Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 340 2 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use localization and cancellation of the assumed interval-adapted wavelet basis: at scale , every detail wavelet has support diameter at most , L1 norm at most , and annihilates polynomials of degree less than . These bounds also apply to the modified boundary wavelets; a restriction of an arbitrary whole-line wavelet without the cancellation-preserving boundary construction would not suffice. The finitely many coarse scaling functions can be treated separately.
Write with as above. Because , we have . Choose in the support of a function of , and let be the degree- Taylor polynomial of . The Hölder-Taylor remainder bound givesFor this is the Hölder seminorm bound. For , the integral Taylor remainder is bounded using , whose magnitude is at most .
The vanishing moments remove from the inner product. Applying the remainder estimate and the L1 norm bound on the localized support yields the wavelet coefficient decay for Hölder functionsThusHere depends on the fixed wavelet family, the exponent and boundary construction, but not on . The proof uses the assumed regularity and moments; it does not identify the minimal Daubechies wavelet order with its differentiability order, which need not coincide.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 340 5 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Write and use the real pixelwise inner products. Let be the adjoint operator, defined by . For each nontrivial grid direction its one-dimensional formula iswith the analogous formula in for . Their sum is ; unused components and do not contribute. For , . If discrete divergence is defined, its sign convention is , as in the adjoint of a discrete forward gradient.
Define the compact convex set and its image . The image is compact and convex, hence closed, and contains zero. The finite-dimensional Euclidean duality formula , applied independently at every pixel, givesThus the penalty is the support function . Its convex conjugate is the indicator functional of a constraint set , equal to zero on and infinity elsewhere. For , the conjugate supremum is zero; for , the separation theorem supplies a direction with , and scaling that direction makes the supremum infinite.
The proximal operator is . It exists uniquely because the objective is continuous, coercive and strictly convex. The Moreau decomposition for a proper closed convex function gives . The second term is the Euclidean projection onto a convex set, so the projection residual for discrete total variation isAlternatively, the variational characterization of convex projection says exactly when for every . Hence attains the support function at , giving and the same optimality condition. This supplies a direct verification of the Moreau decomposition step in this instance.
The printed wording needs “the residual after a projection”, rather than “the projection itself”. In general this denoising map is not a projection onto any fixed closed convex set. A metric projection onto a closed convex set is idempotent, while denoising a sufficiently large jump twice shrinks it twice. Concretely, for and data with rows and , the minimizer has rows and . Reapplying the map gives rows and , so it is not idempotent. These formulas have a global certificate: take , all other dual entries zero, giving with rows and ; it saturates every positive row difference and yields the primal optimality condition. The qualification is therefore not merely a consequence of a restricted two-level ansatz.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 341 4 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The spatial shift in the PDF also requires a boundary value beyond the supplied right endpoint: if is the last interior index, the newest value is outside the interval. Thus the printed Dirichlet method has no specified boundary closure, and no unique stability range can be assigned to it as stated.
For completeness, the literal interior formula has an exact von Neumann stability analysis on an infinite or periodic grid. Substitution of a Fourier mode givesFor the root of a polynomial tending to one as , expansion givesConsequently is unstable: sufficiently small nonzero frequencies have a root of a polynomial of modulus greater than one, and arbitrarily fine periodic grids contain such frequencies.
Conversely, if and , thenFor with ,Since , the complex quadratic Schur criterion yields both roots of a polynomial in the unit disk, strictly inside except at , where they are and . Uniform stability follows directly from the BDF2 discrete energy identity: the modal recurrence is , whose energy decreases because . Summing the modal energies proves a bound independent of the grid and even of ; no eigenvector-separation assumption is needed. This is the stability of a spatially shifted BDF2 stencil. Thus the literal periodic-grid result isThis cannot establish stability of an unspecified Dirichlet boundary condition closure. It also does not restore consistency of a numerical method.
For the intended unshifted backward differentiation formula, a spatial eigenvalue givesThe Schur stability criterion gives the root condition for a multistep method for every , with strict inequalities for . A useful uniform energy method proof, including the repeated interior roots that a bare separation argument would miss, is the BDF2 discrete energy identity. With andthe corrected Dirichlet discrete Laplacian scheme satisfiesThis follows by taking the inner product of with and using summation by parts. It controls both time levels uniformly, regardless of the mesh ratio. Hence the corrected method is stable for
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 341 6 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-18
A Runge-Kutta method advances through stagesThe Butcher tableau records , normally with . Linear absolute stability tests the amplification of a linear decay mode; nonlinear B-stability compares distances between two solutions of a dissipative vector field. Both describe propagation of perturbations, but they impose different conditions.
