Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 61 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Put . The linear-reproduction request requires , which we use for that final step. Since , the useful normalized Marsden dual functional isThere is no further factor outside this sum: it has already been included in .
To derive the formula directly from Marsden's identity, Taylor's theorem for the polynomial around the arbitrary point givesOn the other hand,Differentiate Marsden's identity times in , multiply by , and sum over . The left side becomes , while the right side becomesOnly finite sums and derivatives of polynomials are involved.
Independence of the auxiliary point does not require an assumption about uniqueness of an expansion. Differentiate the formula for itself:The first summand at and the second at vanish because both polynomials have degree at most . All remaining terms cancel after shifting the index by one. Therefore is a constant in , and it is visibly a linear functional of .
For , only remain. The leading two coefficients of the monic knot polynomial giveIt follows thatSubstituting into the expansion proveson the basic knot interval. Thus the Greville abscissae are exactly the sampling coefficients that reproduce linear polynomials; the constant case also gives the subpartition of unity for B-splines with equality on this interval.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 6 3 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Use the weighted Hilbert structure of velocity-reset relaxation, with inner product and norm . The Cauchy-Schwarz inequality givesThus is an absolutely convergent integral and a bounded linear functional. Since , the normalized velocity-reset collision operator obeysThis establishes boundedness. The subsequent orthogonal decomposition improves the operator norm to exactly one.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 7 1 Solution 2026-10-07
A separated dual pair consists of real vector spaces and a bilinear form that separates both variables: each nonzero pairs nontrivially with some , and conversely. Thus embeds in the algebraic dual of , and embeds in the algebraic dual of .
The weak topology is the coarsest topology making all maps , , continuous. It makes a Hausdorff locally convex space, with topology generated by the seminorms . A neighbourhood base at zero consists of finite intersectionsSeparation ensures that the common zero set of all these seminorms is just zero, giving Hausdorffness.
We determine the continuous dual of a weak topology. Suppose a linear functional is continuous. A basic neighbourhood as above is contained in . If is in the common kernel of the finitely many evaluations, every scalar multiple of lies in that neighbourhood, so . Hence factors through the image ofExtend the resulting linear functional on to . It has the form , giving . Conversely every such evaluation is continuous by the definition of the weak topology. Since the pairing separates , this identification is injective, andFor the remaining parts every topological assertion about or its subsets uses the stipulated weak-star topology .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 7 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
First we prove the Krein-Milman theorem in the required setting. If is empty the conclusion is immediate, so assume it is nonempty. A face of a convex set is a convex subset with the property that an interior point of a segment in belongs to only if both endpoints do. Consider all nonempty weakly compact faces of , ordered by reverse inclusion. A chain has a nonempty intersection by compactness and the finite intersection property; that intersection is again a compact face. The Zorn lemma gives a minimal compact face .
If contained distinct points, a bounded linear functional separating them would be nonconstant on . Its maximizer set is a nonempty proper compact face of , hence a face of , contradicting minimality. Therefore is a singleton and its member is an extreme point of . The same reasoning applies to each nonempty compact face of , so each such face contains an extreme point of .
Let be the norm-closed convex hull of the extreme points of . A weakly compact subset of a Banach space is weakly closed, hence norm closed, so . If , the Hahn-Banach separation theorem gives with . The maximizer face of on contains an extreme point of . Then , contradicting . We concludeNorm and weak closed convex hulls coincide by the same separation theorem. The printed phrase “closed convex cover” is understood in this standard closed-convex-hull sense.
Now work in the real space of continuous functions on a compact space on the Cantor set. The extreme points of a real continuous-function unit ball are exactly the continuous sign functions:If , continuity supplies a neighbourhood where . The Cantor cylinder sets form a clopen base, so choose a nonempty cylinder inside that neighbourhood. Its indicator function is continuous, and are distinct members of with midpoint . Hence is not extreme. Conversely, if is pointwise sign-valued and with , equality at the endpoint of the scalar interval forces at every point.
