Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 iii Paper 129 4 b Solution 2026-09-28
Because is finite, choose with and an integer . DefineAn equality of -term sums in plainly gives equality after applying this linear map. Conversely, equality of the images giveswhere . Therefore , and then . The same estimate with one term on each side shows that is injective on . Hence is a Freiman s-isomorphism from to the subset .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 ii Paper 1 31J Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
For points , the restriction of to those points is the set of binary vectorsThe shattering coefficient isThe VC dimension iswith value infinity when arbitrarily large finite sets are shattered.
Now put and suppose that are shattered byConsider the linear mapIf , the rank-nullity theorem shows that is a proper subspace of . Choose a nonzeroand replace by if necessary so that at least one coordinate is positive.
Ask for the labeling that assigns label zero when and label one when ; coordinates with may be labeled arbitrarily. Shattering would supply such thatEvery product is then nonnegative, and at least one is strictly positive. Hencecontradicting . Therefore , provingThis is the VC dimension of a vector space argument.
Finally, a closed Euclidean ball with center and radius iswhereEvery such function lies inwhose dimension is at most . Applying the result just proved gives the VC dimension upper bound for Euclidean balls
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 2022 iii Paper 154 1 1 2 Solution 2026-09-28
On the unit ball, part 1 controls the norm. Outside it, , soHence , proving that the embedding is continuous.
For compactness, let be bounded in . On each ball, it is bounded in , so the Rellich-Kondrachov compactness theorem gives a subsequence convergent in local . The tail estimateis uniform in and tends to zero as . A diagonal argument therefore gives convergence in all of . This is the compact embedding of a confining-potential energy space.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ii Paper 2 22G a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Let be a Cauchy sequence in the operator norm. For each ,so is a Cauchy sequence. Completeness of the Banach space permits the definition
. Pointwise passage to the limit proves that is a linear. A norm-Cauchy sequence is a bounded sequence, say , and therefore
, so is bounded. Finally, letting in
gives
. Thus in operator norm and
is Banach.
. Pointwise passage to the limit proves that is a linear. A norm-Cauchy sequence is a bounded sequence, say , and therefore
, so is bounded. Finally, letting in
gives
. Thus in operator norm and
is Banach.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ib Paper 1 1F Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-10-03
Choose bases of and , of dimensions and . A linear map is uniquely determined by the arbitrary images of the basis vectors, each with coordinates, so
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ib Paper 2 13C b iii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Evaluating the function at the endpoint gives the displacementThereforeThe force-induced displacement is a linear map of .
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
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ib Paper 4 1F Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-09-25
A bilinear form on is nondegenerate whenIn finite dimensions this is equivalent to nondegeneracy in the first argument.
Define the linear mapNondegeneracy makes injective. Since and its dual space have the same finite dimension, is an isomorphism. Similarly define and setThen is linear and
If , this identity gives for every . Conversely, if for every , then for every , so nondegeneracy gives . HenceThis is the representation of a bilinear form relative to a nondegenerate bilinear form.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 133 2 a Solution Created 2026-09-28 Updated 2026-10-03
Write an element of the Integer Heisenberg group as . Matrix multiplication givesThe subgroupis normal and isomorphic to . If , thenThus, on the coordinate column , conjugation by is the linear map with matrixEvery element has a unique expression , so
The commutators fill the central subgroup of matrices , while the quotient by this subgroup is generated freely and abelianly by the images of and . Equivalently, is the second coordinate axis. Therefore the abelianization is
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 339 2 e Solution Created 2026-09-28 Updated 2026-10-03
Write and . ExpandinggivesThe off-diagonal terms in the first equation cancel. By the optimality condition for the proximal operator,The second equation then becomes the explicit linear updateThus each step of this preconditioned proximal point algorithm uses only one evaluation of the proximal operator of , together with applications of the linear map and its transpose .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ii Paper 3 3I Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-09-25
Write for the all-one column vector. The parity-check extension of a linear code isThe defining map is linear, so is a binary linear code. If is a generator matrix and a parity-check matrix for , then one may take
The punctured code in, say, the last coordinate isCoordinate deletion is a linear map, so is linear. Its generator matrix is obtained by deleting the last column of . If the minimum distance is at least two, deletion is injective on , and hence has the same dimension as .
For its parity-check matrix, first use invertible row operations on to make its nonzero last column a coordinate vector. The last column is nonzero because otherwise the weight-one word supported there would belong to , contrary to . Delete the pivot row and the last column; the resulting matrix is a parity-check matrix for . Equivalently, is obtained by shortening the dual code at the deleted coordinate.
Finally, the shortened code in the last coordinate isIt is linear whenever is linear, because it is the puncture of the subspace .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 ia Paper 1 2C a iv Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
The rank-nullity theorem states that for a linear map with finite-dimensional domain,Here the domain is , and the preceding parts givewhich verifies the theorem.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 ib Paper 1 1G Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-09-25
For a linear map , its rank is and its nullity is . The rank-nullity theorem states that, when is finite-dimensional,To prove it, take a basis of and extend it to a basisof . The vectors span . They are also linearly independent: if , then , and independence of the chosen basis forces every to vanish. Thus the rank is and the nullity is .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 ib Paper 1 8G a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
The dual space isthe vector space of linear functionals on . If is a basis of a finite-dimensional , define . Every has the unique expansionso the dual basis proves
For , its annihilator of a vector subspace isIf is a basis of and is extended to a basis of , thenConsequentlyIf , this dimension is positive, giving a nonzero functional that vanishes on .
For a linear map , the dual map isNowsoEvery vanishes on , henceThe two spaces have the same dimension, sinceThus
Let be the quotient map. Since is onto, is injective, and the preceding identity givesThereforeFor the inclusion , the map is restriction to . It is onto and has kernelThe first isomorphism theorem now gives the other duals of a subspace and its quotient:
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 ib Paper 3 9G Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-09-25
Fix . The map is a linear functional, so the finite-dimensional Riesz representation theorem gives a unique vector such thatFor scalars ,Uniqueness givesso is linear.
For , apply this result toIt produces a unique linear map satisfyingwhich proves existence and uniqueness of the adjoint.