Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 33 1 Solution 2026-10-14
For a series with constant mean , write . An autoregressive moving-average process has the formwhere is zero-mean white noise with variance . The backshift operator is . Define the autoregressive polynomial and the moving-average polynomial byThe autoregressive operator and moving-average operator give the concise equationOrders are normally specified minimally, with nonzero last coefficients and no common polynomial factor. A displayed unreduced equation can have larger orders than the process actually needs.
Causality means that the stationary process can be recovered from present and past noise:Invertibility means that the noise can be recovered from present and past observations:The causality and invertibility root criteria for an ARMA model, for the reduced representation, areIndeed the transfer series are and . When all denominator roots lie outside the closed unit disc, each rational function is analytic on a larger disc, so its Taylor coefficients decay geometrically and are absolutely summable. Conversely, a genuine denominator zero in the closed unit disc gives a pole incompatible with such a convergent filter. The reduced-representation proviso prevents a cancelled root from being mistaken for an obstruction.
For order identification by autocorrelation cutoffs, first estimate the sample autocorrelation function and sample partial autocorrelation function from a suitably stationary, centred series. The autocorrelation function is . The lag- partial autocorrelation function is the last coefficient in the best linear regression of on , equivalently the correlation left after removing the intervening lags.
For a pure moving-average model of order , observations more than lags apart share no noise, so the population ACF is zero beyond , while the PACF usually tails off. For a pure autoregressive model of order , the PACF is zero beyond , while the ACF usually decays, possibly with damped oscillation. Thus a clear sample ACF cutoff suggests an MA order and a clear PACF cutoff suggests an AR order. For a mixed ARMA process both usually tail off, so these plots guide a small set of candidate orders rather than determine uniquely. Sampling variation blurs cutoffs; compare fitted candidates and check that their residual ACF resembles white noise. Common-factor cancellation can also disguise the orders in a displayed equation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 ii Paper 4 5J Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Write and fit the normal linear modelThe basic linear regression analysis assumes centered independent normal random variables of a common variance , conditional on the predictors. Independence between makes does not by itself establish independence between different models of the same make; that stronger assumption should be checked, or within-make dependence modelled. The requested R fit is
fit <- lm(log(price) ~ mpg + psngr + length + width + weight, data = cars)The estimate column contains the ordinary least squares coefficients. The standard error estimates the standard deviation of each coefficient estimator. The t value is its estimate divided by its standard error. The last column gives the two-sided p-value for a zero coefficient, using a Student t-distribution with residual degrees of freedom under the stated normal linear model; the stars summarize significance thresholds.
Conditional on the other predictors, passenger capacity and width have negative fitted coefficients, while length and weight have positive ones. All four are significant at the conventional 5% level; length is borderline. There is little evidence for an additional mpg effect once the others are included. These are conditional associations, not causal claims. For example, increasing weight by 100 pounds multiplies the fitted price by approximately , about 1.087.
A reasonable candidate simplification removes mpg and compares the nested models by an F-test, rather than treating a nonsignificant coefficient as proof of no effect:
fit2 <- update(fit, . ~ . - mpg)
anova(fit2, fit)Inspect regression residuals, normal quantiles, residual-versus-fitted plots, leverage and influential observations. The correlated size predictors may produce multicollinearity; missing make effects, nonlinear terms or unequal residual variances may also matter. A random make effect or a covariance adjustment addresses the possible dependence noted above.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 41 1 a iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Measure baseline covariates before the intervention can change them. These measurements describe the recruited population, permit assessment of covariate balance, and provide prognostic predictors that can improve statistical efficiency. In particular, including prognostic baseline covariates in a linear regression reduces unexplained outcome variation without conditioning on a treatment consequence.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 41 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Use a baseline-adjusted linear regression for an intention-to-treat analysis:Condition on the observed baseline covariates and assignment. The parameter of primary interest is , the mean effect of assignment to the experimental intervention, under this constant-effect conditional mean model. Independent normal distributions with common variance give the usual Gaussian likelihood and regression inference. Prognostic baseline covariates improve precision by explaining outcome variability.
Do not include the actual intervention-use variable as an ordinary adjustment variable for this estimand: it is measured after assignment and can mediate the effect being estimated. Post-randomization adjustment changes a treatment estimand; the resulting coefficient on would generally represent a different comparison. Participants remain in their assigned groups even when adherence differs.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 32 3 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
An ignorable missingness mechanism need not be absent from the data-generating process. It means that likelihood inference about the data-model parameters can omit the missingness factor, while still integrating over missing values.
