Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 29 3 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The Brownian first-passage time is finite almost surely. Indeed the Brownian reflection principle gives as . Continuity of the paths means the first passage to occurs after the first passage to . By the Strong Markov property, the process is an independent fresh Brownian motion. Thus has the same probability distribution as and is independent of . Taking the Laplace transforms of nonnegative random variables givesFor fixed , these transforms lie in . Put . It is additive on positive arguments and nondecreasing, because the hitting times increase with the level. Writing , additivity gives for positive rational , and rational upper and lower approximations then give for every . Hence , with .
The Brownian scaling identity givesFor , take in this relation with the transform parameter one. It follows that , where . At zero, finiteness of the hitting time gives . Thus , with the constant determined in part (b).
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 29 4 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For the finite probability distribution, put . These are independent fair zero-one variables, andThe binary integer is uniform on . HenceThese are the midpoints of equal subintervals of . For every bounded continuous , the Riemann sums giveThus in the sense of weak convergence of probability measures.
For the almost-sure and assertions, the Dyadic Rademacher series converges absolutely on every sign sequence, since . Its tail satisfies , proving almost sure convergence and convergence in L2. More precisely, zero means and independence eliminate the cross terms:This identity follows first for finite tails and then by dominated convergence. Bounded continuous test functions and bounded convergence theorem identify the probability distribution of with the weak limit above, namely the uniform distribution on .
For the requested product identity, each Rademacher random variable has characteristic function . The characteristic function of a sum of independent variables therefore yieldsBy part (a), or directly by bounded convergence theorem, this converges to the characteristic function of a uniform distribution, . Consequently the dyadic cosine product isBoth sides are one at zero. At zeros of the sinc function the identity is understood as the limit of the finite products, so no logarithm or division by a vanishing factor is needed.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 30 5 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
In bond percolation on , edges are independently open with probability and closed otherwise. An open percolation cluster is a connected component using only open edges. In site percolation it is the graph vertices that are independently declared open. The percolation probability measures the chance that the origin lies in an infinite percolation cluster, and the percolation critical probability is . Monotone coupling of Bernoulli percolation by independent uniform distribution makes nondecreasing.
The sharpness of the percolation transition says that below connection probabilities on decay exponentially with distance, while above the percolation probability is positive. There is almost surely a unique infinite percolation cluster in the supercritical regime. On the square lattice, the Harris-Kesten theorem gives bond threshold , and there is no infinite percolation cluster at percolation critical probability. The emergence of connections on arbitrarily large scales is the geometric meaning of the phase transition.
Several observables describe this singular behavior. The percolation susceptibility is for . A directional correlation length can be defined through exponential two-point decay, . Percolation critical exponents describe leading powers, conveniently defined logarithmically rather than requiring exact asymptotic amplitudes:The first limit of a sequence approaches from above, the other two from below. At percolation critical probability, percolation two-point connection probability is expected to have leading power , and the number per site of percolation clusters of size has leading power . This cluster-count probability distribution differs from the size-biased probability distribution seen by choosing a site. Scaling relations for critical exponents such as and connect the exponents in their applicable scaling regime; hyperscaling relation is not valid above the upper critical dimension of percolation in ordinary mean-field regimes.
The percolation universality hypothesis predicts that dimension and large-scale symmetry, rather than microscopic graph details, determine these exponents and scaling functions. Thus square-lattice bond and triangular-lattice site models are expected to share the planar graph universality class despite different microscopic definitions. Universality does not mean identical critical probabilities, amplitudes or finite-lattice distributions. Exact values and existence of exponents require model-specific theorems, not merely this prediction.
Two dimensions have an additional structure: conformal maps preserve angles, and critical crossing probabilities are expected to be unchanged under conformal transport of the domain and its marked boundary arcs. A crossing probability then depends only on the conformal shape of that marked quadrilateral. The Cardy boundary crossing formula gives this dependence in terms of its boundary cross ratio. For critical triangular-lattice site percolation, conformal invariance and the resulting exponents are established; examples are , , , with the rigorous statements in leading-power form. These values are summarized in Smirnov and Werner's original paper. Their universality extension to arbitrary planar lattices should not be presented as the same theorem.
