Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 165 3 ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Apply the rational Serre spectral sequence to the path-loop fibration of . Its fiber iswhose rational cohomology ring is with . Since the path space is contractible, must transgress to a nonzero class . Multiplicativity givesOver these differentials pair and kill every positive-degree class except , while graded commutativity gives . Hence
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 165 3 i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Use the path-loop fibrationand its rational Serre spectral sequence. The total space is contractible, while is in degrees and and zero otherwise. The only possible nonzero differential isConvergence to the cohomology of a point first forces to be an isomorphism, and then inductively forces an isomorphism from each nonzero vertical group to the group three degrees below it in the other column. Therefore
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 165 4 i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Write , , and . In total degree at most two, the page of the mod-two Serre spectral sequence hasand . A periodic free resolution of the cyclic group gives and . Hence , while the universal coefficient theorem for cohomology gives ; both are one-dimensional.
The edge map is induced by multiplication by and is therefore zero modulo two. Consequentlyis an isomorphism. The differential out of is zero, because the total space has a one-dimensional which must survive in filtration zero. Thus for every and ,and all other groups in that range vanish.
It follows thatThe surviving filtration-zero class is the restriction of the degree-two class of , so