To prove the closed-hull assertion without assuming weak compactness, take and . A sufficiently fine finite partition of into Cantor cylinders has oscillation of less than on each cell, by uniform continuity. Choose a value on each cell and let be the corresponding continuous step function. Then . For each sign vector , let take value on cell , and assign the weightThese weights are nonnegative, sum to one, and satisfy . Thus is a convex combination of extreme points. This is clopen sign approximation in the real Cantor unit ball, provingNevertheless is not weakly compact. The suggested functions lie in and converge pointwise to the function equal to zero at and one at every other point of . It is discontinuous at zero, since tends to zero. If were weakly compact, the sequence, viewed as a net, would have a weakly convergent subnet with limit in . Point evaluations are bounded linear functionals, so that subnet would have the same pointwise limit; its indices are cofinal in the original sequence. The limit would therefore be the discontinuous function just described, a contradiction. This discontinuous pointwise limit obstruction to weak compactness gives the required failure of weak compactness, despite the closed-hull equality.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ib Paper 4 10G Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
The algebraic dual space is , the vector space of all real linear functionals. For a finite basis , define the dual basis by , so . Every linear functional satisfiesThis equality follows by evaluating both sides on each vector of the basis. It proves spanning directly. If , evaluation on gives , proving linear independence without assuming a theorem on dual dimensions.
For a vector subspace , its annihilator of a vector subspace isExtend a basis of to a basis of . Then has basis , so .
The dual map of is , . In the corresponding dual bases its matrix is the transpose of the matrix for . A matrix and its transpose have the same rank, giving . Directly,Thus . Also every vanishes on , so . Both spaces have dimension by the preceding annihilator of a vector subspace formula and rank-nullity theorem, provingAlternatively, a linear functional vanishing on the kernel descends to the image of and can be extended to by extending a basis.
For the infinite-dimensional polynomial ring, the coefficient functionals are linearly independent: evaluate a finite relation on each monomial. However, they do not span the algebraic dual space. The linear functional takes value one on every monomial, while any finite combination of the vanishes on every sufficiently high-degree monomial. Thus the do not form a basis of . An infinite formal sum of coefficient functionals is not a finite linear combination.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 2 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
For a Lie algebra , write for the linear span of brackets with one argument in each indicated subspace. The three definitions areThese are respectively an Abelian Lie algebra, a solvable Lie algebra and a nilpotent Lie algebra. The second and third sequences are the derived series of a Lie algebra and the lower central series of a Lie algebra.
An Abelian Lie algebra has , and a nilpotent Lie algebra is a solvable Lie algebra: induction gives . Thus all the implications are generated byNone of the reverse implications holds. The Heisenberg Lie algebra with basis and , all other basic brackets zero, is nonabelian but has , . The two-dimensional affine Lie algebra of the line with has and , but for every . It is solvable and neither nilpotent nor abelian. These two examples answer all six ordered-pair comparisons.
The Lie theorem says that a finite-dimensional Lie algebra representation of a finite-dimensional solvable Lie algebra over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero has a common eigenvector whenever its representation space is nonzero. Equivalently it admits an invariant complete flag, or simultaneous upper triangularization. Here the field may be taken to be ; these hypotheses are essential.
To prove the common-eigenvector assertion, induct on . The zero algebra is immediate. Since is nonzero and solvable, its derived algebra is proper. Choose a codimension-one Lie algebra ideal containing it, and write . The Lie algebra is solvable, so induction supplies and a linear functional with .
Consider the finite-dimensional cyclic subspace . Until the first linear dependence, these powers form a basis. The identityand show by induction, simultaneously for all , that is -invariant and that is upper triangular on it with every diagonal entry . It is also -invariant by construction. HenceThe trace of a commutator is zero, and characteristic zero gives .
The simultaneous eigenspace is nonzero and -invariant, sinceOver an algebraically closed field, has an eigenvector, which is therefore a common eigenvector for all of . This finishes induction. Apply the same assertion to the quotient representation by its invariant line, and then to successive quotients. A basis adapted to the resulting complete flag gives the stated simultaneous triangularization of a Lie algebra representation, completing the proof of the Lie theorem.
A nilpotent Lie algebra is a solvable Lie algebra, so the inclusion satisfies the Lie theorem and is upper triangular in a suitable basis, for finite-dimensional complex .
This is insufficient to prove the Engel theorem. Its matrix version starts with a Lie subalgebra of nilpotent endomorphisms and concludes that they are simultaneously strictly upper triangular; its abstract version concludes nilpotence from nilpotence of every Adjoint representation endomorphism. Merely upper triangular matrices can have nonzero diagonal entries: the one-dimensional algebra is an Abelian Lie algebra and a nilpotent Lie algebra, but acts by a nonnilpotent identity matrix. This is nilpotent Lie algebras need not act nilpotently. Moreover, in the abstract Engel theorem nilpotence of the algebra is a conclusion, so assuming it first to invoke the Lie theorem would be circular. Abstract nilpotence and nilpotence of each representing matrix are different conditions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 5 1 f Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The Riesz representation theorem states that every bounded linear functional on a real or complex Hilbert space is represented by a unique :For the complex case take the inner product to be linear in its first argument.