An exploration path separating the two colors, with opposite boundary colors on two arcs, has a domain Markov property of a percolation exploration: conditional on the explored portion, the unexplored colors retain their independent laws with the newly exposed boundary colors. Conformal invariance, this domain Markov property and suitable regularity lead to Schramm–Loewner evolution. In the upper half-plane its chordal equation iswhere is standard Brownian motion and time is normalized by half-plane capacity. Critical percolation corresponds to . Thus the complicated discrete interface becomes a conformally natural random curve driven by one real Brownian motion. Its crossing and arm probabilities supply critical exponents and, through scaling relations for critical exponents, near-critical singularities. This makes conformal methods predictive tools for the transition, rather than only descriptions of an interface's appearance.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 ia Paper 2 3F b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The covariance is symmetric, because multiplication of real random variables is commutative. Expanding with the bilinearity just proved givesIdentical probability distributions imply equal second moments and equal means, hence equal variances. Therefore the assertion is true, withThe cancellation shows exactly why no assumption of independence is needed.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 29 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For , the one-parameter Poisson-Dirichlet distribution is a probability distribution on decreasing random mass sequences. A precise construction uses a Poisson random measure on with intensityArrange its points as and put . The intensity is diffuse, so there are almost surely no ties. There are infinitely many points because the intensity has infinite mass near zero, but their sum is finite almost surely: the Campbell first-moment formula gives . Also almost surely, since the probability of having no points is zero. DefineIts law is , also written . In particular, is the largest component; the ordering is part of the definition.
The Laplace functional of a Poisson random measure determines the total:For the integral identity, differentiate the integral with respect to , obtaining , and use its value zero at . Thus has the Gamma distribution with shape and rate one, and density .
We use the Mecke formula for a Poisson random measure in its point-removal formHere the process inside the expectation on the right has the original law. To justify this identity, first take finite intensity. Conditional on a Poisson count , its points are independent samples from normalized intensity. Expanding the expectation as a sum over and singling out one of the points replaces by ; the remaining points have the original Poisson law. For sigma-finite intensity, restrict the selected point to a finite-intensity set, condition on the independent outside process, and then exhaust the space. monotone convergence theorem proves the formula for nonnegative ; absolute integrability allows signed .
Apply it with . For the polynomial in question, on , so and all signed interchanges are justified. Integrating over the gamma law of the remaining total givesSet and , so , and the Jacobian is . The integrand factors as . The integral defining the Gamma function cancels , yieldingFor example, setting gives for integers .
The same nonnegative calculation identifies the mean measure of Poisson-Dirichlet components for arbitrary nonnegative test functions. Write . If , at most one component exceeds , so . Hence the identity directly gives the upper part of the probability distribution of the largest component of a Poisson-Dirichlet partition:Its density on is . For , this tail is , and . On the other hand, selecting index with conditional probabilities weights the mean measure of a point process by . Thus has density , the law of a size-biased distribution. That beta law describes the selected component.
For completeness, the whole probability distribution of can also be specified; below one half the expected count is not itself the tail probability. Repeating the point-removal formula for ordered distinct jumps gives the factorial moment densities of Poisson-Dirichlet components:Indeed, integrate over selected jumps and the remaining gamma total , then put , . The Jacobian is ; the factors and the Jacobian leave , whose Gamma function again cancels the normalizing constant. Since , the finite binomial identity for the indicator of now gives, for ,The term is one; an empty integration region contributes zero. This is inclusion-exclusion, since . Extend this cumulative distribution function by zero for and one for . For only the terms can contribute, recovering the simpler formula above.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 33 6 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For pure strategy sets and utility functions , a Nash equilibrium is a strategy profile such thatFor mixed strategies, replace payoffs by their expectations under independent randomization and allow each player to choose any probability distribution. Since expected utility is linear in a player's own distribution, checking all pure deviations suffices.
Pure equilibria need not exist. In matching pennies, player 1 receives for equal choices and for different choices, while player 2 receives the negative. At an equal pair, player 2 improves by switching; at a different pair, player 1 improves by switching. Thus no pure profile is a Nash equilibrium.
