Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 14 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let and be overlapping local coordinates at . A tangent vector has components obeying the chain ruleThe Jacobian matrix is evaluated at the same point, and is invertible. For a smooth curve with , define . Applying the chain rule to gives exactly this transformation law. Thus these components determine a well-defined velocity vector , independent of the chart. Equivalently it is the derivation on smooth functions. The two curve symbols used in the printed first paragraph refer to this same curve.
For real scalars , considerFor sufficiently small positive and negative , both factors belong to , so is a curve in with . The standard matrix exponential properties used here are , , and . The product rule gives . Every such linear combination is therefore a velocity at the identity.
More generally, the inclusion is an embedding, so its tangent map at is injective and linear. The general linear group is open in the vector space of all matrices; its tangent space at is consequently . We identifyEvery tangent vector is the velocity of a curve in a manifold chart, so this subspace is precisely the set of the corresponding matrix velocities. The product construction is consistent with its vector-space operations.
Now use the stated logarithm-chart assumption. Near zero and , the matrix exponential and matrix logarithm are inverse smooth maps, with . Hence for any , belongs to for small : lies in the neighborhood which is the image of the logarithm. For , form the group commutatorMultiplying the exponential expansions givesThe convergent local series therefore gives . For small nonzero , the matrix belongs to the linear subspace . A finite-dimensional linear subspace is closed, so taking its limit provesThis is the matrix commutator from a logarithm chart argument. It identifies as the Lie algebra of a matrix Lie group, with the matrix commutator as its Lie bracket. In particular, no potentially nonsmooth square-root change of parameter is needed to turn the second-order commutator into a velocity.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 45 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Work first in a finite-dimensional SU(2) representation, with its invariant positive inner product. In the complexified Lie algebra, choose and . Let be a highest-weight vector with and , and put . The commutator with givesInduction also givesFor this is . For the induction step, use on : the coefficient becomes . In particularwhich proves the assumed formula rather than merely invoking it.
The norm identity shows that, for nonnegative integer , the ladder is nonzero for and stops with . Distinct eigenvalues make these vectors independent. Their span is stable under , and in the irreducible module it is the full space. ThusFor normalized states, , with the last state killed. General finite-dimensional SU(2) representations are direct sums of these ladders.
The representation category matters here. The Lie-algebra relations alone allow an infinite Verma module even at integral highest weight: its nonzero vector is singular. The finite representation can instead be constructed algebraically by taking the basis with the displayed actions and declaring ; all three Lie brackets then hold, including at the endpoints. Thus the finite-dimensional assertion uses the integrable SU(2) module, or this explicit finite quotient, rather than assuming that a singular vector must vanish in every highest-weight module.
For rank two, take a Cartan subalgebra with commuting basis elements. A root is a nonzero linear functional on for which a root space contains an element satisfyingChoose simple roots and their coroots . In the PDF's index convention, the Cartan matrix isNormalize so . The difference of distinct simple roots is not a root, so the mixed positive-negative bracket is zero. This givesThe transpose in the last formula is essential and is printed correctly in the original PDF.
A highest-weight vector of labels is killed by both and is an eigenvector of the two . Repeated words in generate its highest-weight representation; each lowers the weight by the corresponding simple root. Restricting to the sl2 subalgebra associated with a root for either simple root gives the preceding integer ladder, so finite-dimensional highest labels must be nonnegative integers. The finite irreducible module is the highest-weight quotient imposing and the submodules generated by these relations, together with the Serre relations. Choosing independent nonzero lowering words gives a simultaneous weight basis; an extra multiplicity index is needed where a weight space has dimension greater than one.
For the specified B2 root system, the simple-root squared lengths are and their inner product is , givingThe positive root is generated by , and by . No further positive sums occur, so and . These are the relevant Serre relations. Applying the Cartan commutators to a weight vector proveswhenever the image is nonzero.