If , choose . Otherwise its kernel is a closed linear subspace. Choose with and let , using the orthogonal projection. Then , , and . For every ,Therefore take in the real case, and in the complex case. The conjugate in the latter formula compensates for conjugate linearity in the second argument.
The Cauchy-Schwarz inequality gives , and evaluation at when gives equality of the norms. If two vectors represent , their difference is orthogonal to every vector, including itself, hence zero. This proves all assertions of the Riesz representation theorem.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 5 1 g Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The real Lax-Milgram theorem applies to a Hilbert space and a bounded bilinear form satisfyingFor every bounded linear functional there is a unique withSymmetry of the bilinear form is not required.
By the Riesz representation theorem, write and . The operator is linear and bounded, with . The coercive bilinear form bound and the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality implyHence is injective. Its range is closed: if converges, this last inequality applied to differences makes a Cauchy sequence, and its limit maps to the proposed range limit. If is in the orthogonal complement of the range, then for all ; taking and using coercivity gives . The range is thus dense as well as closed, so it is all of . Solve uniquely; the displayed lower bound gives the asserted estimate.
For complex Hilbert spaces the same proof works for a bounded sesquilinear form, linear in the first argument, with . In the convention , must then be a bounded conjugate-linear functional represented as .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 6 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use the Hausdorff convention for a locally convex space: a real vector space is equipped with a separating family of seminorms. Thus each is nonnegative, subadditive and satisfies , and for every some has . The topology has a neighborhood basis at consisting ofEquivalently, it is the coarsest vector-space topology making all these seminorms continuous. The separating condition is precisely what makes this topology Hausdorff. If the Hausdorff requirement were omitted, continuous linear functionals could not distinguish points in the common kernel of the seminorms.
The continuous dual space consists of all continuous linear functionals . We first prove the needed Hahn-Banach theorem. Let be a real-valued sublinear function on , meaning and for , and let be linear on a vector subspace , with . To extend across , writeThe necessary bounds on areThey are compatible becauseTaking one variable equal to zero also shows that are finite. Choose . The upper bound proves domination when , after dividing by ; the lower bound proves it when , after dividing by . Thus on . This is the one-dimensional dominated extension of a real linear functional.
Order all dominated extensions of by extension of their domains. A chain has an upper bound obtained by taking the union of the domains and linear functionals. Zorn's lemma gives a maximal extension, and the one-dimensional construction shows that its domain must be all of . We have therefore proved the real dominated-extension theorem. In particular, when is a seminorm, domination at both and gives .
For , choose a continuous seminorm with , and define on its one-dimensional span. Then . Extend by the theorem just proved to with . This bound makes continuous, and . Applying this to the difference of two distinct points proves that separates the points of , the continuous-dual separation theorem for Hausdorff locally convex spaces.
For separation from a closed linear subspace, choose a basic balanced neighborhood of zero such that . WriteThen for every . On , define , which is well-defined since . For ,for the inequality is immediate. The proved extension theorem gives a continuous dominated by , withThis proves separation of a point from a closed linear subspace without using any unproved Hahn-Banach extension or separation result.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 6 2 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Let be the quotient map. Since is norm closed and has finite codimension, the quotient is a finite-dimensional normed space. Choose a basis of its continuous dual and compose its coordinate linear functionals with . This gives such thatIf , it vanishes on . Evaluation at is weak-star continuous, and is weak-star dense, so it vanishes on all of . The dual norm formula gives . Hence .
Assume ; the zero space is trivially normed by any positive constant. We claim thatIf not, there would be and with . The sequence is bounded. Finite-dimensionality of gives a norm-convergent subsequence with limit . Then , and is norm closed because is Banach. Thus and , a contradiction. This is positive distance between a unit sphere and a disjoint finite-dimensional subspace.
Fix , identifying it with , and put . On , define . The distance definition givesThe Hahn-Banach theorem extends it to with , and .