In the ranked university application game, every student must be admitted at a pure equilibrium. If someone were rejected, fewer than the total 50000 seats would be filled, so another university would have a vacancy. Moving there gives positive benefit instead of zero. Consequently all 50 universities have exactly 1000 applicants and admit all of them.
Choose a university with largest arithmetic mean admitted rank and let be its lowest rank. If an outside student of rank moved there, that student would be admitted in place of ; the new arithmetic mean would exceed the university's previous arithmetic mean, which was at least the student's current payoff. This is a profitable deviation. Therefore no higher rank is outside: that university consists of the highest 1000 ranks. Remove that block and repeat with the remaining university of largest arithmetic mean. At each step the same argument excludes omitted higher ranks from the remaining set. The admitted cohorts are necessarily the consecutive blocks
Conversely, assigning these blocks to labelled universities is an equilibrium. A student moving to a higher block is rejected. A student moving to a lower block displaces its lowest rank; all the other admitted ranks there are below every rank in the student's original block. Comparing the two arithmetic means with that student's own rank held fixed shows a strict loss. Thus every block assignment is an equilibrium, and the preceding argument excludes all other pure ones:
There is more than one further mixed equilibrium. We give two genuinely mixed profiles, rather than count the pure equilibria as degenerate mixed ones. First, let every student apply independently and uniformly to all 50 universities. For each fixed student the other players' distribution is invariant under every permutation of university labels. All 50 pure applications therefore give the same expected utility. Uniform mixing is a best response, so this is a Nash equilibrium.
For a distinct mixed equilibrium, assign each of the 48 highest consecutive rank blocks deterministically to a different university. Let each of the lowest 2000 students independently choose either of the two remaining universities with probability . For a low-ranked student these two universities have identical expected utility by label symmetry, and that payoff is positive: there is a positive-probability event on which the student is admitted. Applying to one of the 48 full higher-ranked blocks would guarantee rejection. Hence the specified mixture is a best response.
For a student in a deterministic higher block, moving to another deterministic block loses by the pure-equilibrium comparison above. It remains to rule out a move to a mixed university. Let the student's own block start at , and let their rank be . Their present payoff is . The number of low-ranked applicants at a specified mixed university has a binomial distribution with parameters , and the higher-ranked deviator is always admitted. If , all other admitted ranks are at most 2000, so the new arithmetic mean is at most , and thus at most . If , it is . Therefore the expected deviation payoff is at mostbecause the gap without the last term is . No such deviation improves the payoff. This proves a second mixed equilibrium, with only the lowest 2000 students randomizing. It is visibly different from the fully uniform profile. In particular,
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 41 1 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Define . Grouping equal claim sizes gives the pathwise identityConditional on , the independent claims receive category labels with probabilities . There are assignments producing prescribed category counts, and every assignment has probability . Thus the conditional probability distribution is a multinomial distribution:when the nonnegative counts sum to , and is zero otherwise.
For , condition first on and use the probability generating function of a Poisson distribution:This factorization is the joint probability generating function of independent Poisson distribution variables. HenceA category with has zero count almost surely. The categorical thinning of a Poisson claim count produces independence after averaging over the random total, even though the counts are constrained to sum to conditional on that total.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 41 1 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let . For , the resulting compound Poisson distribution hasThus the merged claim size probability distribution is a rate-weighted mixture distribution, not an equally weighted mixture distribution unless the rates agree.
To prove this without any moment-generating function assumption, let be the characteristic function of a claim of type . Conditioning on its Poisson distribution count givesIndependence of the aggregate risks therefore givesThe weighted characteristic function inside is precisely that of the displayed mixture distribution. This is the transform of a sum of independent claims with independent count , proving the claim by uniqueness of characteristic functions. This is Poisson superposition of insurance portfolios. If , all risks make no claims almost surely and ; the severity law is then irrelevant.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 41 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For nontrivial positive claim sizes in the classical risk model and , the adjustment coefficient is the unique positive solutionIndeed, has , , and is strictly convex. It becomes positive near the right endpoint of the moment-generating function domain. For a finite endpoint this follows from the assumed divergence; for an infinite endpoint, for some gives an exponential lower bound on , which eventually exceeds any linear function. Convexity gives existence and uniqueness of the positive crossing and .