For the Dahlquist test equation, elimination of stages givesThe linear stability domain consists of for which the step is defined and . Poles or singular stage systems must be excluded, even if an output formula has a formal cancellation. For a scalar test equation, the proof is : the powers are bounded exactly when . For , the update is . If is a normal matrix, unitary diagonalization of a normal matrix makes the operator norm equal to the largest scalar amplification modulus. For a diagonalizable matrix, powers are bounded by the condition number of the eigenvector matrix times the maximal scalar power. These constants must remain uniform for mesh-dependent systems. A defective unit-modulus eigenvalue can instead produce a growing Jordan block; the scalar spectral test alone does not control a general matrix.
An A-stable method accepts the entire closed left half-plane. The Explicit Euler method has and a disk of stability , so it is not A-stable. No nonconstant polynomial stability function can be A-stable, since it is unbounded on the negative real axis; this excludes all consistent explicit Runge-Kutta methods. The Backward Euler method has , and when , proving A-stability. It is also L-stable, because for large left-half-plane .
The implicit midpoint rule and the trapezoidal rule have the same scalar stability function,The identity proves A-stability. On the imaginary axis their amplification has unit modulus, and along the negative real axis it tends to . Thus neither is L-stable; very stiff decay can persist as alternating numerical values. In contrast, the two-stage Radau IIA method has , with the explicit nonnegative modulus-gap proof in question 1, and is L-stable. This illustrates why L-stability matters beyond A-stability for a stiff differential equation.
For nonlinear problems, assume a real or complex Euclidean inner product and the dissipativity hypothesisfor all relevant states at each common time. Exact solutions satisfyA B-stable Runge-Kutta method reproduces this nonexpansion of distances whenever its stages exist. Put , , and . Then . Expansion of the output squared norm, followed by substituting in its linear terms, proves the Runge-Kutta contractivity identityIf and is a positive semidefinite matrix, the first sum is nonpositive by dissipativity, and the second is nonnegative: expand each coordinate of the stage vectors to express it as a sum of nonnegative quadratic forms. These are exactly the conditions for algebraic stability of a Runge-Kutta method. Hence algebraic stability implies B-stability. Applying B-stability to the linear dissipative problem , or its two-dimensional real form, also proves A-stability whenever stages are well defined.
The Backward Euler method has , hence ; the implicit midpoint rule has , , hence . Both are algebraically stable and B-stable. For the two-stage Radau IIA method,a positive semidefinite matrix, while both weights are positive. It therefore combines third-order accuracy, B-stability, and L-stability. The distinction between stability and solvability is essential: for Lipschitz continuous , the stage map is a contraction when , so the contraction mapping theorem proves small-step unique solvability. The preceding algebraic stability proof is an estimate for existing stages; it is not a theorem asserting stage existence for arbitrary step sizes and domains.
Linear A-stability is insufficient for nonlinear B-stability. The trapezoidal rule fails B-stability, even though its scalar stability function is identical to that of the B-stable implicit midpoint rule. Its Runge-Kutta method coefficients areFailure of this sufficient algebraic stability test alone would not prove failure of B-stability. An actual counterexample does: take and . Dissipativity follows fromThe unique step map obeys , because the left-hand side is strictly increasing and onto. At , , and implicit differentiation givesNearby initial states expand in distance. This proves a true nonlinear failure rather than merely failure of a coefficient criterion.
Finally, stability of a numerical method on finite intervals connects these contractivity properties to accuracy. If a one-step map is nonexpansive and its exact one-step defect has norm at most , then the error satisfies , hence for . A Lipschitz step bound gives the same order using the discrete Gronwall inequality. For a stiff differential equation, the value of B-stability is that the propagation estimate need not grow with a large negative dissipative rate. The accuracy constant still needs appropriate smoothness and uniform derivative bounds; stability alone does not establish a mesh-uniform error order.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 341 7 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For a fully discrete linear partial differential equation evolution, write in a specified discrete norm. Finite-time stability of a numerical method meanswith independent of the allowed meshes. For a multistep method, augment the state with its time-history values and include a stable starter. Bounds may grow as when the continuous problem has growth; demanding decay for all time would be a stronger assertion. The treatment of initial data, forcing, Dirichlet boundary conditions, and the norm is part of the hypothesis, not a detail supplied by an interior calculation.
