Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 114 1 b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Suppose that is not surjective, and choose . If lies in the open two-cell, then deformation retracts onto the target circle of the degree- attaching map, so its first integral homology is . If , the punctured space deformation retracts onto a finite graph and again has free abelian first homology. The factorizationtherefore makes factor through a free abelian group. Every homomorphism from the finite group to a free abelian group is zero, contradicting the assumed surjectivity of .
The converse is false. The radial coordinate descends to a surjection . The finite CW complex is a Peano continuum, so the Hahn-Mazurkiewicz theorem supplies a continuous surjection . Then is surjective, but its induced map on is zero because it factors through the contractible interval.