Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ii Paper 4 17F Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ii Paper 4 25J Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2011 ii Paper 1 26K iv Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 31 2 v Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Use the fixed common entry law from the printed setup: has mean zero and second moment for each upper-triangular entry, including the diagonal. LetSince , the removed part after centered truncation of a Wigner matrix isConsequently . Symmetry gives . There are diagonal terms and off-diagonal terms in this sum, soMirrored entries are counted twice, as they must be; independence of those mirrored entries is neither true nor needed for this expectation calculation.
By the preceding bound and the Markov inequality,The dominated convergence theorem applies to , so . Choose with . ThenThis second moment bound for spectral truncation depends only on and the common law of , and is uniform over functions with Lipschitz bound . No fourth-moment hypothesis is required. If the scaled entry law were allowed to vary arbitrarily with , a uniform choice would instead require uniform decay of its second-moment tails; the intended fixed-law setting supplies exactly that condition.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 39 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
At an interior statistical parameter , local asymptotic normality means that there are random vectors and a symmetric nonnegative Fisher information matrix such that, for each fixed ,A common stronger definition requires this expansion also for . The fixed- version suffices here. A regular identifiable model usually has positive definite Fisher information; nonsingularity is unnecessary for the contiguity conclusion.
Here are sufficient differentiability conditions for a proof by Taylor's theorem. Suppose the local probability density functions have common support, is twice continuously differentiable near , differentiation can pass through the normalization integral twice, the score function has finite second moment, and the local Hessian matrix is bounded in operator norm by an integrable envelope of a function class. These hypotheses implyThe first identity differentiates once; the second uses and differentiates twice. The central limit theorem gives . Taylor's integral remainder givesThe weak law of large numbers and the continuity and integrable-envelope hypotheses make the bracket converge in probability to . Indeed, the expectation of the supremum of the Hessian matrix difference over a shrinking neighborhood tends to zero by dominated convergence, and Markov inequality controls its empirical average. This proves local asymptotic normality and explains the role of both derivatives.
Write for contiguity of probability measures: for every measurable sequence , implies . Mutual contiguity requires this in both directions. A useful form of Le Cam's first lemma is the following: if the Radon-Nikodym derivative of the absolutely continuous part of relative to converges in distribution under to , with almost surely and , then the two sequences are mutually contiguous. This includes the usual case . The mean-one condition ensures uniform integrability of and vanishing mass of any singular part; positivity ensures the reverse implication.
Take and . Their likelihood ratio on the support of satisfies, by local asymptotic normality and the continuous mapping theorem,This limit is positive and , including . The conditions of Le Cam's first lemma therefore hold, giving mutual contiguity of the product sampling laws. The products, rather than the one-observation laws, are the relevant sequences.
For any , let . Consistency under makes , and contiguity gives . Thus the estimator remains consistent for under each fixed local alternative. Since , it is also consistent for the moving parameter in the sense that in probability under .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 39 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
There is a genuine qualification: the first printed inequality is valid as a useful general assertion for , but is false for arbitrary . Also the displayed likelihood ratio presupposes . We first prove the intended bound and then give a counterexample to the unrestricted quantifier.
For any estimator , set . By the triangle inequality, on , while on . HenceLet with . On , . ThereforeThe last step is Markov inequality. Taking the supremum over the model and then the infimum over estimators proves the intended metric two-point risk bound. At the right side is zero. For a negative right side is also harmless, but a positive right side need not be a lower bound.
Here is an explicit counterexample with positive probability density functions and . Let , , and take the model consisting ofUse the L2 norm metric, for which , and take for every . The majority-half decision selects if at least two observations lie in . Each error probability is , so its maximum normalized risk function is . This is also the likelihood-ratio test, giving . At the proposed right side is , contradicting the risk of this explicit estimator. Thus the intended range restriction cannot be omitted.
For the second request use the intended L2 norm metric . The PDF defines its square, not the square itself as a metric. PutBoth probability density functions belong to the model, and . The two-point choice may depend on , because the lower bound is applied separately at each sample size. Under , the product likelihood ratio satisfiesThis is the product chi-squared divergence. By Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, . With , the proved metric two-point risk bound has normalized right side greater than . ConsequentlyThe proof works for every despite the introductory . Measurability of the functions defining the probability density functions is understood. This establishes the requested lower bound; it does not assert a matching upper bound over this unrestricted class.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 9 1 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Put and . The hypothesis implies . For the number of isolated vertices, the isolated vertices in the Erdős-Rényi model formulas giveThus the Chebyshev inequality gives with high probability, uniformly over the specified range.
