Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 4 4 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Choose a complement to the fixed -dimensional vector subspace . With column vectors and the decomposition , its parabolic stabilizer of a subspace isThe arbitrary upper-right block forms a normal elementary abelian group. The block-diagonal matrices form a complement, acting on it by . ThusWith row vectors the off-diagonal block is transposed; the subgroup description is the same after the convention change.
The rank of a transitive permutation group is the number of orbits of a stabilizer subgroup, not the rank of a matrix. For , the invariant of its -orbit is . This invariant is complete. Choose a basis of , extend it to a basis of , then add a basis of a complement of in , and extend the resulting independent vectors to a basis of . For with the same intersection dimension , do the same. The map between these adapted bases preserves and sends to .