To enumerate the requested representation without guessing when arrows stop, realize it concretely as the Adjoint representation. For a Euclidean weight , its labels are . The highest root has labels , so it generates the irreducible adjoint module of this simple rank-two Lie algebra. Its nonzero weights are exactly its eight roots, and its zero weight space is the two-dimensional Cartan subalgebra. This gives the B2 adjoint representation weight diagram and the nine distinct states labels:Their actual production by lowering can be seen fromAn arrow labelled denotes a nonzero action of between the indicated weight spaces. The two paths into zero produce independent Cartan vectors. Hence there are nine distinct pairs, as requested when degeneracy is disregarded, but the full representation has dimension ten, not nine.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 4 4 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
In the uniform pro-p group , the -th power of is exactly , and its unique -th root in the appropriate layer is division by . The intrinsic addition is thereforeThe linear term is exact; every non-linear term tends to zero by the convergence estimates above. The intrinsic Lie bracket issince the leading term is and the terms of degree at least three vanish after rescaling. Finally the intrinsic scalar operation sends to . All underlying sets are identical, and all three operations agree. Thus
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 4 4 Solution 2026-10-14
Put and , where powers mean closed generated subgroups. The finite-quotient arguments of Question 3 pass to a powerful pro-p group: in particular is powerfully embedded, the power map is onto , andFor the root assertion, apply the finite result to every finite quotient and use the finite intersection property on the closed sets of possible roots in the compact group. Each is finitely generated by the appropriate powers of a finite generating tuple, and is finite and elementary abelian. Thus the are open. They form an identity-neighbourhood basis: in any finite continuous quotient their images form a terminating lower p-series, so some is contained in the kernel. In particular . Collection also givesOne can see the extra index directly by induction from : collect for . Its leading factor advances one layer, and the remaining iterated commutators, with their binomial coefficients, lie at least as deep. Products and limits preserve the inclusion. This is the usual strongly central property of the lower p-series.
A uniform pro-p group is a finitely generated powerful pro-p group for which all the indices equal . The preliminary congruence gives surjective linear mapsIf is uniform, these maps are bijective. If , write and choose the unique layer with . Bijectivity of and the power congruence imply , so . Thus the power map is injective. A finite-order element of a pro-p group has -power order; repeated injectivity of the power map excludes every nonidentity such element. Hence a uniform group is a torsion-free group.
Conversely, suppose some has a nonzero kernel. Choose with . At step , if the current satisfies , surjectivity of supplies withSet . The power congruence gives . Since the corrections tend to in the complete profinite group, the converge to , with and . In particular . A torsion-free group cannot have such an element, so every is injective and all layer indices are equal. This proves the root correction criterion for uniformity andFor a uniform group the power maps are continuous bijections , hence homeomorphisms. Their inverses define the unique roots used below. Comparison at the first differing layer also proves the power congruences in a uniform pro-p group:
The intrinsic Lie algebra of a uniform pro-p group has the same underlying set as , zero equal to the group identity, and operationsHere is the limit of integral powers approaching . The first root is taken in and the second in ; the commutator actually lies in . The following faithful algebra realization verifies convergence and the Lie algebra axioms, rather than assuming them as part of the definition.
Choose a minimal tuple of topological generators. The layer isomorphisms show that the images of are bases of . The ordered-coordinate argument of Question 3 therefore gives a continuous bijectionExistence follows by successive digits and compactness; uniqueness follows by the first digit at which the coordinates differ, because its images are linearly independent in the corresponding power layer. Thus this map is a homeomorphism.
Here are details of the norm needed on the group algebra. In put . Its elements have unique ordered expansions with . To verify this description, identify the ordered coordinates of with . Elements of the completed group algebra are integral measures on this space; their values on the binomial polynomials are precisely the coefficients . The finite-difference identity pairs the ordered monomial with this binomial polynomial as . The Mahler expansion of a continuous function therefore proves both existence and uniqueness of the measure with the specified coefficients. This also proves that the ordinary rational group algebra embeds in these expansions.
