity gives , so ; the other three fields have zero second variation immediately. For independent odd parameters, . These are off-shell BRST nilpotence identities because the Nakanishi-Lautrup field is retained.
The Yang-Mills theory variation is proportional to . The gauge-fixing variation is , while the ghost variation is its negative; the term does not vary. Equivalently these terms are for the gauge-fixing fermion . BRST nilpotence makes this expression invariant. Ghost-number scaling also leaves every term invariant: the ghost and antighost factors carry opposite weights.
Here are the two explicit currents in the same sign convention as the Ward identity. Localizing the even ghost parameter gives coefficient . Localizing the odd parameter, keeping it on the left, gives coefficientThe last sign comes from moving the odd parameter through the odd antighost derivative. Since the current was defined as minus this coefficient,These are the ghost-number Noether current and the BRST current in derivative-b gauge fixing. If the opposite Noether sign is used, both displayed currents acquire an overall minus sign. Integrating the gauge-fixing term by parts changes the Noether representative by the associated boundary improvement; mixing the two Lagrangian conventions without that improvement gives incorrect signs.
With no BRST anomaly, the conserved odd BRST charge has . The BRST cohomology identifies closed states modulo exact states . Nilpotence puts every exact state in the closed space. In the usual indefinite gauge-fixed state space, a Hermitian BRST charge makes exact states orthogonal to closed states; the standard no-ghost/positivity assumptions then give a physical inner product on the quotient. The physical sector is its ghost-number-zero component,The ghost number assigns to , to and zero to gauge and auxiliary fields. Gauge-invariant observables and the chosen vacuum have ghost number zero; unphysical ghost excitations are removed in BRST pairs. Thus physical representatives are expected to satisfy . This zero-grading selection is part of the physical-state prescription, not a consequence of nilpotence alone.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 5 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
For a Young tableau , let permute the entries within its rows and within its columns. We use the Young symmetrizer conventionReversing the order gives another usual realization of the same irreducible polynomial module. On the tensor power , the actions areThey commute because applying to every factor commutes with permuting the factors.
We state the permitted combinatorial input explicitly. A Young symmetrizer satisfies , where is the nonzero hook product of a partition. Thus is a primitive idempotent. The standard-tableau decomposition of the right regular module is . Tensor this right-module direct sum with the left module . The map sending to is an isomorphism, with inverse . Therefore the Young-symmetrizer tensor decomposition isThis is a direct sum of -modules; individual summands need not be -invariant.
We also state the allowed Schur algebra result, namely Schur–Weyl duality: the two actions are mutual commutants, andwhere the are pairwise nonisomorphic irreducible homogeneous polynomial representations of degree . We also use the standard Schur algebra equivalence between its modules and homogeneous degree- polynomial representations, so these exhaust the irreducibles in that category. A primitive idempotent has one-dimensional image on and zero image on the other simple factors, so . This identifies the requested irreducibles. They classify the polynomial degree- representations in this tensor power, not all rational representations of every degree.
The length bound for a Schur module is if and only if . A column of length greater than antisymmetrizes more than vectors and gives zero. Conversely, for , fill every tensor position in row with the th basis vector of . Row symmetrization multiplies it by , and column antisymmetrization is nonzero because the vectors within each column are distinct basis vectors.
A rational representation of an algebraic group is a regular morphism into the general linear group of its representation space. For , its matrix entries belong to ; rational here permits determinant denominators but not arbitrary poles on . A one-dimensional rational character of is a Laurent polynomial with and . Comparing Laurent coefficients shows that just one monomial occurs and its coefficient is , hence for .
Restrict a one-dimensional rational character of to its diagonal torus. The same argument in several variables gives . Conjugation by permutation matrices makes all equal. On every diagonalizable invertible matrix it consequently agrees with . The allowed Zariski-density statement, and equality of regular functions on a dense subset, giveThese are the one-dimensional rational characters of the general linear group.
For complete reducibility of rational GL and SL representations, use the compact-group averaging argument. Average any positive definite Hermitian inner product over using normalized Haar measure. The orthogonal complement of an invariant subspace is then -invariant. Differentiating makes it invariant under and therefore under its complex span . The elementary unipotent matrices generate , so the complement is -invariant. This proves complete reducibility. Averaging over similarly gives complete reducibility for rational representations.
Here is an explicit rational extension from SL to GL. Decompose the representation space by the finite scalar center of into subspaces on which acts as , with and . These subspaces are invariant. For , choose with , set , and defineChanging to changes to , so the two factors cancel. It is a homomorphism, since scalar roots multiply up to the same harmless factor, and it restricts to on .
It is rational as well. Every matrix coefficient of has a polynomial representative on . Averaging that representative over the finite scalar center selects its homogeneous parts with . Substitution in the extension gives , a regular function on . Each -invariant subspace decomposes into its parts, and the extension acts on each part by a scalar times an action. Thus these subspaces are also invariant under the chosen extension. Consequently is irreducible if and only if this is irreducible. For , is trivial and the trivial extension supplies the same conclusion.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 6 3 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Use the weighted Hilbert structure of velocity-reset relaxation, with inner product and norm . The Cauchy-Schwarz inequality givesThus is an absolutely convergent integral and a bounded linear functional. Since , the normalized velocity-reset collision operator obeysThis establishes boundedness. The subsequent orthogonal decomposition improves the operator norm to exactly one.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 6 3 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The weighted inner product satisfies . ThereforeThe identity operator and are linear, bounded and self-adjoint, hence so is . Directly, ; equality holds at . Thus .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 6 5 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Interpret as the velocity operator appearing in the equation and in the stated quadratic-form hypothesis. Let . Smoothness turns the distributional equation into the usual equation. Multiply it by and integrate; for complex functions use the real part of the inner product. Spatial integration by parts gives , while the coercivity hypothesis at each givesThus is nonincreasing. The coercive energy estimate for kinetic transport isNo division by is required, so the zero solution causes no exception. Compact spatial support, or sufficient decay to eliminate the boundary flux, is enough; compact support in time is unnecessary.