Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 ib Paper 4 10F Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-09-25
Differentiability at means that there is a linear map such thatThe partial derivatives are when the derivative exists; independently, they may be defined by the corresponding one-variable difference quotients.
Suppose the partial derivatives exist near and are continuous at . Apply the one-dimensional mean value theorem along the two coordinate segments from to . It gives intermediate points such thatContinuity of the partials makes the remainder after subtractingequal to . Hence is differentiable and this is its derivative.
For the given function, writing , at we haveAt the origin both partial derivatives are zero, since and tend to zero. Neither partial is continuous there: along its corresponding coordinate axis the cosine term oscillates without a limit. Neverthelessso is differentiable at the origin with derivative zero. This illustrates that existence of partial derivatives does not imply their continuity.
The final assertion is false. DefineAgain , so is differentiable at the origin and it is smooth elsewhere. But along the -axis,is unbounded near zero, and similarly is unbounded. Thus both partial derivatives can be unbounded in every neighbourhood of a point even when the function is differentiable everywhere.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 ib Paper 4 8G a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Two matrices are equivalent when for invertible matrices and of the appropriate sizes. A change of basis in the codomain multiplies a matrix on the left, while a change of basis in the domain multiplies it on the right. Hence two matrices of the same linear map in two pairs of bases are equivalent.
Conversely, start with the map having matrix in the standard bases. Given , choose domain and codomain bases whose change-of-coordinate matrices produce and ; then represents the same map in those bases. This proves the equivalence.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 ib Paper 4 9E b i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 343 1 a Solution 2026-09-28
Let be a linear map. It is positive when implies , and completely positive whenis positive for every ancillary dimension . In finite dimensions it is enough to check .
A finite family of Kraus operators defines the Kraus representationThis map is completely positive because, for every positive semidefinite matrix on the enlarged space,
Conversely, use the unnormalized maximally entangled vector . Complete positivity makes the Choi matrixpositive semidefinite. By the spectral theorem for normal operators, , where . Reshape each into a matrix by . The Choi matrix inversion formulathen gives . Thus finite Kraus representations characterize finite-dimensional completely positive maps.
The additional normalizationmakes trace preserving and hence a quantum channel; instead makes it unital.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 ib Paper 1 8F Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-10-03
For a linear map with finite-dimensional,Nowwhich is the required inequality after rank-nullity for .
If and represent the same map, then , where changes new domain coordinates to old ones and does the same in the codomain.
Invertible block row and column operations reduceto , proving the rank formula. Apply it to first with the upper-left block and then with the lower-right block. Equating the results gives
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 ib Paper 4 10G Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-09-25
A map is differentiable at if there is a linear map such thatthen . The inverse function theorem says that if is continuously differentiable near and is invertible, then restricts to a diffeomorphism between neighborhoods of and .
DefineThen , so the inverse function theorem supplies open neighborhoods , on which is a diffeomorphism. Its symmetric part is and its skew part is . Consequentlyand therefore .
For any , left multiplication is a homeomorphism preserving and carrying to . Transporting the preceding chart gives a neighborhood of in homeomorphic to an open subset of .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 ib Paper 4 1F Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-09-25
The dual space is the vector space of linear maps . If , its dual family satisfies . Every functional obeysso the family spans; evaluation on each proves linear independence. Thus it is a basis without any prior dimension argument.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 ii Paper 1 22I a i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
The dual is the vector space of bounded linear maps , with normIf is Cauchy in this norm, then is Cauchy in the complete scalar field for every . Define . Pointwise passage to the limit preserves linearity. Given , choose such that for ; sending givesThus is bounded and . Hence is Banach, even if was only normed.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 ii Paper 1 22I b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Yes. For , let and defineThe tail tends to zero, so , and . Conversely, for , defineThis sequence converges to and has norm at most . The formulas are inverse bounded linear maps, so and are isomorphic Banach spaces.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 ib Paper 2 2F Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Differentiability at means for a linear map ; partial derivatives are its values on coordinate vectors. Integrating the partial derivatives along the two coordinate segments and using continuity at proves the stated sufficient condition. Here with and . Since , is differentiable everywhere. But does not approach at zero, so is exactly where .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 ii Paper 1 22I a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
The open mapping lemma says: if a bounded linear map between Banach spaces satisfies , then contains a (possibly smaller) ball. Given , repeatedly choose corrections whose residuals shrink geometrically; completeness makes converge and maps it to . Baire category applied to supplies the closure hypothesis for a surjective map. This proves the Open mapping theorem.
Perfect pairing 2026-10-05
For finite-dimensional vector spaces over a field , a bilinear pairing is perfect when the induced linear maps and are isomorphisms. Equivalently, both dimensions agree and the matrix of the pairing in any two bases is invertible. The evaluation pairing between a finite-dimensional vector space and its dual space is perfect. This notion allows two different spaces; a nondegenerate bilinear form is the case .
Planar rotation 2026-10-07
A planar rotation about the origin is the linear map represented by the rotation matrix . It preserves inner products, lengths, oriented angles and area, with positive angles measured anticlockwise. Its inverse is and its determinant is one.
Evaluation of bounded-degree multivariate polynomials on a finite set defines a linear map . Its rank is at most and its kernel is the space of polynomials vanishing on . The rank-nullity theorem gives for degree at most in variables. Dependent point constraints only enlarge the kernel.
Polynomial reproduction error bound 2026-10-07
If a bounded linear map reproduces every element of an approximating polynomial space , then for every . The triangle inequality and infimum over prove the displayed error bound. The same argument works for any linear approximating space, and applies in particular to de la Vallée Poussin sums.
Positivity (linear maps) 2026-10-06
A linear map between ordered vector spaces is positive if it carries the positive cone of the domain into the positive cone of the codomain. For function spaces this means . A Feller semigroup consists of such positive maps on continuous functions.
Rank normal form 2026-10-03
Every matrix of rank is equivalent to a block matrix with in its upper-left corner and zeros elsewhere. This follows by choosing bases adapted to the kernel and image of the represented linear map.
Realification of a complex matrix 2026-10-06
For with real matrices , the same linear map viewed over the reals has block matrix in grouped real/imaginary coordinates. Interleaved coordinates merely permute the basis. Its complexification splits into the matrices and , giving the realification determinant identity.
Representation of a bilinear form relative to a nondegenerate bilinear form Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
If is a nondegenerate bilinear form on a finite-dimensional vector space and is any bilinear form, there is a unique linear map such thatThe right radical of is .
Schur functor 2026-10-07
For a partition of an integer , applying a Young symmetrizer of that shape to the tensor power of each vector space gives a Schur functor. The construction respects linear maps because their tensor powers commute with place permutations. For single rows it gives symmetric powers, and for single columns exterior powers.