Choose and setThis defines the weighted group algebra of a uniform pro-p group. Its multiplication is submultiplicative in the valuation convention, . Indeed, has valuation ; collection of ordered coordinates gives the same lower bound for when . Interchanging two adjacent in a product introduces a correction coming from , of valuation at least . Iterating the interchange rule never lowers the total weight; the corrections have strictly increasing weight, so infinite collection converges. The same argument with -th powers showsThe equality follows from the first nonzero coordinate digit: its leading terms are , at least one with unit , and cannot cancel in the ordered expansion. Completing the rational group algebra in this norm produces a complete normed algebra in which embeds faithfully and with its original topology.
Since , the seriesconverge on the relevant balls in and are inverse there. Their convergence follows from and ; formal one-variable identities prove that they are inverse. Put and . The Baker--Campbell--Hausdorff formula in now givesbecause every term of degree at least two tends to zero after this rescaling. Similarly expansion of givesThe leading term is the indicated associative-algebra commutator and all terms of degree at least three tend to zero. These expressions are the logarithms of the unique roots in the intrinsic formulas. The image is compact and hence closed in , so both limits belong to , and the inverse logarithm takes the limits back to . Also . Consequently identifies the intrinsic operations with addition, scalar multiplication and commutation in . The Jacobi identity follows by expanding the associative products; thus is indeed a Lie algebra over .
The commutator roots in the intrinsic formula belong to , so their limit gives . Iterating the power congruence gives . Taking the unique roots shows that intrinsic addition modulo is the original group product modulo . Consequently is the original elementary abelian quotient , and the images of the form a basis. Successively removing digits expresses every element uniquely as an additive sum : existence uses completeness, while a nonzero relation would have a first nonzero digit contradicting the basis in . Hence is a free module of rank over the p-adic integers and is a powerful Lie lattice.
Conversely a powerful Lie algebra over p-adic integers, for odd , is a finite free -module with a bilinear alternating Lie bracket satisfying the Jacobi identity and . DefineFor completeness, integrality and convergence can be verified without guessing which individual denominators are units. In set . Then , so its integral universal enveloping algebra has an ordered basis by the Poincaré-Birkhoff-Witt theorem. Its coefficientwise -adic norm is submultiplicative, and consists of elements of valuation at least one. The homogeneous degree- terms in have coefficients of valuation at least : expand the logarithm, use on each nonconstant exponential factor, and on a product of such factors. Therefore evaluating degree on gives valuation at leastwhich tends to infinity and is at least two when . Each homogeneous term is a rational Lie polynomial by the formal Baker--Campbell--Hausdorff formula. The ordered enveloping-algebra basis shows that its intersection with is exactly , so the estimate places the sum in , with the non-linear part in .
Associativity follows from the identity in the completed universal enveloping algebra. Its identity is , its inverse is , and , since the bracket of with itself is zero. The same coefficient estimate for the group commutator puts it in . Conjugation in the BCH group is ; each term preserves , because each bracket adds a factor of and . Thus the submodules are normal subgroups for , their intersection is zero, and their finite quotients have -power order. Thus is a powerful pro-p group, withA module basis topologically generates this group: it generates the quotient , and successive power digits lift that generation through all . The BCH construction therefore gives a uniform pro-p group.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 4 3 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Here denotes the adjoint Chevalley group of type A1; the isogeny form matters, since the simply connected form is itself. Over , take the sl2 Lie algebra with Chevalley basisTheir Lie brackets satisfy , , . Conjugation defines a group homomorphism . Since , and . Differentiating conjugation, or expanding its finite polynomial on this basis, givesThe adjoint Chevalley group is generated by these two families. Part (i) therefore proves that it is exactly the image of . A matrix commuting with has the form ; also commuting with forces . Thus the kernel of a group homomorphism consists of scalar matrices of determinant one, namely . The first isomorphism theorem now gives .
