Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 105 1 c ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Take and extend it by zero outside . The zero extension of W01 belongs to and the Sobolev inequality givesBecause has finite measure, the Holder inequality givesThusThe reverse estimate follows directly from . After adjusting constants,This is the Poincare inequality on .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 105 2 c iv Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Define on the bilinear formand the linear functionalThe Hardy inequality on an interval, Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, and the one-sided Poincare inequality show that is a bounded bilinear form and that
For , , so Cauchy--Schwarz and Fubini's theorem giveHenceThus is a coercive bilinear form. The Lax-Milgram theorem supplies a unique satisfying for every . This is precisely the unique weak solution described by the weak boundary value problem with an inverse-square potential.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 107 2 c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Take a minimizing sequence in the affine Sobolev class . The standing bounds make the energy uniformly equivalent toThe fixed boundary values and the Poincare inequality therefore bound the sequence in . By weak compactness in a reflexive Banach space, a subsequence converges weakly to . The assumed weak closedness keeps the limit in , and the assumed weak lower semicontinuity givesThus the direct method in the calculus of variations produces a minimizer. Its first variation vanishes in every compactly supported direction, so part (b) makes it a weak solution of the system.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 107 2 c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
The boundary data are encoded by the Affine Sobolev spaceA function is a weak solution of the homogeneous p-Laplacian equation when
For existence, take a minimizing sequence for the p-energy on . The Poincare inequality bounds in by its gradient, so the sequence is bounded in the reflexive Banach space . A weakly convergent subsequence remains in the weakly closed affine space, and convexity of gives weak lower semicontinuity. The direct method in the calculus of variations therefore produces a minimizer, whose first variation is precisely the displayed weak equation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 359 2 a i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
For smooth periodic fields, the Holder inequality and giveSimilarly,Adding the bounds proves that the skew-symmetrized transport form extends continuously from smooth fields to andThe periodic Poincare inequality givesHence
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 359 1 a i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
The sobolev embedding theorem in three dimensions and the periodic elliptic estimate for the Stokes operator giveThe last step uses the absence of the zero Fourier mode: on mean-zero periodic fields, the Poincare inequality makes the homogeneous norm controlled by .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 359 1 b iii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Take the inner product of the temperature equation with . The spectral projection disappears against , and part (a)(iii) cancels transport. ThusThe periodic Poincare inequality, part (i), and the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality implyThe Gronwall inequality therefore gives, for ,This defines a bound independent of , and part (i) then givesIntegrating the energy identity and using the same bound on its right-hand side gives
It remains to estimate the time derivative. For , the Fourier projection is a contraction in , and the skew identity from part (a) givesThe sobolev embedding theorem and the periodic elliptic estimate for the Stokes operator bound by . Moreover,The already obtained bounds therefore implywith independent of .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 359 2 a ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Use on the inner product . The map in the hint is continuous because it is a finite-dimensional polynomial map. Since the velocity is divergence-free,The Poincare inequality bounds . Thus on every sphere whose radius is larger than . The Brouwer inward-pointing zero lemma supplies inside that sphere with .
On , the formis bounded and coercive. The Hardy inequality on an interval controls its singular term, while the one-sided Poincare inequality controls the first-order term. Thus the Lax-Milgram theorem gives a unique weak solution for every functional with .