Write the complete joint data statistical probability density as and the conditional missingness probability as . All values and only are observed. Under missing at random, is constant as varies with fixed. The actual observed-data likelihood is thereforeThe assumed distinctness is understood as independent variation of and . Maximizing over multiplies by a factor independent of ; likelihood ratios, scores and likelihood curvature for are therefore unchanged by omitting . This proves likelihood ignorability.
For implementation of the observed-data likelihood with a missing covariate, a linear regression model for must be accompanied by an appropriate model for the distribution of . For independent individuals, write for the regression statistical probability density and for the age statistical probability density. Up to the ignorable factor,Ignorability does not authorize discarding missing-age cases or assuming their ages have the distribution seen in the complete cases. It removes the need to model the observation mechanism for likelihood inference under the stated conditions, not the need to handle the missing covariates.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 35 4 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Calling the effects exchangeable random variables means that their joint prior distribution is unchanged by permuting study labels. In a hierarchical Bayesian model, conditional independent draws achieve this, and integrating shared hyperparameters induces dependence between studies. This permits partial pooling without asserting that all effects are identical.
The assumption is reasonable when the studies concern comparable treatments, populations, outcomes and follow-up, and no known study characteristic gives one effect a systematically different prior center. Relevant differences can instead enter a linear regression for study effects, after which the residual effects may be exchangeable. The numerical table counts deaths, so its event probabilities are mortality probabilities and indicates a lower mortality odds ratio. Interpreting those counts as beneficial responses would reverse the clinical meaning.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 32 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Put , which is a positive-definite matrix by the full column-rank assumption. The ordinary least squares estimator isFor ridge regression use the criterion . Differentiating givesIf instead the squared-error term is normalized by , replace in this formula and the calculations below by . Only the scale of the tuning parameter changes.
As usual for this linear regression model, use zero-mean errors; more generally suffices. Since the columns are centred, , so the random centring term disappears from both estimators. ThusLet . The bias and covariance matrix of the ridge regression estimator areThe bias-variance decomposition of mean squared error therefore represents directional risk by the quadratic formsTheir difference has the useful factorizationTo check it, multiply on both sides by : the resulting matrix is .
The Cauchy-Schwarz inequality gives in the Loewner order. Therefore the middle matrix is positive-definite whenever . For example,works, independently of the eigenvalues of . Since is invertible, the risk difference is strictly positive for every nonzero , in particular simultaneously for every unit . This proves uniform directional risk improvement by ridge regression. For the normalized-loss convention, take the displayed choice divided by .
For the final assertion, fix any and choose a unit eigenvector of with eigenvalue . Put and . Directly,Choosingmakes the squared bias alone greater than , proving the required strict inequality. Thus unbounded directional risk of fixed ridge shrinkage is compatible with the existence of a beneficial signal-dependent small penalty: no fixed positive penalty uniformly improves risk over all possible signals.
The mean assumption matters if the printed covariance condition is read in isolation. With , , , and , the columns and response are still centred and , but the ordinary least squares risk is . Writing , the ridge regression risk is for every . Hence the standard zero-mean regression-error convention, or its stated orthogonality version, is necessary for the first risk comparison; covariance alone is insufficient.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 33 6 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The statistician first models the age- and gender-dependent mean by linear regression. Its fitted value is . At fixed gender, a year of age is associated with a decrease of BMI units; the group coded gender has a fitted mean units above the group coded at the same age. This question does not state which gender receives which code. The intercept refers to age zero in the reference group, outside a typical adult-patient range, so its substantive interpretation is limited. Both slope Student t-tests have small p-values, and the overall F-test supports an age/gender-dependent mean. The coefficient of determination is only , leaving considerable individual variation to investigate.
The residual diagnostics check whether mean adjustment is plausible and whether a single normal error law is adequate. The residual-versus-fitted plot has no strong curved mean trend, although its smooth curve is not perfectly flat. The scale-location plot suggests some decline in spread as fitted BMI increases, so common residual variance is a working approximation rather than an established fact. The normal Q-Q plot has systematic departures, notably shorter tails than the normal reference, suggesting the residual law is not exactly normal. The regression leverage plot does not display an obviously extreme leverage point, but the marked observations and Cook's distance should still be checked for influence. Independence between patients cannot be diagnosed from these four plots alone.
Next the statistician extracts the regression residuals and fits an intercept-only normal model as a baseline residual distribution. With an intercept in the original ordinary least squares model, the residuals sum to zero by the normal equation; the near-zero fitted residual mean and its are therefore automatic, not new evidence of good fit. The standard error in this refit uses degrees of freedom, whereas the original uses after estimating three regression coefficients. The reported log-likelihood for the single-normal residual model is .