For constant coefficients on an infinite or periodic uniform grid, von Neumann stability analysis substitutes the Fourier mode . The discrete Fourier transform and the Parseval identity turn a uniform multiplier estimate into a discrete L2 norm estimate. In a one-step scalar scheme, proves contractivity, while gives finite-time stability. In a multilevel scheme, every root of a polynomial in its amplification polynomial of a multilevel finite difference scheme matters, as does uniform control of the associated companion matrix.
For the Forward Euler diffusion scheme with ,Thus for all frequencies exactly whenSufficiency follows since ; necessity follows from the highest-frequency mode on even periodic grids. This gives the usual parabolic mesh restriction . For the Backward Euler diffusion scheme,so every is stable. The Crank-Nicolson method hasagain of modulus at most one for all , but stiff modes approach rather than zero. These are PDE manifestations of the A-stability and L-stability distinctions for time integration.
For advection , assume and set . The upwind finite difference scheme is , withIt is contractive when . This also has a direct maximum-norm proof: each newest value is a convex combination of two old values. The resulting Courant–Friedrichs–Lewy condition expresses that the numerical domain of dependence covers the physical one. For negative , the upwind direction must be reversed. By contrast, Forward Euler method time stepping with the centered first finite difference has and for nonzero . Under fixed nonzero refinement it is unstable, since a fixed nontrivial mode grows geometrically over steps. This is not a claim of instability under every imaginable mesh coupling: instead bounds its spurious finite-time growth, since .
The leapfrog advection scheme illustrates a multilevel subtlety. Its amplification polynomial of a multilevel finite difference scheme isFor , both roots of a polynomial have unit modulus and separation at least . A uniformly conditioned eigenbasis of the companion matrix then proves power boundedness of a two-level Fourier scheme for arbitrary history data. At and a grid admitting , the roots coincide on the unit circle, and a Jordan block produces growth. Thus the endpoint fails the ordinary arbitrary-history root condition for a multistep method; checking only that both moduli equal one misses the instability. Restricting the starter or filtering the parasitic mode is an additional hypothesis.
The energy method handles variable coefficients and finite boundaries for which Fourier stability analysis may be unavailable. For the Backward Euler diffusion scheme with homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions, define . The discrete summation by parts identity isTake the inner product of with . The elementary identity givesThis proves unconditional contractivity including the actual boundary treatment. More generally, a dissipative operator gives of operator norm at most one: with , dissipativity implies , and the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality gives . In finite dimensions this also proves invertibility. For the second-order backward differentiation formula, the BDF2 discrete energy identity used in question 4 controls both time levels and proves unconditional diffusion stability. A repeated root strictly inside the disk is harmless here; the energy argument supplies the uniform bound without a singular eigenvector formula.
A second technique is eigenvalue stability analysis of a finite difference method. Under the method of lines, a time integrator advances by . If is a normal matrix, the scalar linear stability domain criterion on all controls its powers exactly in the corresponding L2 norm. For the centered Dirichlet discrete Laplacian, its eigenvalues lie between and zero; intersecting this interval with a time integrator's stability interval determines its mesh restriction. A uniform bound on the diagonalization of a matrix is needed for nonnormal diagonalizable systems. Eigenvalues alone can be misleading. For example,has both eigenvalues inside the disk for , but the upper-right entry of is . Taking , , this grows like . Hence stable scalar eigenvalues do not give mesh-uniform stability. Boundary closures can introduce precisely the extra growth that an interior Fourier symbol overlooks, so boundary stability of a finite-difference method must be checked separately.
For nonlinear spatial discretizations, a useful replacement for Fourier stability analysis is a convexity argument. If the Forward Euler method map is nonexpansive in a chosen norm for , the second-order strong stability preserving Runge-Kutta methodis also nonexpansive under the same restriction. Indeed, for two inputs, the triangle inequality gives . Its Taylor expansion is , proving order two. Such strong stability preserving Runge-Kutta methods transfer suitable forward-step bounds without relying on a linear spectral calculation.
