Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 ii Paper 4 11G Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Write and associate the symmetric matrix . Define the left group action of by ; using instead describes the same equivalence classes. The transformed matrix is , so its determinant is unchanged. Hence the discriminant of a binary quadratic formis invariant under proper equivalence of binary quadratic forms.
A proper representation here means with . Such a vector extends to the first column of an integer determinant-one matrix by Bezout identity. After that change of variables the form has leading coefficient , and discriminant , so its middle coefficient satisfies . Conversely, such a congruence gives the positive definite integral formwhich represents at . It is primitive: a common divisor of all three coefficients would have its square dividing the squarefree discriminant 35.
For clarity, enumerate all the proper equivalence classes at this discriminant. Substitutions first arrange ; if , the determinant-one substitution makes the leading coefficient smaller. Repeating terminates because this coefficient is a positive integer. Thus every class has a reduced representative with . From it follows that , giving . Checking , with odd, yieldsThe two signs in the first pair are equivalent by replacing with , and in the second pair by the determinant-one swap. Thus the two forms in the question exhaust the classes.
The primitive representation criterion at discriminant minus thirty-five now follows. For odd prime to 35, the congruence modulo is solvable exactly when is a square modulo every prime divisor of . Necessity is immediate. For sufficiency, a nonzero root modulo each odd prime lifts to all required prime powers because its derivative is invertible; combine the lifts by the Chinese remainder theorem, also imposing . This gives the modulus-four condition since . We concludeBy quadratic reciprocity, the symbol equals . In particular each prime divisor must be a quadratic residue at both 5 and 7, or a nonresidue at both. The condition is on each prime divisor, not merely on the product Jacobi symbol of .