The Cayley formula supplies a spanning tree on any connected vertex set. Consequently the expected value of the number of graph components of order is bounded byChoose a fixed with . For , with , the binomial coefficient bound givesHere . The geometric series and a union bound therefore exclude this entire size range, since . For , an empty graph cut would be necessary. Its total probability is at mostThere are consequently no graph components of orders between and , with high probability.
For each fixed , a graph component containing a graph cycle has a spanning tree and at least one extra edge. Counting that extra edge gives an expected value ; hence every small graph component is a tree component. The total number of vertices in tree components of orders satisfiesThe Markov inequality gives with high probability. When , this sum is empty and . Since , the remaining vertices must lie in one graph component larger than . It is unique, and its order is . Every other graph component is a tree with at most vertices. This is the logarithmic-regime giant component mechanism: almost all missing vertices are isolated.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 9 3 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Assume , as required for this nontrivial subcritical binomial random graph. Put . A breadth-first exploration of a binomial random graph is dominated by a Galton-Watson process whose offspring counts are independent random variables with law . If its total progeny is at least , the first offspring counts sum to at least . Their moment-generating function is bounded by that of a Poisson distribution of mean . The exponential Markov inequality, optimized at , yieldsTaking for any fixed , a union bound over all starting vertices gives .
For the matching lower bound, let count tree components of order . The tree-component expectation in the Erdős-Rényi model is exactlyFor , the Stirling formula givesChoose , with . Then . Distinct overlapping vertex sets cannot both be graph components. For disjoint sets, the joint probability differs from the product only because the between-set edges were counted twice as absent. ThusIt follows that . The second moment method gives with high probability. Combining both bounds, and then taking arbitrarily small fixed , proves the sharp subcritical largest-component scaleFinally the Taylor expansion of gives . The endpoint has no edges and is excluded from this logarithmic asymptotic.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 9 4 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Write , , , and let be the total progeny of a binomial branching process. The preceding binomial branching survival correction gives . For a branching process conditioned on extinction, the offspring probability generating function is , with meanfor sufficiently large . Summing expected generation sizes therefore gives .
Put and let count vertices in graph components of order at least . A breadth-first exploration of a binomial random graph is dominated by . The Markov inequality applied to finite total progeny givesAlways . Since , we have and . Hence . This bound controls the expected value directly, including rare large graph components.
For the lower bound, use the breadth-first exploration of a binomial random graph with unseen vertices, active vertices and explored vertices, starting from , . Let indicate a new root. Conditional on the past, the newly discovered count has a binomial distribution . Put . The unseen-count recursion givesHere is a martingale. Up to , martingale-difference orthogonality gives , since each conditional variance is at most and is bounded.
Take . Then , and . The Doob L2 maximal inequality impliesThe Taylor expansion, uniformly for , gives . Thus throughout the integer interval for large . The new-root sum is nonnegative, so on the preceding event throughout this interval. No graph component finishes there: all these explored vertices belong to one graph component, of order at least , with high probability. Its expected value is therefore at least . Combining both inequalities provesThe barely-supercritical largest-component expectation uses both a positive exploration window and a finite-progeny bound; a bare convergence-in-probability assertion would not by itself justify this expectation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 ia Paper 2 4F i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
For , monotonicity gives . Apply Markov inequality to the nonnegative variable :If the expectation is infinite, the bound remains true but uninformative. At the right side is one, so that endpoint follows directly. Minimizing over gives the Chernoff bound.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 10 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Identify the hypercube graph with , joining two sets when their symmetric difference has size one. Write for the closed graph neighbourhood of , and for its radius- neighbourhood in Hamming distance. In the simplicial order on the discrete cube, smaller sets come first, with lexicographic order within each rank: the smallest differing coordinate belongs to the earlier set. Let be the first vertices in this order. Harper theorem isEquivalently, minimizes the external vertex boundary at fixed size. We will also obtain for every integer .