Finally, consistency of a numerical method explains what stability buys. For a linear Hadamard well-posed problem, the Lax equivalence theorem equates convergence of a consistent discretization with its stability, under the stated approximation-space and norm hypotheses. Directly, if the error satisfies , iteration gives the discrete Duhamel principleThus vanishing normalized local truncation error and initial error yield convergence. With a nonlinear Lipschitz step estimate, the discrete Gronwall inequality plays the same role. A stable but inconsistent stencil, such as the literal defective formulas in questions 3 and 4 under their usual refinement, is not rescued by any amplification bound. The decisive checks are a mesh-uniform evolution bound, a valid boundary closure, and consistency with the actual PDE.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 4 18G b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
The Clebsch-Gordan decomposition for SU2 statesRealize the tensor product as polynomials of bidegree in and . The determinant is invariant under the simultaneous SU2 action. For each , the vectorhas torus weight and is killed by . Applying produces nonzero vectors of distinct weights, with . The relations and give , so their span is an irreducible copy of .
These irreducible submodules have distinct highest weights and form a direct sum: a sum of earlier ones cannot contain an irreducible module inequivalent to all its summands. Equivalently use complete reducibility, obtained by averaging an inner product over the compact group. Assuming , their total dimension iswhich equals the dimension of the tensor product. Hence they exhaust it, proving the theorem.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 4 21F ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Put . Then and , with the inner product linear in its second argument as required by the later SVD formula. For nonreal , self-adjointness gives . For , positivity gives . These bounds give injectivity and closed range. The range is dense because its orthogonal complement is the kernel of the adjoint, to which the same bound applies. Thus the range is all of and the inverse is bounded in either case. ConsequentlyIf is compact, composition of the compact operator with bounded is compact, so is compact too.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 4 22F i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Let . The map is linear, and proves the vector-subspace claim. The stated inner product is . By the Plancherel theorem it is positive definite.
More strongly, is onto: for , , since , and satisfies . Thus is an isometric linear bijection, and completeness of givesThis argument includes if zero is allowed in the printed convention.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ia Paper 1 7B b iii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ib Paper 2 19D Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
This is the Gram-Schmidt process applied degree by degree. Inductively, subtracting projections onto makes orthogonal to every earlier polynomial. Since every subtracted polynomial has degree at most , the leading coefficient of the monic remains one, so is a real monic orthogonal polynomial of degree exactly .
Now take . For , symmetry of the inner product givesbecause has degree at most . Only the and projections remain, yielding the three-term recurrence for monic orthogonal polynomialswhereThe second identity uses plus lower-degree terms.
For the symmetric Legendre inner product, parity gives . Starting with , one obtains , thenThus the first four monic Legendre polynomials are
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ib Paper 3 2F Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Put . If , take the inner product with the unit vector . Thenby the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality; the case is immediate. This is the triangle inequality for a vector-valued integral.
Equality in the Euclidean argument requires for every : the nonnegative continuous difference has integral zero. Equality in Cauchy-Schwarz inequality then says with . Conversely, if for one fixed and a continuous , then for every norm,Thus these nonnegative-ray functions, including , are exactly the required functions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 102 2 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Use the coroot normalization , with the pairing understood via the root system and its invariant inner product. A dominant integral weight, called a dominant weight here, is a functional such thatEquivalently, with , where the fundamental weights satisfy . If dominance and integrality are defined separately, dominance means the inequalities and membership in the weight lattice means integrality.
A highest-weight vector is a nonzero weight vector , so for all , annihilated by every positive root space:The last condition is equivalently annihilation by the raising operators for the simple roots.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 102 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Choose the root basisIn the usual invariant inner product, each simple root has squared length , while and . The labeled Dynkin diagram is therefore the following chain, with a single bond between adjacent nodes:It is type , equivalently the A3 root system. To check the root basis explicitly, the corresponding positive roots are ; these and their negatives are all twelve roots.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 102 5 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Use the coroot in the pairing. The original PDF retains this mark, which is lost in the local TeX transcription. Fix any positive root , and put . For a dominant integral weight, is a nonnegative integer; positive coroots are nonnegative integral combinations of simple coroots.
Let be a highest-weight vector, and restrict to the sl2 subalgebra associated with a root . It is killed by its raising operator and has eigenvalue . If , its lowering operator produces a nonzero vector: otherwise would vanish. Therefore is a weight.
Choose a Weyl group invariant positive-definite inner product on the real weight space. All weights of a minuscule representation have the same norm, since they belong to . ButIf , this is negative, a contradiction. Thus for every positive root,When , the lower weight is precisely the Weyl reflection , consistent with the orbit condition.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 102 5 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
We first prove the useful lemma that dominant root-lattice highest weights have zero weight. Write for the root lattice, and let a dominant integral weight be the highest weight of a finite-dimensional irreducible representation.