Apply part (ii) with the Banach space , its finite-dimensional dual vector subspace , and the bidual space element . For every it supplies satisfyingThus . Normalize by and let to obtainHomogeneity gives, for all ,Consequently a finite-codimensional weak-star dense dual subspace is norming, with . Since is a real linear vector subspace and its ball is symmetric, the same supremum is obtained if an absolute value is inserted. The argument uses near-unit interpolation and a limiting supremum, not an assertion that the supremum is attained.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 6 2 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Consider the restriction operatorIt is onto: otherwise its range, a vector subspace of the finite-dimensional vector space , would have a nonzero annihilator in . That annihilator would be an vanishing on all of , so , a contradiction. Moreover is open. To see this directly, choose preimages of a basis of ; they define a linear right inverse , continuous because its domain is finite-dimensional. Small changes of an image can then be lifted by small changes using .
Put and . It is open and convex in . If , the Hahn-Banach separation theorem gives a nonzero real linear functional on , represented by some , such thatBut , contradicting . Therefore , and the finite-dimensional interpolation form of Goldstine's theorem yieldsIf one simply takes .
To recover the Goldstine theorem, start with and finitely many tests . Apply the result to their span with a small parameter . The resulting need not lie in , but does. For every test,Choosing sufficiently small puts in any prescribed basic weak-star neighborhood. This proves the asserted weak-star density of the closed unit ball. The reverse inclusion follows because is weak-star closed, being the intersection of the conditions for .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 6 2 iv Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Suppose the weak-star closure of were a proper linear vector subspace of . The Hahn-Banach separation theorem would give a nonzero weak-star continuous linear functional vanishing on it. A continuous dual of a weak-star topology consists precisely of evaluations at points of : continuity bounds the linear functional by finitely many evaluations, so it factors through their finite-dimensional coordinate map and is a linear combination of them. Thus some would satisfy for all . The norming inequality would imply , a contradiction. Every norming subspace of is weak-star dense.
For the infinite-codimension example, takeHere is the absolutely summable sequence space and is the space of sequences converging to zero, a norm-closed vector subspace of . The dual identification is : a bounded sequence defines a linear functional of norm , and every linear functional on has this form by evaluating on the coordinate vectors and using density of finitely supported sequences.
For , use the finitely supported sequence whose first entries are and whose remaining entries vanish. It belongs to , has norm at most one, andThe reverse inequality follows from . Hence is 1-norming for , an instance of vanishing sequences norm the summable sequence space.
To prove infinite codimension, take disjoint infinite setsTheir indicator sequences have linearly independent classes in . Indeed, a finite combination has the constant value on ; if it tends to zero, every must vanish. Thus the quotient is infinite-dimensional.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 6 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The Riesz-Markov-Kakutani representation theorem says that a positive linear functional on has the form for a unique finite positive regular Borel measure , with norm . Its complex form says that every bounded complex linear functional is represented by a unique finite regular complex measure , andThe extension from positive to arbitrary linear functionals follows by positive/negative decomposition of real linear functionals and then real/imaginary decomposition. The last quantity is the total variation norm of a measure, so this identifies the dual isometrically.
An extreme point of a convex set cannot be written as with and distinct . The Krein-Milman theorem, applied with the underlying real locally convex weak-star topology, states
We next prove Milman's converse to the Krein-Milman theorem. Suppose an extreme point were outside the weak-star closure of . A basic weak-star neighborhood of disjoint from uses finitely many real coordinates: real and imaginary parts of evaluations at elements of . Its complement is the union of finitely many closed half-spacesIntersect these with , discard empty intersections, and call the resulting compact convex sets . They cover , and none contains .
The convex hull of their union is compact. Every point in it can be written with in the finite simplex and , by combining terms from the same convex set. The map from the simplex times to that sum is weak-star continuous, so its image is compact and closed. It therefore contains , in particular . But extremality forces every having a positive coefficient in a representation of to equal , contradicting . Hence
Assume . We claim that the extreme points of the dual unit ball of C(K) areA measure of norm less than one is not extreme, since it admits a small nonzero perturbation within the ball. For a measure of norm one, suppose is not a point mass. There is a Borel set with : if the measure support has two points, choose disjoint neighborhoods of positive mass; a regular probability measure supported at just one point is the corresponding point mass. Thenis a convex combination of distinct norm-one measures. Thus an extreme measure must have variation concentrated at one point, and must be with .
Conversely, if with , thenEquality throughout forces both measures to have all their variation at , and forces their phases to be . Hence , proving extremality. If , the dual ball is and its sole extreme point is .