For a general field, first compute the Chevalley basis root operators as integral polynomials, and only then reduce their coefficients to . Explicitly,They are still precisely conjugation by on the three-dimensional trace-zero matrix space. These formulas remain valid in characteristic two, where but remain linearly independent. Part (i) still identifies the generated image with the conjugation image of . The same computation with gives kernel of a group homomorphism , exactly its scalar center. ConsequentlyIn characteristic two the scalar center is trivial. The integral formulas avoid the invalid operation of dividing by factorials inside a field of small positive characteristic.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 4 4 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The Lie bracket is bilinear, so is a linear map. Rearranging the Jacobi identity givesThuswhich is the defining Leibniz rule for a derivation of a Lie algebra. In particular is an inner derivation of a Lie algebra.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 4 4 iv Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Apply the Jacobi identity to an arbitrary :Thus the Adjoint representation of a Lie algebra preserves the Lie bracket:
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 1 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Take curves through the identity with tangent vectors . Form the local group commutator . In a smooth coordinate chart at the identity, its leading mixed term defines the Lie bracket:for a matrix group, where the identity's constant term has zero derivative. More generally take this derivative in the chart with the identity sent to zero. Since the first derivatives vanish on the coordinate axes, changing charts changes the mixed coefficient only by the tangent-space coordinate transformation, so the definition is intrinsic.
For the displayed nilpotent matrices choose and , which lie in . Their inverses are and . Direct multiplication givesIts mixed derivative is thereforeInterchanging the two curves giveswhose mixed derivative is . Thus directly from the curve definition. The general matrix expansion likewise gives the commutator .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 22 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
These are local criteria: multiplying by a smooth bump function extends any local test field or form to a global one without changing it near a chosen point. Assume the Lie bracket of any two sections of again lies in . Because the almost complex structure is real, conjugating this condition shows that the Lie bracket of any two sections of lies in .
For a -form , the exterior derivative formula isThe first two terms vanish because annihilates , and the last vanishes by bracket closure. The component is exactly the restriction of to two arguments in . Thus it is zero. Since the only types of a two-form are , and , the bracket condition implies the stated differential-form condition. This argument uses neither holomorphic coordinates nor an integrability theorem as an unproved intermediate step.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 32 1 i Solution 2026-10-14
In the truncated tensor algebra, let be the linear span of all iterated Lie brackets of elements of of length at most , with bracket . Brackets of length greater than vanish. The free step-N nilpotent Lie group isThe exponential and logarithm are the finite seriesIts multiplication is the tensor multiplication above, its identity is , and its inverse isThe truncated Baker--Campbell--Hausdorff formula shows that this multiplication stays in the exponential of the Lie algebra. This is the connected simply connected Lie group of the free step- nilpotent Lie algebra, rather than a discrete free nilpotent group.
Give the first layer its usual Euclidean norm. An absolutely continuous curve in is horizontal iffor an absolutely continuous control in . In the truncated tensor algebra this equation is , truncated at degree . Its horizontal length is . The Carnot-Carathéodory distance isThe first-layer Lie brackets span the full Lie algebra, so horizontal curves reach every endpoint. Thus this infimum is finite; it is a left-invariant distance inducing the usual manifold topology. Dilations give for . Equivalently is the least length of a bounded variation control whose step- path signature is .
For set . A weak geometric p-rough path is a continuous path , usually based at , withIts increments obey . Equivalently their degree- tensor components have finite -variation and satisfy the path signature algebraic constraints. This is a group-valued definition; being a limit of smooth path signatures in the same -variation topology is the stronger definition of a geometric p-rough path.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 32 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Work on a finite interval with a fixed initial point . To give a clean global statement, assume are bounded vector fields with bounded continuous derivatives through order three. Consider the Stratonovich integral form of the stochastic differential equationFor a control in the Cameron-Martin space of Wiener measure,let solve the controlled ordinary differential equationThe Stroock-Varadhan support theorem says, in the uniform metric on continuous paths,Thus a path is in the support of a measure of the diffusion precisely when it can be approximated by these deterministic controlled trajectories. There is no ellipticity assumption: the allowed controls and vector fields already encode any restrictions on reachability.