Put and . Substituting into the supplied survival renewal equation for a classical risk model, and using , yieldsMultiplying by gives the proper renewal-type equationThe exponential tilt of the ruin renewal kernel turns a defective kernel into a probability density function, because the tail integration identity givesThis identity follows also by integrating and applying Tonelli theorem. The tilted probability density function defines a nonarithmetic distribution, even if the claim size probability distribution itself has atoms.
Differentiate to calculate its mean:It is finite and positive because is inside the finite moment-generating function domain. Next, reversing the order of integration givesThe forcing function is directly Riemann integrable. Choose with . Markov's inequality bounds by , so is bounded by a constant times . It is continuous; on finite intervals continuity controls its Riemann sums, and the exponential envelope controls the tails. These are sufficient conditions for direct Riemann integrability.
Iterating the renewal equation by convolution gives , where is the renewal measure. The remainder after iterations is bounded on each fixed interval by a constant times the chance that a sum of positive interarrivals remains in that interval, which tends to zero. The key renewal theorem, applicable to this nonarithmetic distribution of finite mean and the directly integrable forcing, now gives the interior adjustment coefficient ruin prefactor:Both numerator and denominator are positive, so .
For the unit-rate shape-two Erlang distribution, , and . Write , so positive loading requires . Dividing the adjustment coefficient equation by its nonzero root gives . ThusThe last simplification uses ; it is the Erlang shape-two ruin prefactor. Its value depends on the premium-to-arrival ratio, which is not specified numerically.
For the final exponential representation, evaluating at zero in the survival renewal equation for a classical risk model gives . If the slower term is present, necessarily and . Comparing with the finite positive asymptotic constant just proved yieldsA smaller adjustment coefficient would make the limit zero and a larger one would make it infinite. Here the leading exponential term determines a ruin adjustment coefficient. The coefficient need not be assumed positive to identify the leading term.
The wording does not specify that is nonzero. If and , the only surviving term instead gives , and . This case is realizable: claims with an exponential distribution of rate have ultimate ruin probability . Negative would make the ultimate ruin probability negative for large , and both coefficients zero are incompatible with a nontrivial positive claim rate and mean. These observations specify the coefficient qualification needed for the usual answer.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 33 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use a fixed logarithm base , and write . All relative entropies below use this same base. Adopt and for .
For Gibbs inequality, if at some point, the relative entropy is infinite and the required conclusion is immediate. Otherwise let . The elementary inequality , with equality only at , gives, for every ,ConsequentlyThis argument applies to a countable discrete probability distribution too: the difference between the two sides of the pointwise inequality is nonnegative, and the negative part of the entropy summand is bounded by , hence summable. Thus no subtraction of divergent series is involved. Equality forces both and equality in every pointwise inequality; hence on and off . Conversely plainly gives zero. Therefore .
For the log-sum inequality, set , , and normalize to the probability distributions , . When is nonempty, positivity ensures , and direct expansion givesThus normalization reduces the log-sum inequality to Gibbs inequality. Equality holds exactly when . The empty-set case is the zero identity under the usual zero-mass convention.
For the final bound, partition the alphabet using and put , . Since the total signed difference is zero,Apply the log-sum inequality separately to and its complement. The same normalization argument works for countable sets of finite total mass, using the countable Gibbs inequality just proved. It yields the binary partition bound for relative entropyZero block masses are interpreted by the stated conventions; a positive mass divided by zero makes the bound infinite. The given binary estimate now impliesThis is Pinsker's inequality. Equivalently, for the total variation distance , the bound is . The factor keeps the statement valid for either bits or natural-logarithm units.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 37 4 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
A discrete memoryless channel is specified by discrete input and output alphabets and a transition probability , with and . Its successive outputs are conditionally independent given the inputs, with the same transition rule at every use:Operationally, its channel capacity is the supremum of communication rates in bits per use attainable by increasingly long block codes with decoding error probability tending to zero. For finite alphabets, the equivalent Shannon characterization iswhere is Shannon entropy, is classical conditional entropy, and the maximization is over the input probability distribution.