First, is a nonnegative integral combination of simple roots. Indeed, write , separating its positive and negative coefficients in the root basis. The two parts have disjoint supports, and distinct simple roots have nonpositive inner product, so . If , thenOn the other hand, dominance gives for each simple root, hence . This contradiction proves .
Now suppose a nonzero weight has all . The identityshows that some satisfies and . We use the standard sl2 Lie algebra fact that its lowering operator is injective on any positive eigenspace in a finite-dimensional representation. This follows from the classification of finite-dimensional sl2 representations: in each irreducible , the only weight killed by the lowering operator is the lowest weight .
Consequently a nonzero vector of weight lowers to a nonzero vector of weight . Its simple-root coefficients remain nonnegative and their sum decreases by one. Starting at , repeated lowering must therefore reach the zero weight. Notice that intermediate weights need not remain dominant; positivity of the chosen coroot pairing is enough at each step.
For a minuscule representation, every weight belongs to , so the zero weight just obtained lies in this orbit. Every Weyl group element is invertible, and forces . This proves that minuscule weights in the root lattice are zero. Under the assumption , every possible highest weight lies in , henceHere is the one-dimensional trivial Lie algebra representation, by the classification of finite-dimensional irreducible highest-weight representations.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 105 3 b ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The assertion about all is false as printed in the original PDF. Take , , and . This is a nonzero smooth Dirichlet function, but and . In particularAlready at , is not defined on its stipulated domain, because . Extending to for this example would give zero, not an inner product. Additional boundary conditions are essential.
The corrected spaces are the Sobolev domains of powers of an elliptic Dirichlet operator. Let be the Dirichlet realization of an elliptic operator, and setIn particular , , and also requires . The formulas in the question define inner products on these spaces.
Here is the norm-equivalence proof on the corrected domains. The base cases are the inner product at and part (i) at . Standard Dirichlet elliptic regularity, together with invertibility from the Lax-Milgram theorem, gives for every integer The first estimate applies when ; invertibility absorbs the usual lower-order term. Moreover, is an isomorphism. To see surjectivity, solve with zero Dirichlet trace for ; regularity gives , and for each further required trace. The formulas satisfyInduction therefore givesInjectivity of each iterate of gives positive definiteness. These spaces are ; the spectral characterization of elliptic Dirichlet domains in the next part makes the half-powers precise. On the paper's uncorrected spaces the claim is valid at , but fails in general beyond them.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 105 3 b i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Formal self-adjointness gives symmetry of , and strict positivity gives positive definiteness, so is an inner product. Bounded coefficients give . To prove the lower bound, uniform ellipticity givesIf no lower bound by the norm existed, choose with and . By weak convergence in a Hilbert space and the Rellich-Kondrachov compactness theorem, a subsequence has in and in . The principal energy has weak lower semicontinuity: it is the squared norm of the bounded multiplication operator . The potential term converges because is bounded. HenceStrict positivity forces . The preceding ellipticity estimate now gives , while , contradicting . Thus strict positivity implies coercivity for an elliptic Dirichlet form, andThe new norm is equivalent to the original norm, so the space remains complete.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 140 5 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
At a point , write and take the orthogonal complement with respect to the Riemannian metric . The compatible triple identity givesIf is a Lagrangian submanifold, then for , so . Both have dimension , hence equality.
Conversely, if , equality of dimensions gives , and for gives . ThereforeA positive-definite inner product has . Hence , proving that every Lagrangian submanifold is a totally real submanifold for a compatible almost complex structure.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 302 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Work over or , in finite dimension and characteristic zero. The Killing form of a Lie algebra is the trace form of its Adjoint representation:It is bilinear and symmetric by the cyclic property of the trace. It is an invariant bilinear form on a Lie algebra, since the Jacobi identity gives and henceEquivalently, . A Lie algebra automorphism preserves the form, because it conjugates the adjoint matrices. Its radical of a bilinear form is an ideal of a Lie algebra by invariance. The center of a Lie algebra lies in this radical, so the form vanishes for an abelian algebra. On a direct sum of ideals the summands are orthogonal and the form restricts to their own Killing forms.
A short argument proves the requested implication without assuming the Cartan criterion for semisimplicity. Let be an abelian ideal of a Lie algebra, , and . The map takes into and vanishes on , while preserves . Therefore has image in and is zero on . In a basis extending a basis of , both diagonal blocks are zero, so its trace vanishes. This proves that abelian ideals lie in the radical of the Killing form.
