Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 111 1 d Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Write for the Inversion set of a Weyl-group element. Part b shows that permutes . It follows that right multiplication by changes the size of the inversion set byIndeed, all roots other than are merely relabelled, while . Part c gives exactly the same recursion for the Coxeter length. Both quantities vanish at the identity, so induction along any word in the simple reflections gives
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 111 1 e Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
By the assumed transitivity on fundamental systems, some sends to . It therefore sends the entire positive system of a root system to . Part d then givesFor every , its inversion set is contained in , so and has maximal length.
If also has maximal length, then , so . Hence preserves and has no inversions. Part d makes its Coxeter length zero, so it is the identity. Thus , proving that the Longest element of a finite Coxeter group is unique and has length .