The central point of the rough-path proof is that ordinary uniform approximation of the driver does not make the solution map continuous. Small planar loops can have small amplitude but accumulated area of fixed size, and vector fields with a nonzero Lie bracket detect that area. The correct driver is enhanced Brownian motion , including Lévy area. Fix . The universal limit theorem gives a continuous mapfrom the geometric -variation rough-path space to solution paths. It agrees with the controlled ordinary differential equation when . Adding the time coordinate, with its mixed integrals defined by integration against and integration by parts, incorporates without changing the continuity argument. This is the role of the universal limit theorem: it turns a support problem for all these nonlinear diffusions into a support problem for one enhanced driving process.
For , the rough differential equation is the stated Stratonovich equation. Its second-order increment includesReplacing the Stratonovich integral in the second level by its Itô integral expression contributes , which is exactly the Stratonovich-to-Itô correction. Polygonal convergence from Question 3 and the universal limit theorem therefore give the Wong-Zakai approximation: the ordinary equations driven by converge to this Stratonovich diffusion.
It remains to establish the support of enhanced Brownian motion:One inclusion follows immediately from Question 3. Every polygonal belongs to , and almost surely in the rough path metric. Since is closed, almost surely, whence its support is contained in . This alone does not prove the reverse inclusion: convergence of random approximations does not automatically give positive mass near every control.
For that inclusion, take dyadic mesh and writeOn each grid interval is a pinned Brownian bridge. The bridges are mutually independent and independent of the grid values defining , by the Gaussian projection formula. Their canonical Stratonovich enhancement is therefore independent of . It is important to enhance the bridge residual itself, including its area, rather than infer area smallness from its uniform size.
The bridge enhancement tends to the zero rough path in probability. Here are the estimates behind this assertion. A bridge on an interval of length scales as times a unit bridge; its full antisymmetric area has mean zero, moments of order , and second moment of order . Since its endpoint displacement is zero, at grid points the cumulative second level is just the sum of the independent bridge areas. The Doob L2 maximal inequality givesPartial intervals at the two ends contribute bridge increments and at most two local areas. Bridge scaling, Gaussian moment bounds and the corresponding iterated-integral estimates yield, uniformly in and for arbitrarily large ,For an interval crossing several grid cells, the full-cell second levels are independent centered areas, whose sum has moments bounded by ; the two boundary pieces and their cross product satisfy the displayed bound as well. For an interval inside one cell these are the usual scaled bridge increment and area bounds. At each fixed pair both levels converge to zero in probability: the first-level variance is , and the second-level second moment is for sufficiently fine grids. The Kolmogorov continuity theorem gives uniformly bounded moments of a Hölder rough-path norm at any exponent . Tightness, convergence on a dense set of pairs and interpolation to now give in probability. Taking gives in probability.
Fix . Its polygonal interpolations converge to in the total-variation norm: their derivatives are the cell averages of , which converge in , hence in . Moreover . Thus in the rough path metric.
The rough path translation operation satisfiesFor a bounded variation path , translation adds at level one and, at level two, the mixed termsThe second mixed term is defined by integration by parts. Their variation bounds show that translation is continuous, uniformly when is bounded, near the zero rough path. More explicitly the mixed second-level norms are bounded by a constant times ; the other new second-level term is the path signature of .
Given a ball of radius around , choose a sufficiently large so that is close andfor the small supplied by translation continuity. The relevant variation bounds can be chosen uniformly in , since the variations of the are uniformly bounded. For this fixed , the event has positive probability: the finite vector of Brownian increments has an everywhere positive Gaussian density, and sufficiently small deviations of its vertices imply this variation bound. These two events are independent. On their intersection, translation continuity gives . Every ball around therefore has positive probability. This proves lies in the support, and taking closures gives .
Finally, a continuous map between the separable path spaces in use satisfiesFor one direction the measure is concentrated on its support. For the other, an open neighborhood of pulls back to an open neighborhood of a support point , which has positive measure. Using continuity of and the identity proves the boxed Stroock-Varadhan support theorem. This separates the two ingredients: the probabilistic support calculation for Brownian motion and area, and the deterministic continuity supplied by the universal limit theorem.