For the channel in question, the transition matrix, with input symbols indexing rows, isEvery row has the same Shannon entropy, namely the binary entropy . Consequently for every input probability distribution. Since the output has three symbols, the maximum entropy on a finite alphabet givesChoose a uniform input. Each column of sums to one, so for every output symbol and the upper bound is attained. FinallyThus the cyclic ternary channel capacity isachieved by a uniform input probability distribution. This is a weakly symmetric channel capacity calculation: the matrix rows are permutations and the column sums agree. The channel is not the usual ternary symmetric-error channel, since an error has only one possible changed output for each input.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 42 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Put , and . Apart from a data-only constant, the log-likelihood isThe natural parameters in the ambient two-parameter exponential family of normal distributions are and , restricted to the nonaffine curve , . Its parametrization has rank one. Thus this is a one-dimensional curved exponential family inside a two-dimensional full family.
The Fisher-Neyman factorization theorem makes sufficient. For two samples , the parameter-dependent part of their log density ratio is . A polynomial in is constant on only if both nonconstant coefficients vanish. The likelihood-ratio criterion for minimal sufficiency therefore proves is minimal sufficient.
Write with independent . Since , has a probability distribution independent of : it is an ancillary statistic. The denominator is nonzero almost surely. The Cauchy-Schwarz inequality gives ; on the requested positive branch, and .
The likelihood equation is . Its positive root isThere is exactly one positive root. The sign of the score function changes from positive to negative there, and at both ends of when , so it is the unique maximum-likelihood estimator. The useful identities areSubstitution yields, dropping the constant ,Differentiating twice and using at the fitted value gives the observed informationThe scalar P-star approximation uses . Consequently, with its normalizing factor explicitly retained,Here is chosen to make the density integrate to one, and is independent of . To see this without assuming an approximate normalizer, defineThe integral is finite and positive, and normalized is exactlyIndeed .
There is a direct check of this conditional scale density in a curved Gaussian family. In polar coordinates , the sample density times volume element is proportional to . Conditioning on fixes . The remaining angular factor is independent of , while . Thus the exact conditional radial density has the same normalized form. For the positive ancillary branch fixes the positive sign and the same one-dimensional radial calculation applies. In this scale model the normalized expression equals the exact conditional density, not merely its leading approximation.
For , compute its conditional distribution by one-dimensional quadrature:It is zero for ; with the conditional-density calculation just given, this normalized formula is exact for almost every admissible . Numerically, subtract the maximum log integrand before exponentiating to avoid overflow. The sampling probability still depends on the stipulated true ; replacing it by a fitted value would be a separate plug-in inference step.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 44 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The paper uses for the survivor function, rather than for the cumulative distribution function. For a nonnegative survival time with an absolutely continuous probability distribution, defineWhere , the hazard function is the instantaneous event rate conditional on survival:The integrated hazard is . Since , integration gives . With the usual time origin and no event at zero, , soConversely, differentiating gives , so these relationships determine each of the survivor function, hazard function and integrated hazard from either of the others. A positive limiting survivor function is possible if the integrated hazard remains finite; a proper finite event time instead has .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 ii Paper 2 26I Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A renewal process counts arrivals , where and the holding times are independent, identically distributed positive random variables. Their sum tends to infinity almost surely, so the count is finite on bounded time intervals. Use in the question's notation. The index is a stopping index for the holding-time sequence. Conditional on and the first holding times, every later retains its original probability distribution. Summing over provesThe straddling time is different. Let and let be the renewal measure . Independence of the next holding time from its start givesFor two numbers in , their minimum is at least their product. Since , subtracting times the second integral provesThese formulae handle holding-time atoms with the stated renewal convention ; sums may be interchanged by nonnegativity.
