Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 ia Paper 1 9E c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2011 ia Paper 1 9F a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 1 12F a i Solution 2026-10-07
For a series with , suppose exists, allowing . The ratio test says the series converges if and diverges if . In the first case an eventual ratio bound by some compares the tail to a geometric series. In the second case an eventual ratio above some prevents the terms tending to zero.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 ia Paper 4 2E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
A real sequence converges to a finite limit ifA series converges when its partial sums form a convergent sequence with a finite limit. These are different conditions: a series concerns accumulated terms, whereas sequence convergence concerns the terms themselves.
If , then as well and . Explicitly, choose large enough that both partial sums lie within of ; the triangle inequality gives . Hence convergence of a series forces its terms to tend to zero.
For the converse, take . This is a null sequence, but its harmonic series diverges. In each block , there are terms each at least , so the block contributes at least . ThusA zero limit for the terms is necessary, but not sufficient, for convergent series.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ia Paper 4 5E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
A real sequence has limit of a sequence whenA series is a convergent series with sum when its partial sums have limit of a sequence .
For the first comparison test for series, either of the two allowed bounds implies . HenceThe partial sums form a monotone bounded sequence, so they converge. The series is convergent.
For the exponent , use for . The resulting telescoping series bounds every partial sum by , proving that the series converges by the monotone bounded sequence property. To prove divergence of the harmonic series, group the terms with : their sum is at least . Thus its partial sums are unbounded. If , then , so the comparison test for series proves
For the weighted square assumption, the finite-dimensional Cauchy-Schwarz inequality gives, for every ,Again the positive partial sums form a monotone bounded sequence. This is the weighted square roots of a summable sequence argument, with . The weighted square condition implies .
The converse is false. Take . Each block contributes at most , and the resulting geometric series converges. But , whose harmonic series diverges. This proves the counterexample without assuming the full P-series criterion.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 6 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For , the real Lp space is the vector space of real measurable functions with , identifying functions equal almost everywhere. Its Lp norm is . For , take the essentially bounded real measurable functions, with the same identification and norm . The identification makes each norm definite; absolute homogeneity follows from the Lebesgue integral, and the triangle inequality follows from Minkowski inequality for finite , or directly from the essential supremum for .
Here is a completeness proof valid on any measure space. For , a Cauchy sequence has a subsequence with . Choose measurable function representatives and put . By Minkowski inequality and the monotone convergence theorem,Consequently the series converges absolutely almost everywhere. Define there, and define it to be zero on the measurable exceptional null set. Then , and Fatou lemma applied to each tail gives . The original Cauchy sequence also converges in Lp norm, by the triangle inequality. For , choose the same subsequence using the essential supremum norm. Outside one measurable null set, all the bounds hold and is bounded. The series then converges uniformly there, with an essentially bounded measurable function limit and the same tail estimate in essential supremum norm. Thus all these spaces are Banach spaces.
The duality of Lp spaces says that, for and , the mapis an isometric isomorphism of normed spaces. This form of Lp duality on an arbitrary measure space requires no finiteness hypothesis on . At , a standard version assumes a sigma-finite measure and identifies with through the same dual pairing. That endpoint assertion must not be made without a suitable measure-space hypothesis.
We first prove the required duality of Lp spaces for a finite measure. Let and set . For disjoint measurable , the indicator functions of their partial unions converge in Lp norm to that of their union, so is countably additive. It has finite variation measure: for every finite measurable partition , choosing real signs givesAlso implies . The Radon-Nikodym theorem supplies a Radon-Nikodym derivative with . Linearity gives for simple functions. Uniform approximation by simple functions extends this identity to bounded measurable functions: both their Lp norm errors and the errors in integration against tend to zero.
To establish the correct integrability, test with the bounded measurable function . Since , writing givesThe second inequality is also valid when . The monotone convergence theorem gives and . Density of simple functions in the Lp space, together with Hölder's inequality, now gives on all of . Conversely Hölder's inequality gives . If , testing againstgives and , so . This also proves uniqueness of the representing Radon-Nikodym derivative.
For completeness, the passage to an arbitrary measure space can be made without losing a hypothesis in the reflexive Banach space argument below. On a sigma-finite measure space, exhaust by nested finite-measure sets . The representing Radon-Nikodym derivatives on agree on overlaps by uniqueness. Their glued density has Lp norm by the monotone convergence theorem, and represents because in Lp norm. Every on an arbitrary measure space is supported on a sigma-finite measurable set: the sets have finite measure and their union is .
Use support localization of an Lp functional as follows. For a sigma-finite measurable , let be the operator norm of restricted to functions supported in . The support observation gives . Choose approaching this supremum and set ; then . If a sigma-finite had , functions supported on the disjoint sets have the direct-sum Lp norm. Optimizing their two scalar coefficients by Hölder's inequality, and using functions approaching the two restriction operator norms, would givea contradiction. Thus vanishes on functions supported outside . The density on , extended by zero, represents globally. The case simply uses . This proves the stated Lp duality on an arbitrary measure space.
