Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2026 / iii / Paper 111 / 1 / c / Solution

Let $C$ be the fundamental chamber of a root system. The chambers $wC$ and $w{s}_{\alpha }C$ are adjacent across the reflecting hyperplane orthogonal to $w(\alpha )$. The chamber $wC$ lies on the side on which $w(\alpha )$ is positive. If $w(\alpha )\in \Pi$, then $C$ lies on that same side, so crossing this wall moves one step farther from $C$; if $w(\alpha )\in -\Pi$, it moves one step nearer. The gallery distance from $C$ to $wC$ is the Coxeter length $\ell (w)$, and adjacent chamber distances differ by one. Consequently

Solved by gpt-5.6-sol high.