Here is a complete proof by simplicial section compression. First note two properties of the simplicial order on the discrete cube. Its restriction to either face obtained by fixing one coordinate is the corresponding order on the smaller hypercube graph. Also, the closed graph neighbourhood of an initial segment is an initial segment. To verify the latter, a nonempty initial segment contains every level below its last level , and a lexicographic prefix at level . For , its closed graph neighbourhood contains every set of size at most , and its only further members are the upper shadow of . An -set lies in this upper shadow exactly when its lexicographically earliest -subset lies in . That earliest subset is obtained by deleting the largest element. These earliest subsets vary monotonically in lexicographic order, so the upper shadow is another lexicographic prefix. For , the closed graph neighbourhood of is the union of levels zero and one. The empty initial segment causes no exception.
Induct on , with immediate. Fix a coordinate and write the sections of as , deleting from the latter section. Replace them by the initial segments with , . The sections of the old closed graph neighbourhood areBy induction their sizes are at least and , respectively. These are exactly the sizes of the new sections, because both sets in each new union are initial segments and hence nested. Thus simplicial section compression preserves size and never enlarges the closed graph neighbourhood.
Repeatedly compress any section that is not already an initial segment. Every change strictly reduces the sum of the global simplicial positions of the included vertices. This nonnegative integer decreases only finitely often, so the process ends at a family whose sections in every coordinate are initial segments. If itself is an initial segment, the induction is complete. Otherwise choose the earliest absent vertex and the latest present vertex , with . They cannot agree in any coordinate: agreement would put them in one compressed section, where an earlier absent vertex cannot precede a later present one. Hence . Nor can a vertex lie between them: if is present, pairing it with would force ; if absent, pairing it with would force . Thus are consecutive, and is obtained from by replacing its last vertex with the next vertex .
There are only two possibilities for these terminal families for simplicial section compression. If , consecutiveness makes the last -set and the first -set. Complementarity forces , and . For , the corresponding contains all sets of size at most except , and additionally . Every -set has at least two -subsets, so at least one belongs to . The missing has a -subset in . Consequently contains every set of size at most , which is exactly .
If , then . Since are complementary, the smaller one contains coordinate . Consecutiveness forces to be the last -set containing , and the first -set avoiding :The initial segment consists of all sets of size less than and all -sets containing . Its closed graph neighbourhood contains all sets of size at most and all -sets containing . For , each such -set has -subsets containing , so removing only leaves one in . All sets of size at most are still in , because all levels below belong to . Hence again . For , the two families are related by exchanging coordinates and both have the whole as their closed graph neighbourhood. These comparisons finish the induction and prove Harper theorem.
For the radius- version, repeatedly use the one-step result. At each step the comparison family remains an initial segment, and its closed graph neighbourhood is monotone in its size. If , applying Harper theorem to therefore gives . Induction on proves the asserted extension.
A Lévy family of graphs has vanishing concentration of measure functions after distances have been scaled by the graph diameter. More explicitly, for connected finite graphs of diameter , use normalized graph distance and uniform probability measure. For every fixed , requireFor this normalization is normalized Hamming distance , since its diameter is .
If , the corresponding initial segment contains the Hamming ball about of radius . The radius- version of Harper theorem impliesUse the precise Hoeffding inequality for . One can also derive this estimate directly: the moment-generating function of is ; the exponential Markov inequality followed by minimization at gives the bound. With , we have . Thus, whenever ,This proves that the hypercube graphs form a Lévy family of graphs. The stronger fixed-positive-mass formulation follows as well. For any , choose with . The Chebyshev inequality for , whose variance is , makes the Hamming ball of radius have fewer than vertices. An initial segment of size at least contains that ball. Enlarging by and using the same Hoeffding inequality gives a complement proportion tending to zero uniformly over all such . The normalization matters: with unscaled unit Hamming distance, cubes do not satisfy the metric version at every fixed radius; for a radius below one, a half-cube has no enlargement.
Equality in Harper theorem does not determine a down-set up to isomorphism. In , takeThis is a down-set of size nine. Its closed graph neighbourhood contains every set of size at most two, because all singletons belong to . Every triple contains an edge of the four-cycle among the listed pairs, so every triple also belongs to . The four-element set does not. Hence .