If the diffusion is instead presented as an Itô integral equation with drift , the controlled equation must useUsing unchanged in the controlled equation would generally give the wrong support description. The result above states explicit sufficient smoothness and nonexplosion assumptions; extensions to more general coefficients require the usual localization, not an unqualified assertion for arbitrary vector fields.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 52 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For a finite-dimensional Lie algebra, the Killing form is defined using the Adjoint representation on the algebra itself, rather than the given Lie algebra representation :The Jacobi identity gives . Using the cyclic property of the trace,The same trace identity makes the Killing form symmetric. For a basis , the lowered structure constants of a Lie algebra are . Antisymmetry of the Lie bracket gives , while invariance gives . The two adjacent transpositions generate every permutation, proving the antisymmetry of Killing-lowered structure constants: is totally antisymmetric, even if the Killing form is degenerate.
A semisimple Lie algebra has no nonzero solvable ideal; equivalently, its solvable radical is zero, or, in characteristic zero, its Killing form is nondegenerate. A real compact Lie algebra is the algebra of some compact Lie group, equivalently an algebra admitting a positive-definite invariant bilinear form on a Lie algebra. For a real semisimple Lie algebra the compactness criterion from the Killing form says precisely that is negative-definite. A compact algebra with a nonzero abelian center has a degenerate Killing form, so the semisimplicity qualification matters.
For a semisimple Lie algebra, let denote the inverse matrix of . Its Casimir operator in isThis contraction is independent of the chosen basis. To prove centrality directly, put . Invariance gives , hence . The Lie algebra representation property and the product rule for a commutator now giveIndeed, the coefficient of in this expression is . Thus for every . No irreducibility of is required.
The matrix units obey . Consequently the general linear Lie algebra hasFor its Killing form, write and , so that . Left multiplication acts identically on each of the columns, and right multiplication identically on each of the rows. Thus . The diagonal coefficient of on is , giving ; the other mixed trace is identical. This proves the Killing form of the general linear Lie algebra:The scalar matrices form a nonzero central abelian ideal, so is not semisimple for any . More explicitly, the radical of the Killing form is , since vanishing against every forces by nondegeneracy of the trace pairing. For , take . Then , whereas a positive-definite invariant inner product would make every adjoint map skew and hence give . Therefore is not compact when . For the allowed exceptional value , the abstract abelian algebra is a compact Lie algebra, being isomorphic to the algebra of ; the particular matrix group is nevertheless noncompact. This distinguishes compactness of an algebra from that of a chosen group realizing it.
For the final algebra, the printed basis specifies strictly upper triangular matrices. If and , the first term in can be nonzero only when , and then is strictly upper triangular; the second can be nonzero only when , and then is strictly upper triangular. Bilinearity proves closure under the Lie bracket. To compute its own Killing form, grade by the positive integer . Bracketing with any basis element increases that degree whenever the result is nonzero. In a basis ordered by degree, all adjoint maps are strictly triangular, as are their products. Every such product has zero trace, so the Killing form of a nilpotent Lie algebra vanishes here. Therefore the subspace denoted by a prime in the PDF isThis is the defined radical of the Killing form, not the derived algebra; for both and this radical are zero.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 17 4 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be the horizontal lift of supplied by the canonical coframe of a surface unit tangent bundle. The frame has commutatorsSince , the Lie bracket product rule givesThese formulas hold for every smooth , with no curvature or Anosov assumption.
Follow a tangent variation and express it in the moving frame asPulling this identity back by makes its left side constant. The derivative of the pulled-back frame vector is the pulled-back bracket , so the coefficients satisfyThis derives the linearized transverse equation for a surface thermostat; its first equation in disappears on the quotient by .