The histogram suggests a shape worth exploring beyond one normal density, with broad shoulders and some asymmetry, without showing unambiguous separated clusters. The statistician fits two- and three-component finite Gaussian mixtures with a common variance by the expectation-maximization algorithm, starting from separated means and positive weights. Successive likelihoods increase and the displayed final iterations stabilize, as expected from EM likelihood monotonicity. This is evidence of numerical convergence from those starts, not proof of a global maximum.
The two-component fit assigns weights , residual means and common variance . The three-component fit assigns weights , residual means and common variance . The code correctly passes the square roots of those variances to
dnorm and overlays the resulting weighted densities. Both curves broadly follow the histogram and are very similar. In particular, a two-component mixture need not have two distinct visible modes.These fits explore residual mixture clustering: groups differ in BMI relative to the same age/gender-adjusted mean, rather than simply in raw BMI. Membership can be summarized by the fitted mixture responsibilities, retaining uncertainty instead of asserting a certain label for each patient. The common-variance assumption is economical, but should be checked; the common regression slope assumption and constancy of mixture proportions across age and gender are also substantive. A residual mixture alone does not establish genuine biological subpopulations; a flexible continuous distribution, missing predictors, nonlinear mean effects or heteroscedasticity could explain a similar marginal shape.
There is also a two-stage residual mixture fitting limitation. Fitted regression residuals are not exactly independent identically distributed observations: even under a normal regression, their covariance matrix is , and estimating the mean adjustment introduces uncertainty. With subjects and three initial regression coefficients, treating them as independent is a useful approximation for exploring shape, but ordinary mixture likelihoods omit the first-stage uncertainty. A joint mixture regression with shared slopes, or a suitable bootstrap of the whole analysis, would give a firmer basis for parameter uncertainty and cluster selection. Examine component membership versus age/gender and repeat the algorithm from multiple starts before making substantive clustering claims.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 208 2 2 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
First, the absolute values in the printed limit are an error: the correct long-run variance of a stationary process is the signed sum of autocovariances. Directly,soEach coefficient tends to and has absolute value at most . Absolute summability and the dominated convergence theorem therefore giveThe sum of absolute values is an upper bound, not the general limit. For a concrete counterexample to the printed assertion, take with unit-variance iid noise. Then , , and other covariances vanish. The absolute sum is , but , so .
For correlated data the central limit theorem can still hold under suitable strong mixing of a stationary process and moment conditions, but the limiting variance is the long-run variance of a stationary process, rather than the one-observation variance. When it is positive,Positive serial dependence usually increases the standard error, while negative dependence can reduce it. The approximate effective sample size of a stationary sample is when that denominator is positive. A long-memory time series can require a different normalization or a different limit law. Absolute covariance summability alone does not prove a CLT: if with a common independent random scale taking values and with equal probabilities and iid with the standard normal distribution, the off-diagonal covariances are zero, yet has the nonnormal scale-mixture law . The example is not an ergodic stationary process. If the long-run variance of a stationary process is zero, the usual nondegenerate square-root- CLT is unavailable.
For the causal AR(1), andThe conditional distribution follows because the current innovation is independent of the past.
For a fixed known , condition on the observed and use the transitions . Their conditional maximum likelihood criterion is, up to constants,Differentiating in yieldsSince ,Thus it is an unbiased estimator, even conditionally on , andIt has statistical consistency with mean-square convergence, and the iid-noise strong law of large numbers also gives almost-sure statistical consistency. Its conditional distribution is exactly normal with the displayed mean and variance. If is also observed and all transitions are used, replace by .