Finally let and let , where stars denote continuous dual spaces. Compose with to obtain the bounded linear functional on . Applying duality of Lp spaces with the exponents reversed gives with . For the canonical embedding into the bidual , its value on is also . Since is onto, . Its norm is by the same dual pairing norm identity. Therefore , which proves that is a reflexive Banach space through its actual canonical embedding into the bidual.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 6 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Work over and take a nonzero commutative unital Banach algebra , with . A character of an algebra is a nonzero multiplicative complex linear functional . It satisfies . Moreover : otherwise would be invertible, although its image under is zero. The bound on the spectrum of an element therefore gives , proving automatic continuity of characters and .
Every proper maximal ideal of is closed. Indeed its closure is an ideal; if this closure were all of , would contain an element within distance less than one of . Such an element is invertible by the Neumann series, forcing . Thus the closure is proper and maximality makes it equal to . The quotient Banach space , with its quotient Banach algebra structure, is a complex normed division algebra. By the Gelfand-Mazur theorem, it is , so the quotient map gives a character of an algebra with kernel . Conversely, the kernel of every character of an algebra is a maximal ideal, since the character is onto . The Zorn lemma supplies a maximal ideal containing every proper ideal, so the character space of an algebra is nonempty.
These facts give the exact relation between the character space and the spectrum of an element:One inclusion was proved above. For the other, if is noninvertible, the principal ideal it generates is proper because is commutative. Contain it in a maximal ideal and use its corresponding character of an algebra to obtain .
Give the Gelfand topology, namely its subspace topology from the weak-star topology on . In the closed unit ball of , it is the intersection of the closed conditionsConsequently Banach-Alaoglu theorem makes a compact Hausdorff space. For every , define the Gelfand transform . This is a continuous function on by definition of the Gelfand topology. The Gelfand representation theorem gives a contractive unital algebra homomorphism over a fieldMultiplicativity and linearity follow by evaluating at each character of an algebra; the supremum norm equality follows from the preceding spectrum of an element identity. Its kernel isthe Jacobson radical. Equivalently, its elements have spectrum of an element . Thus is injective precisely when is a semisimple commutative Banach algebra, and it gives a faithful continuous representation of as a function algebra. Its range contains the constants and separates points of , because distinct characters of an algebra differ on some . An arbitrary Banach algebra need not have an isometric or surjective Gelfand transform, nor a uniformly dense range: those conclusions require further hypotheses.
For the Banach algebra on a nonempty compact Hausdorff space , all characters of an algebra are evaluation characters. To see this, let be a maximal ideal. If its elements had no common zero, compactness would supply with no common zero. The continuous function belongs to , is strictly positive on , and has a continuous reciprocal. It is therefore invertible, a contradiction. Hence all elements of vanish at some , so and maximality gives equality. The associated character of an algebra must be : since , its value on is .
The map is a continuous bijection , using separation of points by continuous functions. Compactness and the Hausdorff property make it a homeomorphism. Under this identification the Gelfand transform is , so it is the identity representation of , in particular an isometric onto map. The empty gives the zero algebra, whose empty character space represents the zero function space; it was excluded by the nonzero unital convention above.
Now let be a commutative unital C-star algebra. The stronger conclusion is the Commutative Gelfand--Naimark theorem: the Gelfand transform is an isometric onto C-star homomorphism . We prove the additional assertions without assuming this conclusion.
First every character of an algebra respects the C-star algebra involution. If , the elements , , are unitary elements of a C-star algebra, and their norm is one by the C-star identity. Continuity and multiplicativity give . Thus for every real , forcing to be real. Writing with and self-adjoint gives . Therefore the range of is closed under complex conjugation.
Every element of commutative is a Normal element of a C-star algebra. For a normal , use the C-star identity, and then the same identity for the self-adjoint element , to obtainIts powers are also normal, so . The spectral radius formula gives , hence . The Gelfand transform is therefore an isometry, and its range is complete and closed in the supremum norm. It contains constants, separates points and is closed under complex conjugation. The complex Stone-Weierstrass theorem makes that range dense, hence all of .
The approximation step in Stone-Weierstrass theorem can also be seen directly here. For a unital conjugation-closed point-separating subalgebra , the real-valued part of its uniform closure is closed under absolute values, by polynomial approximation to on bounded intervals, hence under pointwise maxima and minima. Its real-valued functions separate points. Given real and , for each an affine rescaling of a separating function produces agreeing with at ; take a constant when . For fixed , finitely many neighbourhoods of where cover . Their maximum exceeds everywhere and agrees with at , hence is less than near . Finitely many of these latter neighbourhoods cover ; the minimum of their lies between and everywhere. Approximate real and imaginary parts separately. This proves the density used above and completes the C-star algebra conclusion.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ia Paper 4 2E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
For a nonempty set , an upper bound in a partially ordered set is a real number such that for every . Its supremum, or least upper bound, is an upper bound with for every upper bound . The least-upper-bound property asserts that every nonempty set of real numbers bounded above has a real supremum.