The size-nine simplicial order on the discrete cube initial segment is all sets of size at most one together with the pairs . Every triple contains one of these pairs, and the four-element set is again absent from its closed graph neighbourhood. Its neighbourhood therefore also has size , proving extremality of . Nevertheless the induced graphs are not isomorphic: in , the empty set has degree four, the four singletons have degree three, and the four pairs have degree two. The initial segment has two vertices of degree four, namely and . Since a graph automorphism preserves induced degree of a vertex, no automorphism of the cube can carry one family to the other. This gives nonunique down-set extremizers for Harper theorem even under the stronger test of induced graph isomorphism.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 28 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
In the classical risk model write , where the Poisson process has rate and is independent of the claim sizes. Define the ruin time and ultimate ultimate ruin probability byThe relative safety loading is , so . The adjustment coefficient is the nonzero positive solutionExistence and uniqueness follow from the secant-slope existence criterion for an adjustment coefficient. Explicitly, has derivative at zero and is strictly convex for positive claims. The assumed divergence of makes it cross zero once at a positive . When , an exponential lower bound from any positive tail event shows that . In particular is inside the finite-transform domain, not at its endpoint.
Put . Replacing in the survival renewal equation for a classical risk model yieldsBy the tail integral formula for moments, . Therefore this is the defective renewal equationThe original kernel has mass . For the exponential tilt of the ruin renewal kernel, setMultiplying by gives the required proper renewal equationTo verify that this is a probability renewal kernel, Tonelli theorem gives, for in the finite-transform domain,The adjustment coefficient equation consequently implies . Its expected value isIt is finite because is interior to the finite-transform domain and is positive because the strict convex crossing has derivative .
We quote the key renewal theorem in the following form: for a nonarithmetic distribution of positive increments with finite positive mean , and a directly Riemann integrable nonnegative function , the locally bounded solution of satisfies . It has renewal representation ; this follows by iterating the equation, since the probability that arbitrarily many positive increments have sum at most a fixed tends to zero.
Here is absolutely continuous, and hence nonarithmetic distribution, even if the original claim law has atoms. The function is continuous. Choose with . The Markov inequality gives , and hence . Continuity on compact intervals and this exponential bound make the upper Riemann sums finite with uniformly vanishing tails, proving direct Riemann integrability.
A further application of Tonelli theorem evaluates the forcing integral:All hypotheses of the key renewal theorem are now checked, so the interior adjustment coefficient ruin prefactor isThis proves the requested Cramér–Lundberg ruin asymptotic, including its constant.
For the two-component hyperexponential distribution, conditioning on the chosen exponential component givesIts moment-generating function and derivative areThe moment-generating function diverges at , while the derivative of the adjustment equation at zero is negative. Strict convexity therefore places its unique positive adjustment coefficient inThe adjustment equation, divided by , becomesUsing this identity to subtract from givesThus the asymptotic constant in terms of and isThe denominator is positive on the identified domain. If desired, is the smaller root of ; the other algebraic root lies outside the positive finite-transform interval and is not an adjustment coefficient.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 37 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
For any , on the event one has . The Markov inequality therefore gives , including the trivial value one at . Taking the infimum proves the Chernoff bound.
For with finite moment-generating functions, independence givesConsequentlyAn effective bandwidth is an exponential-moment measure of demand at a chosen tail parameter : independence makes these quantities additive. The spare capacity pays for the desired exponential tail bound. For a cumulative-demand process over time , the corresponding bandwidth would be ; here the time horizon is one. It is generally larger than mean demand because it charges for fluctuations, and mathematical optimization over selects the useful tradeoff.
For independent normal distributions, putThe Gaussian effective bandwidth is . For and , the sufficient condition becomes . Its left side is minimized at , givingThis is a sufficient Chernoff safety margin, not the exact normal tail quantile.
Indeed , so, writing for the standard normal distribution function,The exact Gaussian chance constraint is thereforeThis is necessary and sufficient when , even when is negative. The Chernoff coefficient is more conservative.
There is an important boundary qualification. If , then deterministically, and for the exact requirement is , not . For example, , , satisfies the printed square-root condition but has . Thus both Gaussian non-strict displayed forms require positive total variance, which follows if at least one flow is present and its variance is positive. With no positive variance, the deterministic boundary in an upper-tail chance constraint must be treated separately. If , the target upper bound is at least one and imposes no restriction; the displayed square-root discussion naturally assumes .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 57 4 c ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Write for the upper endpoint called in the question, to distinguish it from the device amplitude. For a single realization of a finite bath,The literal claim of convergence to zero as time tends to infinity is false for every fixed finite . Random-coupling spin-bath decoherence must distinguish individual realizations, ensemble averages and the large-bath limit.