The fixed- qualification is necessary for the exact finite-sample claims. If is jointly estimated, conditional likelihood function is linear regression with an intercept: writing and , the unconstrained estimators areThis ratio is not generally an unbiased estimator and does not have the preceding finite-sample variance. Under the usual stationary regression conditions it has statistical consistency; its asymptotic variance is . Indeed, it differs from by , an asymptotically negligible endpoint term. Profiling an unknown innovation variance does not change the fixed- estimate of .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 1 5J i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
The comparison is a nested-model F-test of the three time-by-diet interaction coefficients, with null hypothesis that all are zero. The reduced linear regression model has a common time slope and four diet-specific intercepts; the full model permits four slopes. It has eight fitted coefficients and residual degrees of freedom.The rounded sums of squares give the displayed approximation; the software reports using unrounded values. The quoted p-value gives overwhelming evidence against equal log-weight growth slopes across diets under the normal linear model assumptions. Thus reject the common-slope hypothesis. Because repeated measurements on the same chicken may be correlated, the exact reference distribution requires independent, homoscedastic Gaussian errors; the displayed ordinary regression output by itself does not establish that assumption.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ii Paper 4 28K c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Ignoring the bounded second-order remainder, this is the linear regression modelThe ordinary least squares estimate through the known zero intercept isbecause . This is the randomized symmetric finite-difference derivative estimator.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 219 4 d Solution 2026-10-03
Every move can be drawn from a full conditional distribution, producing a Gibbs sampler with acceptance probability one. Write and . First update independentlyand thenLet have rows and . Update the linear regression coefficients jointly byand updateFinally, the flat positive variance priors give the following full conditionals, each an inverse-gamma distribution:A systematic sweep in the displayed order, using the newly sampled values immediately, defines the chain. The shapes are positive for ; full column rank of is also required.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ii Paper 2 5J a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
For participants with the same recorded history, the first linear regression estimates that one additional average mile cycled per week is associated with fewer asthma episodes. The corresponding -value is , giving evidence against a zero conditional association.
The second model estimates that, among participants with the same history, receiving the incentive is associated with more episodes. The third estimates that receiving the incentive is associated with more miles cycled per week. Both incentive coefficients have very small p-values. Because the incentive was assigned in a randomized controlled trial, these last two comparisons estimate a causal effect of the incentive.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ii Paper 4 13J iv Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Under , the slope in this through-origin linear regression is . Its observed Wald statistic isThe corresponding two-sided p-value is about , so the fit does not give evidence against at the significance level.
The usual least-squares standard error assumes constant conditional variance. Goal counts are counts, and under the natural Poisson distribution model their variance equals their mean , so observations with different expected goals are heteroscedastic. The reported homoscedastic standard error is therefore doubtful; a heteroscedasticity-robust calculation or a suitable count model would be more credible.
Take the natural logarithm of the exponential decay model. To keep the logarithm dimensionless, choose the reference rate and defineThen . With time measured in picoseconds, the slope has units and the intercept is dimensionless. A straight-line linear regression in these variables therefore estimates the inverse mean lifetime and logarithmic normalization.
Assume independent normally distributed angle errors with known standard deviation . The relevant chi-squared test uses the sum of squared standardized residuals,For the model through the origin, the predictions and residuals, expressed in milliradians, areConsequently . There are statistical degrees of freedom. The upper-tail P-value is approximately ; equivalently the value greatly exceeds the critical value . The zero-intercept model is strongly rejected under the stated errors.
For the alternative linear regression, minimize . Setting both partial derivatives to zero gives the normal equations, whose solution isFor these data , , and . This yieldsThe new predictions are , with residuals . ThereforeThe affine model is compatible with the data. Allowing for its additional fitted parameter, the decrease has a chi-squared distribution with one statistical degree of freedom under the nested zero-intercept hypothesis, corresponding to . Thus the model with a fitted intercept provides the better description, rather than merely lowering the residual by adding a parameter.
With the measurement variance treated as known, the coefficient uncertainties areHence , about standard deviations above zero. A positive constant systematic error in the angular zero, or an additional nearly constant torque, could account for it. Its presence is evidence against the ideal zero-intercept model; four points alone do not identify the physical cause uniquely. A calibration error in only rescales the inferred gravitational constant and cannot remove this residual pattern.
Past exam of the systems biology course of the University of Cambridge 2024 Paper 3 1 a Solution 2026-10-20
The estimated intercept means that a female mouse with weight zero would have predicted mean testosterone concentration under this linear regression; zero weight is an extrapolation without a meaningful adult-mouse interpretation.
Polynomial regression 2026-10-06
A linear regression in the coefficients with a polynomial mean function . Successive degrees define nested models that can be compared by an F-test.
Post-randomization adjustment changes a treatment estimand Created 2026-10-07 Updated 2026-10-14
A treatment consequence is not interchangeable with a baseline covariate in an intention-to-treat analysis. Let randomized be independent of , and let actual intervention use be , with and independent centered errors. The assignment changes the mean outcome by one. But the conditional expectation has coefficient zero on . Thus adjustment for the post-randomization variable changes the estimand even in a simple identified linear regression.
Predictor centering 2026-10-07
Replacing a numerical predictor by preserves the fitted mean space and slope in a linear regression containing an intercept. The intercept becomes the fitted mean at . In simple linear regression, centering at the sample mean makes intercept and slope estimates uncorrelated under a normal linear model. This changes coefficient interpretation, not predictions.