Let be a bounded, increasing sequence; here increasing allows . Apply the least-upper-bound property to its set of terms and put . Given , the number cannot be an upper bound, so some satisfies . The monotone sequence property then givesHence for all . This proves the monotone bounded sequence result, with limit .
For the two series, define their partial sums and . Positivity makes both partial-sum sequences increasing, and termwise comparison gives . Since is a convergent sequence, it is bounded above, and therefore so is . Applying the monotone bounded sequence result already proved shows that converges. By the definition of a convergent series, converges. This is the comparison test for series for positive terms.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ib Paper 3 2G b ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
For , , and the numerical series converges. The Weierstrass M-test therefore gives uniform convergence to . More explicitly,The bound is independent of , including points arbitrarily close to one.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ia Paper 4 8D a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
A sequence converges to when for every there is such that for all . A series converges to a finite when its partial sums converge to .
If the series converges, then , so its terms tend to zero. The converse is false: the harmonic series has terms tending to zero but diverges.
For the arithmetic averages, suppose . Fix and choose so for . The finite initial contribution is fixed, andFor sufficiently large , , provingThis is the Cesaro theorem for convergent sequences. Its hypothesis concerns a convergent sequence; the corresponding series need not be a convergent series.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ia Paper 4 8D b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
For the example, take . Every term is positive and different from , andThe bounding geometric series converges, so the comparison test for series proves that the partial sums converge.
In general, if converges, the necessary condition for a convergent series gives . Since ,Apply the Cesaro theorem for convergent sequences to these summands:Equivalently, . The series of the differences may converge while the series of the positive sums still diverges linearly.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 340 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use the Fourier transform convention . An orthonormal multiresolution analysis is a family of closed vector subspaces , indexed by integers, with , , and . Its dilation condition is if and only if . The space is invariant under integer function translations and admits a scaling function whose integer function translations form an orthonormal basis. Consequently form an orthonormal basis of .
Since , expansion in that orthonormal basis gives the scaling refinement equationThe series converges in the L2 norm. The associated low-pass filter of a multiresolution analysis is the periodic Fourier series symbolInitially the symbol is defined almost everywhere. Orthonormal integer function translations give the quadrature mirror filter identity almost everywhere. For a Lebesgue integrable scaling function, its Fourier transform is continuous and ; choosing a constant phase makes and the continuous representative near zero has . Different conventions absorb into the refinement coefficients; the displayed convention fixes that ambiguity.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 340 1 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
A wavelet with vanishing moments satisfies and for . The moment differentiation of the Fourier transform theorem states that these weighted integrability hypotheses make , with . Hence . The MRA projection Fourier identity, together with density of the approximation spaces and continuity of at zero, gives . These are the two analytic theorems needed in addition to the quadrature mirror filter construction.
For the ordinary derivative conclusion, assume also that the MRA low-pass filter is near and is near zero. These hypotheses hold, for example, for a compactly supported scaling function with a finite refinement filter. The wavelet identity givesThe denominator is nonzero near zero. Its reciprocal and the exponential are , so the product rule and the zero Taylor polynomial of give the smooth-mask vanishing-moment criterion
The printed integrability hypothesis alone does not guarantee ordinary higher derivatives. It gives only a continuous . Without added smoothness, Taylor theorem for still gives for the representative defined by the quotient: a Peano zero. This establishes the value at , and for the first derivative there, but it does not automatically establish iterated derivatives.
Here is a lacunary scaling-phase regularity counterexample for . Start with a compactly supported Daubechies wavelet having vanishing moments, with scaling function and finite MRA low-pass filter . Define the periodic phaseThe Fourier coefficients of are absolutely summable. The Wiener algebra is closed under multiplication and the exponential series, so and have absolutely summable Fourier coefficients. Thus is an absolutely summable combination of integer function translations of , belongs to , and generates the same . Unimodularity preserves orthogonality and unit norm of its integer function translations; the inverse phase preserves their complete span. The same approximation spaces therefore give a multiresolution analysis.
The identity gives , so the periodic phase change of a scaling function produces . In the high-pass formula the phases cancel:The associated wavelet is therefore exactly the original one, with unchanged vanishing moments.
At any dyadic point , the difference quotient of the terms with is per term. The sum of these errors and the remaining tail divided by are bounded; the finitely many earlier terms have finite limits. Hence , which has no finite limit. The exponential has the same failure of differentiability. Dyadic points are dense, and is nonzero for sufficiently small . Thus is not differentiable on any neighborhood of , so an ordinary second derivative at , understood as the derivative of a locally defined first derivative, need not exist. The Peano zero remains valid. This separates the intended smooth-mask theorem from what the literal assumptions establish.