Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ia Paper 1 4E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Convergence at implies that the terms form a bounded sequence: for some . If and , thenComparison with the convergent geometric series proves absolute convergence. The case is vacuous.
The radius of convergence is the number such that a power series converges absolutely for and diverges for , with boundary behavior considered separately.
TakeThen is the convergent alternating harmonic series, whereas is the divergent harmonic series. Thus converges at a point of modulus one and diverges at another point of modulus one. It follows that
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ia Paper 2 7C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Assume the usual continuous-coefficient setting for a second-order linear differential equation. The Wronskian has derivativewhich proves the Abel identity. If , the two initial-value columns are linearly dependent, so some nonzero gives and . The uniqueness theorem for ordinary differential equations makes that linear combination identically zero. If , the initial-value matrix is an invertible matrix, givingThis establishes the alternative and supplies any prescribed initial data.
For the Airy ordinary differential equation, substitute a power series . Coefficient comparison gives andChoose and . The Airy power-series fundamental pair isEmpty products mean one. Their first terms are and . The ratio test gives convergence for every finite , so termwise differentiation verifies the equation. Their Wronskian is one at zero, and hence everywhere because . Thus every solution is .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 1 19H b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
For a target , the bias of an integrable estimator is ; it is an unbiased estimator if this is zero at every allowed parameter value. Here has a zero-truncated Poisson distribution, , and . Write an estimator based only on as , assuming a finite expectation for every . Unbiasedness requiresAbsolute integrability at every positive parameter ensures that the power series on the left converges absolutely on every complex disc. Uniqueness of coefficients in a power series therefore gives for odd and for positive even . Conversely these values give the displayed identity, sois the unique unbiased estimator of this form. The uniqueness claim concerns nonrandomized functions of ; allowing external randomness would permit addition of independent mean-zero noise.
For this parity estimator for a zero-truncated Poisson count, usefulness depends on the loss, but under squared-error loss it performs poorly despite being an unbiased estimator. Since , andIt takes the inadmissible value with positive probability, and its variance tends to one rather than zero as . Clipping to the parameter interval gives . This has bias , butThus a simple biased estimator strictly improves its mean squared error at every parameter value; uniqueness among unbiased estimators does not make it optimal for this loss.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 327 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use the Fourier transform convention and , so . All distribution pairings use complex bilinearity, and the formal transpose is , without complex conjugation of the coefficients. If instead denotes , the Fourier multiplier is ; the argument below is unchanged after this substitution.
For a nonempty compact convex set , let be its support function. The Paley–Wiener–Schwartz theorem says that the Fourier transform is a bijection between distributions supported in and entire functions on for whichfor some and nonnegative integer . In particular, support in is equivalent to the bound with . Convexity is essential in the precise support formulation: the support function of a set equals that of its convex hull.
Suppose first that is a compactly supported distribution with support in . Define , inserting any cutoff function equal to one near when viewing on test functions. A fixed cutoff and the finite order of a distribution estimate permit differentiation of the pairing in each complex variable, giving . The exponential function's power series converges with every required derivative on a fixed compact set; hence is an entire function. On real frequencies it agrees with the Fourier transform of a compactly supported distribution.
The exact exponential indicator needs a shrinking cutoff function, rather than one fixed outside . Choose near , with support in and for . Such a cutoff is obtained by convolving the indicator of with a mollifier supported in . On one fixed ball containing all these supports, the finite order of a distribution bound isThe Leibniz rule applied to therefore givesTaking proves the required bound, with and a fixed additional factor at most .
Conversely, suppose is an entire function with the displayed bound. Its real restriction has polynomial growth, so its inverse Fourier transform defines a tempered distribution byRapid decay of the Schwartz function makes this integral absolutely convergent and continuous in the Schwartz space topology.