First establish finite spin-bath coherence recurrence without assuming commensurate couplings. Fix a reference time and consider points with coordinates modulo , for . Partition the unit cube into smaller cubes of side . Two points share a cube, so their difference provides an integer withAt time every cosine is arbitrarily close to . As increases, either these have an unbounded subsequence, or a bounded subsequence supplies a fixed with all distances exactly zero; its arbitrarily large multiples are then exact recurrences. In both cases there are unbounded times such that . This is the simultaneous Dirichlet approximation theorem argument; it applies equally to typical irrational random couplings. Part (i) supplies a particularly simple exact periodic counterexample.
The intended suppression is valid after ensemble averaging. Independence and the uniform density give the ensemble spin-bath coherenceThe continuous value at is . For its magnitude is strictly below to the power , and for fixed it has an envelope of order as . Thus the ensemble mean tends to zero with time.
The mean square distinguishes actual loss of coherence from cancellation of signs in that mean:At long times this tends to , exponentially small for , rather than exactly zero for a finite bath. At any fixed , the bracket is strictly less than , since on a set of positive measure. The Markov inequality then givesThis proves small coherence for typical large baths at a fixed nonzero time. An even stronger fixed-time formulation uses the strong law of large numbers:The logarithmic singularities at isolated cosine zeros are integrable, and an exact zero has probability zero, so the law applies. Typical coherence consequently decreases exponentially with bath size.
The initial time scale is also explicit. When , , so the short-time Gaussian spin-bath decoherence approximation isHere ; on the scale the displayed remainder tends to zero. The coherence is therefore rapidly suppressed for a large bath and is usually tiny at later fixed times, while rare recurrences still prevent a finite-realization long-time zero limit. Ensemble decay or a specified large- limit is the correct qualification of the printed assertion, consistent with reversible global unitary time evolution.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 27 6 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Enlarge the space if needed to choose with density , independent of the driving Brownian motion, and solve the same equation with the same driver as . The second moment of makes the initial difference square integrable. By parts (a) and (b),while part (c) givesWe must not assume that the smooth bounded is globally Lipschitz. The hypotheses give , hence uniform tightness of . For any and , define the modulus of continuity of on by . Splitting according to and , and applying Markov inequality, givesFirst choose large, then small using uniform continuity on that compact interval, and finally let . The right side can be made arbitrarily small. Together with part (a), this provesThis is convergence by synchronous coupling for bounded continuous test functions. It only needs the constant expectation from part (b) and uniform second moments; it does not add an unstated global bound on or require a separate stationarity theorem. As explained in part (c), the literal bounded-drift plus strict-contraction assumptions have no global example; the calculation records the intended consequence under compatible dissipative-drift hypotheses as well.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 12 1 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Let be a real random variable with finite expectation and finite variance . The Chebyshev inequality isThe proof is the pointwise comparisonTaking expectations and using the definition of variance givesDivision by the positive number proves the Chebyshev inequality, including the case . Equivalently, this is the Markov inequality applied to the nonnegative random variable .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 29 1 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Put . The stopped martingale in discrete time identityshows that is a martingale: the indicator function is -measurable and the increment has zero conditional expectation. Integrability follows because is selected from the finitely many integrable values .
For the bounded stopping time , the optional stopping theorem in its conditional form givesHere is the stopping-time sigma-algebra. Indeed, for , partition into and apply the martingale identity on each piece. This proves the displayed conditional expectation identity directly.
Let and . Conditional absolute-value domination and the Markov inequality give and, for any ,First choose using the uniform integrability of , and then choose . The estimate is uniform in , proving uniform integrability of a stopped uniformly integrable martingale. No finiteness assumption on is needed.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ia Paper 2 12F b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
The Markov inequality states that for a nonnegative random variable and ,Because is integer-valued, apply it with . With ,ThereforeThis is the first moment method: if the expected triangle count in a binomial random graph tends to zero, triangles occur with vanishing probability.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 124 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
An additive arithmetic function satisfies for coprime integers ; a completely additive arithmetic function satisfies this for all positive . In either case . The Fundamental theorem of arithmetic gives , where means that the prime valuation of at is exactly .
Under the discrete uniform distribution on , the expectation of the indicator function of isThe formula remains valid when . Applying linearity of expectation to the finite prime power decomposition proves the required mean formula:
For the last assertion, write the excess prime-factor multiplicity directly as a sum of nonnegative indicator functions:Here is the prime omega function and is the total number of prime factors. The expectation is bounded independently of , sinceThus Markov inequality gives vanishing probability on every diverging scale: