Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 ib Paper 1 1C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ib Paper 2 1F Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Use completing the square rather than computing the eigenvalues of the symmetric matrix. Successively removing the mixed terms givesThus one suitable invertible linear change of coordinates isThe coordinate matrix is upper triangular with determinant one, so the change is an invertible linear map. Its inverse is , , . Hence the diagonal coefficients can be taken as . This is a matrix congruence of a quadratic form; an orthogonal transformation was not required.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ia Paper 2 8C b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Choose and , so . The Jacobian determinant of the coordinate change is two, so it is an invertible linear map. By the chain rule, and . ConsequentlyThis is the wave equation with . The D'Alembert formula is , with arbitrary twice differentiable functions . Returning to the old coordinates and absorbing factors of two into the arbitrary functions givesDirect differentiation checks the cancellation. Equivalently, first integrating produces the same two-function family.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ia Paper 1 2A i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
The vector triple product identity gives , and henceThus is the identity on the orthogonal complement and multiplies the component parallel to by . It is invertible exactly when , and then
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ib Paper 2 10G Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-09-25
The implicit function theorem states that if and the partial derivative is an invertible linear map, then near the zero set of is uniquely the graph of a continuously differentiable function.
If is a differentiable bijection with differentiable inverse , the chain rule applied to and givesThus is an isomorphism with inverse .
If a continuously differentiable map has invertible derivative everywhere, the inverse function theorem makes it a local diffeomorphism. In particular it is an open map, so its image is open. Its image need not be closed: has nonzero derivative everywhere and image .
For the given map of elementary symmetric polynomials,and direct evaluation of the determinant givesHence the critical set isIts complement is the Zariski-open set on which the three coordinates are pairwise distinct. Each point has one of the six possible strict coordinate orderings, and each ordering defines a nonempty convex open region. A continuous path cannot change an ordering without crossing . Therefore has exactlyconnected components.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 iii Paper 102 1 Solution Created 2026-09-28 Updated 2026-10-07
Write . The generalized eigenspace decomposition of the linear map isfor any sufficiently large . Because is a derivation, the generalized-eigenspace bracket lemma givesConsequently is a Lie subalgebra.
The set is the normalizer of a Lie subalgebra . Certainly . Conversely, if , then givesOn the direct sum of the nonzero generalized eigenspaces, is invertible. Hence the nonzero-eigenvalue component of vanishes, and
Now let be a Lie subalgebra containing . Since , the subspace is -invariant. The generalized zero eigenspace of the induced map on is the image of , hence is zero. If , then , so lies in that zero eigenspace. Thus and
A nilpotent Lie algebra is one whose lower central serieseventually reaches zero. Suppose is nilpotent and . Choose the least for which . Then , and anysatisfies . Therefore , proving the normalizer condition for a nilpotent Lie algebra
It remains to prove the converse needed here. The Engel lemma states that if a finite-dimensional Lie algebra of linear maps consists of nilpotent maps, then the maps have a common nonzero vector in their kernels. To prove it, induct on the dimension of the algebra. For a maximal proper subalgebra , induction applied to the action of on produces with . Thus is an ideal of codimension one. Induction also gives a nonzero common kernelThe ideal property makes invariant under ; a nilpotent representative of a basis of has a nonzero kernel on , yielding a vector killed by all of .
Apply the lemma to the Adjoint representation. It produces a nonzero element of the center of a Lie algebra. Induction on , followed by passage to the quotient by this center, proves Engel theorem: if every is nilpotent, then is nilpotent. The hypothesis says exactly that every is nilpotent, so
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ib Paper 3 11G Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-10-03
For , the function is differentiable at if there is a linear map such thatThe linear map is unique and is the Frechet derivative . The function is continuously differentiable at if it is differentiable on a neighbourhood of and the map , with values in the space of linear maps equipped with the operator norm, is continuous at .
If is linear, thenConsequently at every . The derivative is a constant function of , hence is continuous, so every linear map is continuously differentiable everywhere.
The mean value inequality says that if the line segment lies in andthenTo prove it, put . The claim is immediate if . Otherwise set and apply the one-dimensional mean value theorem to the real-valued functionFor some , the chain rule givesas required.
Now suppose that is open and connected and that for every . Every point has an open ball contained in . The mean value inequality with shows that is constant on each such ball, so is locally constant. Fix . The level setis nonempty and open in ; its complement is also open because is locally constant. Since is connected, . This proves the zero derivative on a connected open set result: is constant.
The inverse function theorem states that if is continuously differentiable, , and is an invertible linear map, then there are open neighbourhoods of and of such that is a bijection whose inverse is continuously differentiable.
For the curve in the question, define the continuously differentiable functionThenThe implicit function theorem, which follows from the inverse function theorem applied to , therefore gives an open interval containing , an open neighbourhood of , and a continuously differentiable, hence continuous, function such that