To determine the support of a distribution, take a test function supported in a half-space , where and . The contour-shift proof of the Paley–Wiener–Schwartz theorem gives, for each ,Here is the estimate that justifies both the shift and its limiting use. Since , repeated integration by parts with yieldsFor fixed , the same estimate is uniform over the imaginary strip from to . Rotate coordinates so is the first coordinate direction, apply the Cauchy integral theorem on truncated rectangles, and let their real edges tend to infinity. If , the boundary integrals vanish and the horizontal integrals converge absolutely; thus the claimed shift is valid. Using now bounds the pairing bywhich tends to zero. A separating hyperplane exists at every point outside the compact convex set . A finite partition of unity on the support of any exterior test function reduces it to such half-spaces, so . Fourier inversion gives uniqueness; the entire transform of this agrees with on and hence everywhere, by applying the one-variable identity theorem successively in each coordinate. This completes both directions.
Now apply this theorem to compact support solvability for a constant-coefficient ordinary differential equation. If is a nonzero constant, its kernel is zero and is the unique solution. Otherwise writeThe solution space of isIndeed these exponentials solve the equation, their initial derivative vectors have a nonzero Vandermonde determinant, and uniqueness for the order- ordinary differential equation makes them a basis. Pairing with any such solution proves necessity:
For sufficiency, choose with and let . The assumed annihilation is precisely for every . Since all roots of a polynomial are simple, has removable singularities at every root and is an entire function. Outside one disk, . Inside that disk, the extended is bounded. The polynomial division preservation of exponential type therefore givesThe Paley–Wiener–Schwartz theorem produces a compactly supported distribution with transform , supported in the same interval. Then , so Fourier inversion gives . ThusThe compactly supported solution is unique: forces the entire transform to vanish off the finitely many roots and hence everywhere. With repeated roots, the corresponding condition would also require derivatives , or pairing with , up to one less than each multiplicity.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 339 2 e Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Put , so . The power series coefficients of the hyperbolic sine preprocessing areThus for every , and the series converge on the full interval. Applying coefficient-dominated entrywise positivity gives .
Every diagonal entry belongs to one of the diagonal blocks and equals . Because and , this is . ThereforeThe matrix lies in the elliptope and admits a Gram matrix representation by unit vectors. This preprocessing is the Krivine rounding scheme; the equality of absolute coefficients is what preserves positive semidefiniteness even though the cross-block sine coefficients alternate in sign.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ia Paper 1 4D Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
The radius of convergence of the power series isIf , choose with . Since , those terms are bounded, say . Thereforeand comparison with a geometric series proves absolute convergence. If , convergence would imply absolute convergence at every smaller modulus by the same argument, contradicting the definition of .
If , convergence of implies absolute convergence of whenever . Letting approach the radius of the -series shows that .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ia Paper 1 4F i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
LetThe set contains zero. If and , then by comparison. Moreover, if the original power series diverges at , no can lie in , because absolute convergence at would imply absolute convergence at . Thus is finite and nonnegative.
If , choose with ; comparison gives absolute convergence at . If and the series converged at , then its terms would be bounded. For any with ,so the geometric series comparison would put in , contradicting the definition of . This proves the radius of convergence property.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ia Paper 2 6C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
Substitute the power series and compare the coefficient of . This givesorThe two arbitrary coefficients determine all solutions. The condition sets , leaving the even series. It terminates precisely when for some nonnegative integer . Therefore the permitted real values are or for ; these are the even Chebyshev polynomials up to normalization.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 105 3 a Solution 2026-10-03
The function is real analytic at if there is a neighborhood of on which its multivariable Taylor seriesconverges to . Here is a multi-index; equivalently, agrees locally with a convergent real power series centred at .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ii Paper 3 21H c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
For each , defineEvery is an entire function, hence continuous, so is closed. The hypothesis saysThe complex plane is a complete metric space. The Baire category theorem therefore implies that some has nonempty interior. Thus vanishes on an open set, and the identity theorem giveson all of . If , then ; otherwise the power series of has no term of degree or higher. Hence is a polynomial of degree at most . This is the pointwise vanishing derivative criterion for a polynomial.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 3 2H Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
The polynomial Runge theorem says that if is compact, is connected, and is holomorphic on a neighbourhood of , then for every there is a polynomial such that .
For an explicit approximation on the left semicircle , defineThe two power-series expansionsproduce this formula. The first is a geometric series whose ratio has modulus at most on . The second converges uniformly on the whole unit circle; the elementary bound shows that truncating it at gives a total error tending to zero even after summing over . Consequently uniformly on . This is an explicit polynomial approximation of the reciprocal on the left semicircle.
No such sequence exists on the punctured unit circle . If polynomials converged uniformly there, they would be Uniformly Cauchy. Continuity givesso they would converge uniformly on the entire unit circle. The uniform limit theorem would force the value at the missing point to be , and hence the limit would be on the full circle. But the Cauchy integral theorem gives for every , while uniform convergence and contour integration would implya contradiction. This is the polynomial approximation obstruction on a punctured circle.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 ib Paper 3 13G Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Fix and letFor and , the geometric series givesThe series converges uniformly on every smaller closed disc, so it may be integrated term by term along the curve. Hencewhich is a power series about .
If is holomorphic on a neighbourhood of the closed disc , the Cauchy integral formula saysDifferentiation under the integral is valid uniformly on smaller discs and gives the Cauchy derivative formulaThis proves inductively that every holomorphic function has complex derivatives of every order. In particular,
Now suppose locally uniformly on . Given a compact set , choose finitely many closed discs whose slightly larger concentric discs remain in and whose interiors cover . Applying the derivative formula to on the larger boundary circles gives a uniform Cauchy estimatewhere is the compact union of those circles. The right-hand side tends to zero, proving that
Finally, choose open neighbourhoods of the closed discs so small thatlies in the given neighbourhood on which is holomorphic. Inside that neighbourhood choose a positively oriented piecewise smooth contour surrounding . It may be chosen as the boundary of a slightly enlarged lens and split into arcsso that stays away from and stays away from . DefineandBecause each arc avoids the corresponding disc, these formulas define holomorphic functions on possibly smaller neighbourhoods . On their overlap, the Cauchy integral formula for the full contour gives
Set , , and . The required power series is obtained fromThe quadratic Landau coefficient isIts vanishing gives the line of continuous transitionsThe quartic coefficient isAt a tricritical point, both and vanish. Since , the condition gives and hence . Substitution into the critical line yieldsThe sextic coefficient is positive there, so the sixth-order term stabilizes the free energy. Equivalently, .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ib Paper 4 15D b ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Put . ThenAfter substitution and cancellation of the terms, the equation becomesFor the power series , the coefficient of isThus
If the series does not terminate, then , so acquires the large- behaviour and grows like . Normalizability therefore requires termination, which occurs whenfor some positive integer . HenceThe ground state has , so the hydrogen ground-state energy isThis is the series-termination quantization of the Coulomb radial equation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 335 2 i Solution 2026-09-28
Use the sign convention in the question,Then the total field satisfiesThe outgoing free-space Green function iswith . Hence the Lippmann-Schwinger equation isReplacing the unknown interior total field by the incident field gives the first Born approximation
For the Rytov approximation, put . After division by , the wave equation givesNeglecting the quadratic term makes obey the same inhomogeneous equation as the first Born scattered field. ThusandIts power series beginsso the two approximations agree through first order in the scattering potential.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 210 1 c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Fix . Since is centered, the elementary inequality givesOn , use for ; on , expand the exponential function into its power series. The hypotheses therefore giveThis is precisely the Sub-Gamma random variable in the right tail bound with variance parameter and scale parameter .
The radius of convergence of a power series is the number such that the series has absolute convergence for and diverges for . Equivalently,Use , including at . The supremum may be . There is no general conclusion at : boundary convergence depends on the coefficients. If , only the centre is guaranteed; if , every finite lies inside the disk of convergence.
Use the ceiling function to choose positive integer coefficientsBecause , we have andFor , the comparison test for series with the geometric series givesFor , we instead have , so the terms do not tend to zero. Thus the power series has radius of convergence exactly .
Take . At the point , the power series has absolute convergence, so . On the whole interval ,The Weierstrass M-test with proves uniform convergence on . It also gives the explicit tail estimateFor the interval consists only of zero, and all positive-degree terms vanish. If , the same argument applies to every finite ; if , there is no with .
Under the extra hypothesis that exists for every real , its power series has infinite radius of convergence. Termwise differentiation of a power series is therefore valid to every finite order. For ,At this is the expected value of the falling factorial of :In particular . The terms with vanish because their falling factorials contain a zero factor. These factorial moments are finite under the stated hypothesis.