Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ia Paper 4 5D b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Suppose . Then is a unit modulo n for modulus , and Fermat's little theorem impliesSince is an odd prime number, and are distinct residue classes. Therefore is even, and .
Conversely, put . Pair each integer with in the factorial. Wilson theorem yieldsWhen , is even, so satisfies . This proves the first supplementary law for quadratic reciprocity without assuming a primitive root. HenceThe two solutions are and modulo : their difference is nonzero, and factoring shows that a degree-two polynomial over the field of residues modulo has no further roots.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ia Paper 4 7D a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
For , use the binomial coefficient identity . It reduces the left side to . Put . Then , and the binomial theorem givesThus the required coefficients areFor the sum has the single coefficient . For , the power denotes the constant monomial .
The original PDF allows , but its displayed ratio is then . Literally that expression is undefined. The meaningful endpoint identity is obtained before normalization:This polynomial identity is valid at , giving on both sides. The normalized formula and the Bernstein monomial recurrence below are used only for .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ia Paper 4 7D b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
For the constant monomial , the binomial theorem gives . For , the binomial coefficient identity givesThus , including by evaluation of the polynomials.
For and , substitute the preceding coefficient identity into the Bernstein polynomial sum and write . This yields the Bernstein monomial recurrenceThe coefficients are nonnegative and sum to ; and the others tend to zero. The weights in any Bernstein polynomial sum are nonnegative and sum to , so . Induction on therefore gives : the term has that limit and the other finitely many terms vanish. In fact, the same estimate in the supremum norm proves uniform convergence on .
As an independent quantitative bound, take a binomial distribution variable with parameters . Then . On , factoring the difference of powers gives ; the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality and the variance of giveFor the error is exactly zero. Finally the requested sum equals , so
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 1 6C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
The Lagrange cardinal polynomials areThus the Lagrange interpolation polynomial isIt has degree at most and takes the required values. Uniqueness follows because the difference of two such polynomials has distinct roots and degree at most , so is zero. The source's phrase “degree ” must allow a smaller degree, for example when is constant.
Define the divided difference recursively by andInduction on this recursion, or comparison of the leading coefficient in the Newton interpolation polynomial, givesFor completeness the induction works term by term: an interior term gets the coefficient , multiplying the product over the other interior nodes; the two endpoint terms give the same formula. This is also the leading coefficient of directly from the cardinal formula, so .
The function has distinct zeros. Repeated application of Rolle theorem gives with when . HenceFor , this is simply and we take .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 3 11E b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Reducing coefficients modulo gives the ring isomorphismIf , its monic leading coefficient remains one modulo , so . Polynomial division gives a unique representative of degree less than : existence follows by division, and the difference of two such representatives cannot be a nonzero multiple of a degree- monic polynomial. There are choices for each of the coefficients, provingIrreducibility of is not needed for finiteness; without it the quotient ring need not be a field.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 3 11E c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Write the Gaussian integer , with , and set . Complex conjugation preserves , because . Choose a nonzero . Then is a positive integer in . It cannot be one because is a proper prime ideal. Factoring into rational primes and applying primality repeatedly gives a prime .
The element satisfies the monic polynomial . Evaluation induces a ring homomorphism that is a surjectionThe source has elements by part (b), soIf , use instead and get at most elements. Moreover is an integral domain, so its finiteness makes it a field. This proves the finite residue-field theorem for Gaussian integer orders without incorrectly assuming that every Gaussian integer order is a principal ideal domain.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 4 10F Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
The dual space here is the algebraic dual space , consisting of every linear functional; no topology or boundedness is imposed. For a basis , define . These are linear functionals satisfying . Evaluating on each gives , proving linear independence. Conversely, for every ,This proves spanning and hence proves, without assuming a dimension theorem, that the dual basis is a basis and .
The canonical bidual evaluation map isIts definition makes no choice of basis and it is linear. If , one coordinate functional is nonzero on , so is injective. For any , choose . Expanding in the dual basis gives , proving surjection explicitly. Thus is an isomorphism.
If is any basis of , its dual basis in exists by the result just proved. Put . These vectors form a basis of , and . Every basis of the finite-dimensional dual is a dual basis, of a uniquely determined basis of .
For a separating subspace of an algebraic dual , choose a basis of . The linear map is injective because separates nonzero vectors. The rank-nullity theorem implies ; but implies . HenceThe zero-dimensional case also has this conclusion.
For , the monomials form an infinite basis, each polynomial using only finitely many of them. The map identifies with all real sequences, because any sequence defines . The linear subspace of finitely supported sequences is proper (it excludes ) and separating (one coefficient functional detects any nonzero polynomial). Thus
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 4 11E a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
The structure theorem for finitely generated modules over a principal ideal domain applies in particular to a Euclidean domain : every finitely generated module has an isomorphismwith each nonzero and a nonunit. The rank of a free module and the invariant factors of a finitely generated module are unique up to multiplication by units; empty sums are allowed. This is the classification theorem being used, without a proof of that theorem.
The rational canonical form theorem states that for a linear operator on a finite-dimensional vector space over any field , there are unique monic nonconstant polynomials such that some basis givesHere, for , the companion matrix has ones on its subdiagonal and last column . The empty matrix covers a zero-dimensional space. Two linear operators have matrix similarity exactly when they have the same invariant factors of a linear operator.