Near a vertical plane, , and the smooth projective coordinate describes the plane asThe vertical Maslov cycle of a surface thermostat is exactly . Differentiating the quotient with the derived equations yieldsConsequentlySince is a local defining function for the hypersurface, the nonzero normal derivative proves that the lifted vector field is transverse to the Maslov cycle everywhere. In particular, the sign follows from the forward derivative lift and the positive vertical-rotation convention, rather than from an unspecified projective orientation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 19 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
A smooth vector field on a smooth manifold is a smooth section of its tangent bundle. It acts on smooth functions by . In a manifold chart, . The Lie bracket of vector fields is the commutator of their actions on functions:Expanding in coordinates makes all second derivatives cancel and givesThus the commutator is again a smooth vector field, not a second-order operator. The coordinate expression represents the intrinsic derivation on functions, so agrees on overlaps.
For a diffeomorphism , its pushforward of a vector field isFor every smooth function on , the chain rule gives . Applying this twice yieldsSmooth functions determine a tangent vector, and is surjective, so
On a Lie group, a left-invariant vector field satisfies for every left translation . Given , setThis field is smooth by smoothness of multiplication. The equality proves left invariance. Conversely, left invariance forces , so is the unique left-invariant field with value at . This is a linear isomorphism between and the space of left-invariant vector fields.
The pushforward identity applied to shows that is again left invariant. Consequentlydefines a Lie bracket on . Bilinearity and antisymmetry follow from the operator commutator. Its Jacobi identity follows by expanding the three nested commutators: the six triple compositions cancel in pairs. These properties transfer through the linear isomorphism, making the Lie algebra of .
For the general linear group , use matrix-entry coordinates . It is an open subset of , so every tangent space is naturally . Since , its differential sends to , and henceFor ,and reversing gives . Thus ; evaluating at the identity gives the matrix commutator
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 23 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For a real Lie group , its Lie algebra is the real tangent space at the identity. Each tangent vector extends uniquely to a left-invariant vector field, and the commutator of those fields defines the Lie bracket. For a matrix group this bracket is .
For a complex affine algebraic group, the Lie algebra of an affine algebraic group is the complex Zariski tangent space . Its bracket is the commutator of left-invariant derivations. In a faithful matrix realization, one can compute the tangent space using dual numbers: belongs to it exactly when satisfies the group equations modulo . This is a complex Lie algebra, whereas compact groups such as and have real Lie algebras.
Differentiate at the identity to get . Conversely is unitary for every skew-Hermitian . Differentiating the determinant gives , while proves sufficiency of the trace condition. Finally, is an open subset of all complex matrices, so its tangent space has no linear constraint. ThereforeTheir dimensions are respectively , with real dimensions for the first and third and complex dimensions for the second and fourth. In every case the Lie bracket is the matrix commutator.
An irreducible complex affine algebraic group is connected. It is a reductive algebraic group when its unipotent radical , the largest connected normal unipotent subgroup, is trivial. This is an algebraic condition; in characteristic zero it also implies complete reducibility of finite-dimensional rational representations, as proved in Question 2.
Examples are algebraic tori, and , and products of these groups. A diagonal matrix that is unipotent must be the identity, so a torus has no nontrivial unipotent subgroup. For the two matrix groups, let be a normal unipotent subgroup. The Kolchin theorem supplies a nonzero fixed vector in their standard representation. The subspace fixed by is invariant under the whole group: for , . The standard representation is irreducible, so every vector is fixed by ; its faithfulness makes trivial. A normal unipotent subgroup of a product projects to such a subgroup of each factor, proving the product assertion. By contrast the additive group and a nontrivial upper-unitriangular group are not reductive: their unipotent radicals are the whole group.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 3 4 v Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
If the three simple roots are distinct and every pair of root spaces had nonzero Lie bracket, part (iv) would put all three connections in the Dynkin diagram. Their underlying Coxeter graph would contain a triangle, contradicting part (ii). Hence at least one pair satisfies . If two of the listed roots coincide, their common root space is one-dimensional, so its bracket with itself is already zero. Thus the conclusion also covers that case.