For rate- exponentials, the renewal process is Poisson. The elapsed age has probability distribution with : for , is the probability of no arrivals in , namely , with an atom at . The forward residual is an independent rate- exponential by independent future increments. Thus . Conditioning on the age gives the exact survival lawFor the extra term is strictly positive, proving strict inequality. For fixed and , the limit is , which equals the survival probability of the sum of two independent rate- exponentials. This is the finite-time form of the stochastic length bias of a renewal interval.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 32 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
On a product extension of the probability space, take a uniform distribution variable on independent of the original sigma-algebra. For ,These are the same conditional tails as in the maximal identity for a continuous nonnegative local martingale tending to zero. Taking expectations identifies the unconditional probability distributions:If , define ; the endpoint is a null event if one uses instead. The possible atom at zero has mass , since the conditional probability of a positive maximum is zero exactly on that event. For fixed , the conditional law is the Pareto distribution of shape one and minimum , with density on .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 32 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For standard Brownian motion and , let be its first hitting time of . Define the reflected path byleaving a path unchanged if . The Brownian reflection principle says that has the same path probability distribution as . In its endpoint form, for and every Borel set ,Here is a direct proof of preservation of the path law. For a fixed integer horizon , let , with an infinite first term interpreted as infinity. This is a stopping time taking finitely many deterministic grid values. On , the history determining that event is measurable at , and subsequent Brownian motion increments are independent of that history. Those increments and their negatives have the same joint law, by symmetry of centered normal distributions and independent increments. Thus reflecting after around preserves the full path law. For any fixed horizon , the reflected paths converge uniformly on to the displayed reflected path, by continuity as decreases to . This includes , since reflection after has no effect before . Passing to all finite-dimensional probability distributions proves the assertion; no prior recurrence claim is needed. Equivalently, the Strong Markov property gives the same proof by symmetry of the fresh increments after the hit. Reflection is an involution preserving the hitting event and mapping the indicated endpoint to . An endpoint above forces a hit by continuity; this proves the endpoint identity, rather than assuming it.
For , split according to whether is above or below . Since has no atom at , reflection givesBoth variables are nonnegative, so their positive tails identify the law:For this is the half-normal distribution of scale ; at both variables vanish.
For the two separated intervals, putHere is measurable for , has the normal distribution , and is a function of increments after . The independent increments make these three objects mutually independent. The later absolute maximum is , so equality of the two maxima means . Conditional on , this specifies a single value of the nondegenerate normal distribution , and hence has probability zero. ThereforeThis proves the atomless maxima on separated Brownian intervals without incorrectly treating the two absolute maxima as independent.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 34 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Only active routes, those with , enter the proportional fairness inequality and the weighted logarithmic utility. Their rates must be positive; inactive routes have no per-flow rate to determine and may be assigned zero. This convention removes otherwise meaningless terms and .
For positive active rates, concavity of the logarithm gives, for any positive feasible competitor ,Thus the proportional fairness inequality proves that maximizes the log-utility objective. A competitor with an active zero rate has utility and cannot improve it. Conversely, if maximizes utility, the right directional derivative along at is nonpositive, giving exactly that inequality. Positive resource capacities and finitely many active routes allow a feasible allocation with every active rate positive, so an optimizer cannot have an active zero rate. Strict concavity gives uniqueness of the active rates. Hence proportional fairness is equivalent to the stated log-utility maximization.
Index the four adjacent-pair routes in cyclic order and put , the aggregate service on route . The resource constraints areThey involve every odd-even route pair, so they are equivalent toFor given maxima, increasing each active odd service to and each active even service to remains feasible and improves utility. Apart from the constant , the objective therefore reduces toWhen both groups are present the constraint is tight, and differentiation gives . If one group is empty, the other receives unit aggregate service on each of its active routes. Thus the opposite-route reduction for a proportionally fair four-cycle yields, with ,Inactive rates can be set to zero, including every rate in the empty state. In particular whenever that route is active. This proves the required formula even when other routes are empty.
For the flow-level network model, an active document's residual size retains an exponential distribution with parameter . Receiving service at rate gives completion intensity , so independent active documents give total completion intensity . Consequently the population continuous-time Markov chain hasAll death intensities are zero at . Their total is bounded by , and the total arrival rate is constant, proving nonexplosion.
