Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2017 / iii / Paper 326 / 1 / 3

A singular system of a compact operator $K:U\to V$ consists of positive singular values ${\sigma }_j$ and orthonormal systems $u_j\in U$, $v_j\in V$ satisfyingThey span $\mathcal{N}(K{)}^{\perp }$ and $\overline{\mathcal{R}(K)}$, respectively. The singular value decomposition isFor an infinite-rank compact operator, the singular values tend to zero; for finite rank the sum is finite. Vectors in $\mathcal{N}(K)$ contribute nothing. This convention labels the input singular vectors by $u_j$ and the output ones by $v_j$.

For $(Ku{)}_j=u_j/j$, truncating after $n$ diagonal entries gives finite-rank operators with operator-norm error $1/(n+1)$, proving compactness. Its SVD is

The Picard criterion with the input/output convention above statesNecessity follows from $⟨f,v_j⟩={\sigma }_j⟨u,u_j⟩$ and Bessel inequality. Conversely the summability constructs $u={\sum }_j{\sigma }_j^{-1}⟨f,v_j⟩u_j\in U$; the closure condition ensures that its image is all of $f$. The closure condition must not be omitted: a component orthogonal to the range cannot be reconstructed.

For the diagonal example, $f_j=j^{-p}$ is itself in ${\ell }^2$ only for $p>1/2$. Its preimage would be $u_j=j^{1-p}$, so the range criterion is the convergence of ${\sum }_j{j}^{2-2p}$. The P-series givesAt $p=3/2$ the reconstruction norm diverges harmonically. For $1/2<p\le 3/2$ the data are legitimate but have no preimage; for $0<p\le 1/2$ they are not even in the specified data space.

The range of the Volterra integration operator is $\{g\in H^1(0,1):g(0)=0\}$, using the representative of a Sobolev space element that is an absolutely continuous function. Indeed $Ku$ has weak derivative $u$ and zero initial trace; conversely the fundamental theorem of calculus reconstructs such a $g$ from its derivative. This range contains smooth compactly supported functions and is dense in $L^2(0,1)$.

The given step is in $L^2$, and its value at the single midpoint is immaterial. It cannot be the image of an $L^2$ function: such an image is continuous, whereas no continuous representative agrees almost everywhere with zero on the left half and one on the right half. Its distributional derivative is a Dirac delta distribution, not an $L^2$ function. ThusFor a direct approximation, replace the jump by a linear ramp of width $1/n$ centered at $1/2$. Each ramp starts at zero and has an $L^2$ derivative, so lies in the range, while its squared $L^2$ error is $1/(12n)$. Its derivative norm is $\sqrt{n}$, illustrating unstable differentiation.

The supplied SVD gives $K({\sigma }_j{u}_j)={\sigma }_j^2{v}_j$, or more simply $K^{†}({\sigma }_j{v}_j)=u_j$. Since ${\sigma }_j{v}_j\to 0$ but $\Vert u_j\Vert =1$, the Moore–Penrose inverse is discontinuous. Its domain is the dense, nonclosed range above, and there it is the weak derivative.