Every finite Borel measure on is regular, so the given belongs to the dual unit ball of . Apply Banach-Alaoglu theorem and Krein-Milman theorem to that ball. It is the weak-star closed convex hull of these phased point masses. The unit ball of the finite-dimensional vector subspace is norm compact. Choose a finite -net in it. There is a convex combinationwhose integrals differ from those of by less than on every . Put . Then and . For any in the unit ball of , choose with . The linear functional has norm at most two, soScaling yields the requested estimate for every . This is atomic approximation on finite-dimensional spaces of continuous functions. Repeated nodes are allowed: keeping their individual terms preserves the exact sum of coefficient magnitudes even if their phases cancel. If , one point with coefficient one suffices.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 9 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
A rational matrix is partition regular over the positive integers if every finite colouring of admits a vector whose coordinates all have the same colour and satisfy . Equal coordinates are allowed. Rado's theorem says that this holds exactly when the columns can be partitioned into nonempty blocks withThis is the columns condition. Clearing an overall denominator lets us prove necessity for an integer matrix.
Suppose the columns condition fails. There are only finitely many ordered partitions of the finite column index set. For each ordered partition, choose a failing block: its sum is outside the rational span of preceding columns, with that span interpreted as zero for the first block. Finite-dimensional linear algebra gives a rational linear functional vanishing on that span but not on . For completeness, take a basis of the span, append , extend to a basis of the column space, and prescribe values zero on the first basis vectors and one on . Clearing the functional's denominators gives an integer row functional with .
Choose one prime larger than the absolute values of all these finitely many nonzero integers . Colour each positive integer by its first nonzero base- digit:Assume a monochromatic solution exists, and partition its coordinates into blocks of equal P-adic valuation, ordered by increasing valuations . Their first nonzero digit is a common . For this ordered partition take its chosen failing block and functional . Apply to . All preceding-block terms disappear exactly. Divide the remaining integer equation by and reduce modulo . Later blocks disappear, while the current block givesThis contradicts the prime's choice. Thus the colouring has no monochromatic solution, proving necessity. This is the finite separating-functional proof of the columns condition; it needs neither a limiting argument nor a bound on the valuations themselves.
For sufficiency, suppose the blocks satisfy the columns condition. Choose rational coefficients , for in preceding blocks, such thatLet be a positive integer clearing their denominators, and choose an integer bounding all . Use the allowed monochromatic m-p-c set theorem with generators. We use the triangular convention in which the resulting positive integer set contains every numberin one colour. This is an m-p-c set, with the generator indices reversed if the alternative lower-triangular convention is used. The permitted theorem applies to either convention, since it applies to every finite number of generators. Its set lies in , so all of the displayed combinations are positive.
For , defineEach coordinate belongs to that monochromatic set. Summing the column contributions and collecting coefficients of givesFor the inner sum is empty and . This proves sufficiency by a Rado solution inside an m-p-c set, and completes the theorem.
For the requested application, chooseThe matrix, in the coordinate order , has columnsThe block has zero sum. The remaining column satisfies , so it is in the span of the first block. By Rado's theorem, positive monochromatic satisfy the system. In particular,One can see the positivity directly in the same triangular construction: a monochromatic set containing for , together with , givesAll four are positive because they belong to that positive m-p-c set. This is a partition-regular system forcing an ordered Schur relation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 ia Paper 1 6C ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Let be the standard basis and define . By linearity,Thus every linear functional has this form. Its representing vector is unique because evaluating at each gives .
For the prescribed kernel of a linear map, the third listed vector is the first minus the second, so it adds no independent constraint. The first two requireTaking and gives , . Consequently all possible representing vectors areConversely, every such vector is perpendicular to each of the three prescribed vectors, so its linear functional vanishes on them. This also includes the zero linear functional.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 16 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
On an affine chart , the module of Kähler differentials is generated by symbols subject to -linearity and . It represents -derivations. These modules commute with localization, so their associated quasi-coherent sheaves glue to the Kähler differential sheaf . It is coherent: if and , then it has the finite presentation of a moduleFor a closed point , put with maximal ideal and residue field . The Zariski tangent space is , equivalently . A derivation kills constants and , so it factors through ; conversely every linear functional on defines such a derivation by the product rule. The universal property of Kähler differentials therefore identifies this space withIn particular, , the algebraic cotangent space.