Put . The required stationary weight uses a binomial coefficient, as printed in the PDF; the converted TeX incorrectly rendered it as an ordinary fraction. DefineFor an odd route, the neighboring binomial coefficient ratio iswhile its death intensity at the neighboring state is . Their product is , so . For an even route, replace by in the same calculation. This proves detailed balance and the stationary law of a proportionally fair four-cycle:A finite is essential for this expression to be a probability distribution. We determine its exact convergence condition rather than asserting stationarity for arbitrary arrival rates. LetGrouping the states by odd and even population givesWith and , the bounds and show that convergence holds exactly when . For necessity, the lower bound sums to , which diverges at or above one. For sufficiency, choose slightly larger with ; the polynomial factors are absorbed into constants times , giving a convergent geometric generating series. Thus the stability region for the reversible four-cycle flow network isEquivalently, the offered load on each resource, , , , or , is strictly below its unit capacity. For positive arrival rates this finite normalizing constant gives the unique stationary distribution of the irreducible process. At or beyond the boundary, the displayed invariant weights are not summable and do not define a stationary probability law.
If an explicit normalizing constant is desired, for , and . Hence for , in the stable region,Equal-parameter cases are obtained by continuity or directly from the positive series. In particular the empty-traffic limit is .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 42 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For a nondegenerate distribution function , membership in its maximum domain of attraction means that there exist such thatat every continuity point of . A max-stable distribution satisfies: for each positive integer , there exist such that . Thus a maximum of independent copies has the same probability distribution after a change of location and scale.
Suppose first that . For fixed , the distribution functions have the two nondegenerate limitsThe given convergence-of-types result supplies constants such that . Equality extends from continuity points to all points by right continuity. Substitute to obtain , which proves max-stability with . Conversely, if is max-stable, take and its max-stability constants for . Then exactly for every , proving . Therefore the maximum domain of attraction is nonempty exactly when is max-stable.
For the particular logarithmic tail, complete the distribution function by taking for . Let be the unique solution of , and take . Equivalently , including with . For each fixed , eventually , andHere follows directly from its defining equation. Since as , it follows that . For , the probability is zero. ConsequentlyThis is the shape-one Fréchet distribution, and the calculation proves the limit at every real without needing a regular variation theorem.
The function is strictly increasing on . For every integer , , so . The defining equation now gives . Taking logarithms yields , whose right side is positive, soMultiplying by and squeezing gives . Slutsky theorem applied to the normalized sample maximum therefore gives the simpler logarithmic-tail Fréchet normalization
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 42 4 iv Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-20
For independent observations in a natural exponential family, the log likelihood isIn a minimal exponential family the observed Fisher information matrix is positive definite, so the log likelihood is strictly concave. Any finite solution of the likelihood equation is therefore the unique global maximum likelihood estimator. Existence is a separate issue: the observed sufficient-statistic mean must belong to the image of the mean parameter map .
For a full regular minimal natural exponential family this image is the interior of the convex support of an exponential family, . The necessity follows from a supporting hyperplane argument. If a finite parameter had its mean on a boundary face, some nonzero would satisfy almost surely and . Equality of the expectation forces almost surely. Exponential tilting preserves the base-measure null sets, so this contradicts minimality.
For sufficiency, let be an interior point of . Choose finitely many points of the support whose convex hull contains a ball about , say of radius . Such points exist because is interior to the closed convex hull; one may approximate the vertices of a small simplex surrounding it by finite convex combinations of support points. Take support neighbourhoods of radius at most with positive finite base-measure masses . These masses can be taken finite by restricting to bounded neighbourhoods and using finiteness of the normalizing integral at any fixed interior parameter. For every vector , at least one has . Integrating over that neighbourhood yieldsThus the negative log likelihood grows to infinity as . At a finite boundary point of the full open natural parameter space, the normalizing integral is infinite, since otherwise that point would itself belong to the full domain. Fatou's lemma makes diverge on approach to such a boundary. A minimizing sequence for therefore stays in a bounded subset away from the boundary; it has an interior limit where the minimum is attained. Its gradient vanishes, giving the required likelihood equation. Strict convexity gives uniqueness.