For the proof, make an -module by . It is a finitely generated module, since a vector-space basis also generates it as a module. It is a torsion module: the powers of have linear dependence in the finite-dimensional space , so some nonzero polynomial annihilates every vector. Because is a Euclidean domain, the classification theorem givesThere is no free summand, since a nonzero free module over is not a torsion module. Choose monic generators of the ideals. On , the classes of form an -basis by polynomial division. Multiplication by is exactly in that basis, proving existence. Uniqueness in the classification theorem proves uniqueness of the rational canonical form. Finally, an -module isomorphism is precisely an invertible -linear map intertwining the operators, establishing the assertion about matrix similarity. In particular the characteristic polynomial is and the minimal polynomial is for nonzero .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 4 1F Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
For a basis of the real vector space , the Gram-Schmidt process constructs an orthonormal basis successively:The inner product makes orthogonal to all earlier . Moreover , since otherwise would be a linear combination of its predecessors, contrary to linear independence. Induction gives . Starting with a basis of a linear subspace and extending it to a basis of gives the same construction with the first vectors spanning .
The orthogonal complement is . For every , set . Then and . If , then , so by definiteness of the inner product. Thus the direct sum isThis also covers and .
For the polynomial space, the form is immediately a symmetric bilinear form, and . A nonzero polynomial of degree of a polynomial at most two cannot have three distinct roots of a polynomial, so this form is an inner product for . For , the nonzero polynomial has . Therefore, among the stipulated positive integers,
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 4 5A ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
This subpart is also present in the original PDF but missing from the local TeX. Put and . Multiply the Legendre differential equation for by , multiply the equation for by , and subtract. The product rule givesIntegrating from to , the boundary term vanishes: , and the Legendre polynomials and their derivatives are finite there. For distinct nonnegative integers , . Thus the Orthogonality of Legendre polynomials isThe vanishing coefficient at the endpoints causes no difficulty here because the solutions are polynomials.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 4 5A i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
The original PDF contains this subpart; the local TeX has omitted it. Write for the leading coefficient of . The Legendre polynomial recurrence relation and the starting polynomials give , and induction givesIndeed, has degree of a polynomial , while has smaller degree of a polynomial and cannot cancel its leading term. HenceAt , the same linear recurrence relation gives . Starting from , induction yields
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 105 1 2 b Solution 2026-10-05
Repeated integration by parts against a compactly supported test function gives the bilinear formal adjointThere is no boundary remainder because has compact support. The product rule makes this an order-at-most- linear differential operator with real analytic coefficients. The displayed integral pairing has no complex conjugation, so this is the formal transpose; for a sesquilinear pairing the coefficients would be conjugated.
For uniqueness, suppose is the difference of two candidates. Then for every smooth compactly supported and , so for every such . At an interior point, a polynomial times a cutoff can prescribe every derivative of through order independently. Hence each coefficient of is zero. This proves uniqueness as a differential operator, not only uniqueness of its integrated action.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 105 1 2 e Solution 2026-10-05
The coordinate change has inverse , . Thus the coefficient function needed after changing variables isThe PDF's displayed formula has an undefined subscript and writes the forward change in the argument. It is not the coefficient pullback by the stated coordinates; the inverse expression above is the one used in transforming the equation. The forward polynomial composition, if intended instead, has the same type of uniform bounds, but is not that pullback.
For and , the inverse image lies in the fixed compact subset specified by , , whose Euclidean radius is less than one. A real analytic function extends holomorphically to a complex neighborhood of this compact set: local extensions agree on overlaps by uniqueness, and a finite covering gives a common smaller neighborhood. The polynomial inverse maps a fixed small complex neighborhood of the closed half-ball into that neighborhood, uniformly in . The extensions are bounded there by a common constant . Applying the multivariable Cauchy estimate on equal-radius polydiscs givesThis is uniform analyticity under polynomial coordinate changes. The argument gives a compact margin and a common complex radius, not merely separate analyticity for each parameter.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 105 1 2 f Solution 2026-10-05
In the flattened coordinates, and . The transformed formal adjoint consequently has coefficients obtained from finitely many real analytic coefficient pullbacks and polynomial factors. They have uniform analyticity bounds on a fixed small ball. By the preceding non-characteristic argument, its coefficient of has modulus bounded away from zero there, uniformly for small . Division by it preserves uniform real analytic bounds.
The transformed forcing has analogous bounds, with constants that may depend on . Apply the Cauchy-Kovalevskaya theorem in normal form with zero normal data through order at . The supplied majorant series radius result yields a common solution radius for all sufficiently small parameters. Tangential differentiation of zero normal data shows that the entire boundary jet through order is zero; changing coordinates preserves this vanishing.
For in the closed cap, and . Choose so small that , with a strict margin. The whole closed cap then lies in the common real analytic solution neighborhood. Pulling the solution back provesIn fact is real analytic on a neighborhood of its closure, which is useful for the boundary integration below.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 105 1 2 g Solution 2026-10-05
Fix the coefficient normal form and a positive analyticity exponent once and for all. If is a polynomial, its pullback is again a polynomial, with degree bounded independently of . On a fixed closed coordinate ball, its finitely many nonzero derivatives are uniformly bounded as the parameter ranges over a fixed compact small interval. Hence there is a finite such thatAll higher derivatives vanish, so arbitrarily high polynomial degree causes no failure of this bound; it only changes .
The normalized forcing belongs to one common majorant class. The Cauchy-Kovalevskaya theorem therefore gives a radius independent of . The problem is linear with zero data, so multiplying the normalized solution by solves the original forcing without changing its radius. Choose one with the cap inside this radius. ThusThis is the uniform Cauchy radius for polynomial forcing. It asserts a common domain, not a uniform solution-amplitude bound over all polynomials.