A point is a smooth point of a variety when its local ring is a regular local ring; over this algebraically closed field this says . Tensor the finite presentation of a module above with . The tangent space is the kernel of the Jacobian matrix , hence has dimension . This proves the Jacobian criterionFor a smooth irreducible variety , choose at each point an invertible -minor and shrink the affine chart so that it remains invertible. Its relations eliminate of the generators of , yielding a surjection . At the generic point, its target has dimension : over a perfect ground field, a separating transcendence basis of the function field has differentials forming a basis. Equivalently this follows from the assumed density of the smooth locus. The kernel therefore becomes zero over the fraction field of the integral domain . As a submodule of , it is a torsion-free module, so it is already zero. Thus these maps give local isomorphisms with , proving local freeness of differentials on a smooth variety with rank .
For an affine chart , write and . The restriction of a module sheaf to a closed subvariety is . The Conormal exact sequence for Kähler differentials isIt follows from the generators and relations: passing to imposes precisely the additional relations for . The first map is well defined because lies in . Glue these exact module sequences, using exactness of localization, to obtainIn the final assertion, interpret locally principal subvariety as a proper local hypersurface. Its ideal on each chart is with . Since is an irreducible variety and reduced, is a non-zero-divisor, and , , is an isomorphism. These local rank-one descriptions make the conormal sheaf invertible.
Because is not contained in the singular locus of , there is a dense open subset of where both and are smooth varieties. At a closed point there, by the Krull principal ideal theorem. The tangent description then forces . Hence the conormal map is injective at the generic point of . Its kernel is a subsheaf of a line bundle on the integral variety , so it is a torsion-free sheaf; a torsion-free sheaf with zero generic fibre is zero. This proves conormal injectivity for a generically smooth Cartier divisor. If zero equations were allowed in the phrase locally principal, would be a counterexample to invertibility; the proper-hypersurface convention is essential.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 6 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The weak topology on a normed vector space is , the coarsest topology making every bounded linear functional continuous. A neighbourhood base at is given by finitely many inequalities , with . In the complex case, separation uses real parts of bounded linear functionals.
Mazur theorem states that the weak closure of a convex set equals its closure in the norm topology. The weak topology is coarser than the norm topology, so the norm closure is contained in the weak closure. Conversely, if is outside the norm closure of a convex set , the Hahn-Banach separation theorem gives and with . The corresponding weak topology neighbourhood of misses , so is outside its weak closure. This proves Mazur theorem, including the empty-set case. In particular, if converges weakly to , then is in the weak closure of every tail and therefore in the norm closure of its convex hull. Choosing a finite convex combination of the th tail within of proves the usual Mazur lemma formulation as well.
The weak-star topology on the continuous dual space is : convergence means pointwise convergence on , and a neighbourhood base prescribes finitely many evaluation inequalities. The Banach-Alaoglu theorem states that the closed unit ball of is compact in this weak-star topology, even if is incomplete. Embed this closed unit ball intowhere or . Each factor is compact, so is compact by the Tychonoff theorem. Inside , the equations and define a closed set. Every such point defines a linear functional satisfying , hence belongs to the closed unit ball of . Thus this image is closed in . The product topology on it is exactly the weak-star topology, proving Banach-Alaoglu theorem. Evaluations also separate its points, so the weak-star topology is Hausdorff.
For the canonical embedding into the bidual , we have . Restricting all evaluations at therefore gives exactly . Thus the induced subspace topology is the weak topology on .
Now identify with . Let be a bounded convex set, write for its norm closure in , and let be its weak-star topology closure in . Boundedness places in a multiple of the closed unit ball of , so is compact by Banach-Alaoglu theorem. The preceding subspace topology identification and Mazur theorem giveIf is a weakly compact set, its image in the Hausdorff weak-star topology is compact and therefore closed. It contains , so . Conversely, if , the displayed identity gives , and its compactness is precisely weak compactness in . Hence . This argument also covers .
For a bounded linear operator , its Banach-space adjoint is , defined by . Evaluation at any fixed is thus evaluation at after applying . Each is continuous in the relevant weak-star topology, proving that is weak-star continuous. Applying the same result to shows that is weak-star continuous. Direct evaluation gives
Use for the closed unit ball; using the open ball gives the same norm closure of . Goldstine theorem says that is weak-star dense in . Put . It is compact and closed in the weak-star topology by Banach-Alaoglu theorem and the established continuity. It contains . Conversely, Goldstine theorem gives, for every , a net from converging weak-star to ; its image converges weak-star to . ConsequentlyApply the preceding bounded convex set criterion in , and then scale the closed unit ball. We obtain the bidual characterization of weakly compact operators:The canonical embedding into the bidual on the right specifies exactly which copy of is intended.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 6 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
All vector spaces in this solution are complex, while convex combinations use real coefficients. An extreme point of a convex set is one for which , and , forces . Equivalently, is not the midpoint of two distinct points of .