Hence, under these full, regular and minimal conventions,This is maximum likelihood existence in a full regular natural exponential family. Regularity alone does not make every sample admissible: in a Bernoulli distribution an all-zero or all-one sample has its sample mean on the boundary of , and the canonical maximum is approached only as or . The usual probability parameter then has a boundary maximum in an enlarged model, but no finite canonical maximizer. A regular restriction of the natural parameter space requires membership in its actual mean-map image, rather than merely in . Without minimality, affine redundancies may prevent uniqueness of the canonical parameter even when the fitted probability distribution is unique.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 39 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Work in the prime end closure of the marked domain, so that its two conformal boundary points are distinct even if their physical boundary representatives coincide. A chordal filling is a closed connected set joining those points, meeting the conformal boundary nowhere else, and full relative to the two boundary arcs between them: complementary pockets that do not reach either boundary arc have been added. In the normalized complex upper half-plane, its two complementary sides are simply connected and abut the negative and positive real axes. For a proper boundary-to-boundary curve, chordal filling means adjoining all such trapped pockets to its range. Independent curves are combined by taking their union and then applying this same chordal filling operation.
An admissible marked subdomain contains neighborhoods of the two marked boundary points and has a simply connected component joining them. The restriction property says that, conditional on the random chordal filling being contained in , its law is the chordal filling law for . Equivalently, mapping the conditional chordal filling conformally back to recovers the original law. The contained-set events are understood away from the shared marked endpoints.
By transporting the family under conformal maps, it suffices to work in . Let be an admissible compact H-hull whose closure avoids zero, and normalizeIn terms of the single normalized measure , restriction is preciselyThe Schwarz reflection principle extends analytically near zero, with , so the stated conditioning events have positive probability for the two laws considered below. This is the chordal restriction property for filled sets. An unbounded marked subdomain can be approximated by such compact-hull removals; conformal maps transport the formulation to general domains.
We need a determination principle for filled sets, since a probability of one avoidance event alone would not establish equality of laws. Choose countably many thin polygonal compact H-hulls with rational data, attached to real boundary intervals away from zero. For each chordal filling, every point of its complement has a path within one of the two complementary sides to the appropriate real boundary interval. A sufficiently thin tube along such a path avoids the chordal filling and contains a neighborhood of that point. Hence the union of interiors of all avoided test tubes is exactly the complement.
Their joint avoidance probabilities are also determined by single-hull probabilities. For a finite union of test compact H-hulls, either the union separates zero from infinity, in which case a connected chordal filling cannot avoid it, or its unbounded complementary component contains both marked endpoints. In the latter case fill the union's bounded pockets to get an admissible compact H-hull . A connected set joining zero to infinity and avoiding the union cannot enter one of these separated pockets, so it avoids as well. Thus joint avoidance is either impossible or is the avoidance event for . The inclusion-exclusion principle gives every finite joint probability distribution of the tube-avoidance indicators, and these indicators determine the random complement and chordal filling. This proves avoidance probabilities determine a chordal filling law.
In the given avoidance formulas, the argument of the conformal map must be the retained open domain, rather than the random closed filling. We express that domain as to keep the two objects distinct. The formulas then imply for the two filled processesThe chordal filling operation does not change avoidance of an admissible compact H-hull: every piece of that compact H-hull is attached to the real boundary away from the endpoints, and so cannot be inside a trapped pocket while its generating curve avoids the compact H-hull. These laws are conformally invariant as unparameterized chordal filling laws. For SLE this follows from Question 1; for the Brownian half-plane excursion, Brownian scaling of its independent one- and three-dimensional coordinates shows that its unparameterized law is unchanged by positive dilations, and mapping the Brownian half-plane excursion to another marked domain gives the conformally natural law. Conformal invariance of planar Brownian motion describes the corresponding change of time, which does not alter the chordal filling.
Here is the conditional-law calculation for either exponent . For another admissible compact H-hull in the image complex upper half-plane, setThe complement of is mapped to by this composition, so is again admissible; both maps fix zero and have derivative one at infinity. The chain rule gives . ThereforeThese are exactly the original chordal filling's avoidance probabilities for every . The determination principle proves equality of the conditional image law with the original law. Hence both generated chordal fillings have restriction, with exponents and respectively. This is a complete implication from the two allowed avoidance formulas; the restriction conclusion was not assumed.
For independent chordal fillings, avoidance of by their filled union is equivalent to avoidance by every component. Independence multiplies the probabilities, and thus adds their restriction exponents of a chordal filling. ConsequentlyThe determination principle applies once more, givingThe equality concerns the filled, unparameterized closed sets. The numerical reason is .