If the solvable radical were nonzero, its derived series of a Lie algebra would have a last nonzero term . The Jacobi identity makes every derived term an ideal of , and the last one is abelian. Thus , contradicting nondegeneracy. We obtainThe converse holds as well in characteristic zero; together these implications are the Cartan criterion for semisimplicity.
For a complex simple Lie algebra, that criterion gives nondegeneracy on . Let be a Cartan subalgebra. Use the standard root-space decompositionFor and a root vector , choose with . Invariance givesThus is orthogonal to every nonzero root space. If is also orthogonal to , it is orthogonal to all of and hence is zero. This establishes nondegeneracy of the Killing form on a Cartan subalgebra:The same invariance calculation shows that unless . Opposite root spaces are therefore paired nondegenerately. Tracing the adjoint action on the root-space decomposition yieldssince the root spaces of a complex semisimple algebra are one-dimensional and its adjoint action on is zero.
The relevant Euclidean subspace of a Cartan subalgebra iswhere the are the simple coroots, normalized by . The standard Euclidean property is that is real and positive definite on this space. The displayed trace formula explains it: is a sum of real squares, and the roots span , so all squares vanish only for . Via the nondegenerate form, the roots can consequently be regarded as vectors in a real Euclidean normed vector space. The induced dual inner product makes root reflections orthogonal and allows root lengths and angles to be encoded by Cartan integers and the Dynkin diagram.
This positivity is on a specified real subspace; the complex Killing form is a bilinear form, not a positive Hermitian inner product. On a compact real form the Killing form is instead negative definite. For example the Killing form of the special linear Lie algebra gives for , so but .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 302 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Use anti-Hermitian representation matrices for the unitary representation, so . Absorb the gauge coupling into the connection, consistently with the transformation law in the PDF. The appropriate gauge covariant derivative isThis has a plus sign because the inhomogeneous part of the connection transformation is . Its variation isThus gauge covariance of a scalar covariant derivative givesThe cancellation uses that is a Lie algebra representation, including its commutator identity.
The gauge field strength isIt is the curvature appearing in . The index positions in the PDF are related by the constant Minkowski metric; lowering the index in its transformation law gives the convention used here.
Take signature , let be a real symmetric gauge-invariant internal form, and let be the positive Hermitian form preserved by the unitary matter representation. One consistent Lorentz transformation scalar Lagrangian density isHere , , and give a simple stable potential. The coupling is in the kinetic normalization because it was absorbed into ; it is not inserted again into . Taking a zero or another gauge-invariant potential is also possible. A positive nondegenerate gives the usual physical gauge kinetic energy, as for a compact gauge algebra. More generally the invariance calculation below applies to any symmetric invariant bilinear form on a Lie algebra, including the Killing form.
Under the infinitesimal gauge-field transformation law,Invariance and symmetry of give the cancellation. For matter, both and transform by , so anti-Hermiticity givesfor either pairing used in the Lagrangian. Its potential is a function of the invariant scalar norm. Therefore , establishing gauge invariance of this Yang-Mills theory coupled to a scalar. Contraction of spacetime indices with the Minkowski metric gives Lorentz invariance.
For the Adjoint representation, define the Lie algebra structure constants byInternal superscripts here are basis labels, as in the paper; spacetime indices alone are raised with the Minkowski metric. The adjoint covariant derivative and curvature have componentsThese formulas involve no extra factor of , because the generators use the Lie-algebra convention rather than Hermitian physics generators.
To make the Killing-form sign explicit, write and . The literal contraction requested in the paper corresponds to . For a compact real form of a complex semisimple gauge algebra, its actual positive inner product has , since the Killing form is negative definite. With a complex adjoint scalar, the fully expanded Killing-form Lagrangian for an adjoint scalar isAll repeated internal labels are summed; explains the absence of from the quartic term. Invariance is equivalently the component identity . For a real adjoint scalar, omit complex conjugation and insert in the scalar kinetic and quadratic mass terms; the same invariance proof applies.
The PDF's identification of the Killing form with an inner product thus requires a sign convention. It also requires nondegeneracy if it is to give ordinary kinetic terms: on an Abelian gauge factor the Killing form vanishes, so an additional invariant metric is needed there. These qualifications do not alter the covariance identities or the formal gauge invariance of the displayed Killing-form contractions.