The Krein-Milman theorem says that every nonempty compact convex set in a Hausdorff locally convex space is the closed convex hull of its extreme points. Here is a proof. A face of a convex set is a convex set such that whenever an interior point of a segment in belongs to , both endpoints belong to . Consider nonempty compact faces, ordered by reverse inclusion. A chain has nonempty intersection by compactness and the finite intersection property; that intersection is again a compact face. The Zorn lemma therefore gives a minimal nonempty compact face .
If contains distinct , a continuous real linear functional on the underlying real locally convex space distinguishes them. Such a linear functional exists because the space is Hausdorff and locally convex, by the Hahn-Banach theorem. The maximizers of on form a nonempty proper compact face of . A face of a face is a face of , contradicting minimality. Therefore is a singleton, yielding an extreme point. The same argument inside any nonempty compact face of supplies an extreme point of lying in that face.
Let be the closed convex hull of the extreme points of . It is a nonempty closed subset of compact , hence compact. If , the Hahn-Banach separation theorem provides a continuous real linear functional with . Its maximizer set on is a nonempty compact face, which contains an extreme point of . But and , a contradiction. Thus , proving Krein-Milman theorem.
For a nonempty compact Hausdorff space , the extreme points of the dual unit ball of C(K) areThis is the permitted description without proof, with denoting the complex space of continuous functions on a compact space equipped with the supremum norm. If is empty, and the closed unit ball of its continuous dual space has the single extreme point instead.
The complex Banach–Stone theorem states that a surjective complex-linear isometric isomorphism of normed spaces has the formwhere and is a homeomorphism. Conversely, every such map is a surjective complex-linear isometric isomorphism of normed spaces for the supremum norm.
To prove this, suppose first that are nonempty. The Banach-space adjoint is a bijective isometric isomorphism of normed spaces on the continuous dual spaces, so it bijects their closed unit balls and preserves extreme points. The displayed extreme point description gives uniquelyUniqueness follows by evaluating at the constant function , and then using that continuous functions separate points of a compact Hausdorff space. Evaluation gives the required formula for , and is continuous. Surjectivity of on extreme points proves surjectivity of : the preimage of any is for some . If , every function in the range of has equal values at these two points after division by ; surjectivity of and separation of points force . Thus is bijective.
For every , is continuous. The evaluation map , , is a continuous injection of a compact Hausdorff space into a Hausdorff product topology, hence a homeomorphism onto its image. Continuity of every coordinate proves continuity of . A continuous bijection between compact Hausdorff spaces is a homeomorphism. Conversely the weighted-composition formula plainly preserves the supremum norm, and its inverse isIf one compact space is empty, a surjective isometric isomorphism of normed spaces forces the other to be empty, and the empty homeomorphism gives the corresponding trivial case. This completes Banach–Stone theorem.
Neither the space of sequences converging to zero nor can be isometrically a continuous dual space of a Banach space. Indeed, every nonzero continuous dual space has a nonempty weak-star compact closed unit ball by Banach-Alaoglu theorem, and Krein-Milman theorem then guarantees an extreme point. A bijective linear isometry preserves extreme points of closed unit balls.
The closed unit ball of has no extreme points. Given with , choose with and . The two distinct elements remain in that closed unit ball and have midpoint .
The closed unit ball of the complex Lp space also has no extreme points. An element of norm less than one can be perturbed by a sufficiently small nonzero Lp space element in both directions. If , the non-atomic measure admits a measurable set of mass ; for example the continuous function attains . Put . For , the distinct functions both have Lp normwith the two coefficients interchanged for the minus sign. Their midpoint is . Thus neither proposed space is isometrically a Banach dual.
Finally, is a connected space, whereas is disconnected. They cannot be homeomorphic. By Banach–Stone theorem, and are not isometrically isomorphic as complex Banach spaces.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 6 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Work over and take a nonzero commutative unital Banach algebra , with . A character of an algebra is a nonzero multiplicative complex linear functional . It satisfies . Moreover : otherwise would be invertible, although its image under is zero. The bound on the spectrum of an element therefore gives , proving automatic continuity of characters and .
Every proper maximal ideal of is closed. Indeed its closure is an ideal; if this closure were all of , would contain an element within distance less than one of . Such an element is invertible by the Neumann series, forcing . Thus the closure is proper and maximality makes it equal to . The quotient Banach space , with its quotient Banach algebra structure, is a complex normed division algebra. By the Gelfand-Mazur theorem, it is , so the quotient map gives a character of an algebra with kernel . Conversely, the kernel of every character of an algebra is a maximal ideal, since the character is onto . The Zorn lemma supplies a maximal ideal containing every proper ideal, so the character space of an algebra is nonempty.
These facts give the exact relation between the character space and the spectrum of an element:One inclusion was proved above. For the other, if is noninvertible, the principal ideal it generates is proper because is commutative. Contain it in a maximal ideal and use its corresponding character of an algebra to obtain .
Give the Gelfand topology, namely its subspace topology from the weak-star topology on . In the closed unit ball of , it is the intersection of the closed conditionsConsequently Banach-Alaoglu theorem makes a compact Hausdorff space. For every , define the Gelfand transform . This is a continuous function on by definition of the Gelfand topology. The Gelfand representation theorem gives a contractive unital algebra homomorphism over a fieldMultiplicativity and linearity follow by evaluating at each character of an algebra; the supremum norm equality follows from the preceding spectrum of an element identity. Its kernel isthe Jacobson radical. Equivalently, its elements have spectrum of an element . Thus is injective precisely when is a semisimple commutative Banach algebra, and it gives a faithful continuous representation of as a function algebra. Its range contains the constants and separates points of , because distinct characters of an algebra differ on some . An arbitrary Banach algebra need not have an isometric or surjective Gelfand transform, nor a uniformly dense range: those conclusions require further hypotheses.
For the Banach algebra on a nonempty compact Hausdorff space , all characters of an algebra are evaluation characters. To see this, let be a maximal ideal. If its elements had no common zero, compactness would supply with no common zero. The continuous function belongs to , is strictly positive on , and has a continuous reciprocal. It is therefore invertible, a contradiction. Hence all elements of vanish at some , so and maximality gives equality. The associated character of an algebra must be : since , its value on is .
The map is a continuous bijection , using separation of points by continuous functions. Compactness and the Hausdorff property make it a homeomorphism. Under this identification the Gelfand transform is , so it is the identity representation of , in particular an isometric onto map. The empty gives the zero algebra, whose empty character space represents the zero function space; it was excluded by the nonzero unital convention above.
Now let be a commutative unital C-star algebra. The stronger conclusion is the Commutative Gelfand--Naimark theorem: the Gelfand transform is an isometric onto C-star homomorphism . We prove the additional assertions without assuming this conclusion.
First every character of an algebra respects the C-star algebra involution. If , the elements , , are unitary elements of a C-star algebra, and their norm is one by the C-star identity. Continuity and multiplicativity give . Thus for every real , forcing to be real. Writing with and self-adjoint gives . Therefore the range of is closed under complex conjugation.
Every element of commutative is a Normal element of a C-star algebra. For a normal , use the C-star identity, and then the same identity for the self-adjoint element , to obtainIts powers are also normal, so . The spectral radius formula gives , hence . The Gelfand transform is therefore an isometry, and its range is complete and closed in the supremum norm. It contains constants, separates points and is closed under complex conjugation. The complex Stone-Weierstrass theorem makes that range dense, hence all of .
The approximation step in Stone-Weierstrass theorem can also be seen directly here. For a unital conjugation-closed point-separating subalgebra , the real-valued part of its uniform closure is closed under absolute values, by polynomial approximation to on bounded intervals, hence under pointwise maxima and minima. Its real-valued functions separate points. Given real and , for each an affine rescaling of a separating function produces agreeing with at ; take a constant when . For fixed , finitely many neighbourhoods of where cover . Their maximum exceeds everywhere and agrees with at , hence is less than near . Finitely many of these latter neighbourhoods cover ; the minimum of their lies between and everywhere. Approximate real and imaginary parts separately. This proves the density used above and completes the C-star algebra conclusion.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 6 5 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For , the telescoping arithmetic means satisfybecause is a bounded sequence. Hence for every , and passage to the limit gives . Taking shows . The proved Hahn-Banach distance formula therefore yields a bounded linear functional on the real l-infinity sequence space withWe verify that this single linear functional also has the two remaining properties.