Gaussian posterior in the zero-noise limit 2026-10-05
For , with independent and , the multivariate normal distribution of the Bayesian posterior has posterior mean and covariance matrix . The singular value decomposition shows that the variance on a right singular vector of nonzero singular value is , while the variance along the null space is one. Thus, for fixed data, the mean tends to the minimum-norm least-squares solution and the covariance tends to the orthogonal projection onto the null space. Unobserved components retain their prior distribution even as the noise vanishes.
Operator Schmidt rank 2026-10-07
The operator Schmidt rank of a bipartite linear operator is its shortest expansion as a sum of product linear operators. Expanding in local orthonormal operator bases gives a coefficient matrix; its matrix rank is the operator Schmidt rank, by a singular value decomposition. It is unchanged by invertible local operator-basis changes. A rank-one projector onto a bipartite pure state of Schmidt rank has operator Schmidt rank : its expansion contains all independent products of local matrix units.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 65 5 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Write a bipartite pure state in fixed product bases as . The Schmidt decomposition theorem, equivalently the singular value decomposition of , says that its Schmidt rank equals . A branch of local operations is a product operator , so its coefficient matrix isThe elementary rank inequality proves Schmidt-rank contraction under product operators. Normalizing a nonzero branch does not change matrix rank.
For an adaptive LOCC protocol, a complete classical transcript selects one local Kraus operator at each stage. Multiplying the local operators along that transcript still gives one product . ConsequentlyClassical communication changes which product operator is chosen, not this rank bound. If the overall output is a pure state, every nonzero branch must be proportional to that same vector, so its Schmidt rank also cannot increase. If the outcome is discarded and the output is mixed, pure-state Schmidt rank is not defined; the induced decomposition instead shows that its Schmidt number is at most the original rank. This includes probabilistic filtering as well as deterministic pure-state conversion.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 31 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
With the same squared-error normalization as in Question 2, the ridge estimator solvesThe unpenalized intercept in ridge regression is because the columns of are centered. Differentiating the remaining quadratic objective gives . Since , the left matrix is positive definite even when is rank-deficient. Thus the closed-form ridge regression estimator isThe second equality again uses centering. If the penalty convention is with an unnormalized squared-error term , replace by throughout; the limiting assertion is unchanged.
For the full-column-rank case, take a singular value decomposition with positive singular values . The ordinary least squares estimator, which is the slope maximum-likelihood estimator in this normal linear model, and the ridge regression estimator are respectivelyConsequently principal-component shrinkage by ridge regression multiplies the least-squares coordinate in direction by . Ridge shrinks most strongly in directions with the smallest singular values. These are combinations of predictors that the data distinguish least well.
Near multicollinearity creates small singular values, and the factor in ordinary least squares greatly amplifies noise in those directions. Its coefficient variance there is , while the ridge variance iswhich is smaller. The price is bias: the expectation of the ridge coordinate is times the corresponding true coefficient. This bias-variance tradeoff can substantially reduce estimation and prediction error when the poorly identified directions do not contain an excessively large signal. It is not a guarantee of improvement for every coefficient vector. Adding to every eigenvalue also improves the condition number of the normal matrix and makes numerical inversion more stable.
To handle every rank and every relation between and , put and use its spectral theorem for real symmetric matrices. Choose an orthonormal eigenbasis with eigenvalues , and put . ThenIf , then , so and . Thus these terms are exactly zero for every positive ; there is no divergent component in the null space. Each remaining term converges to . By the definition of the Moore-Penrose pseudoinverse,and thereforeThis proves the vanishing-penalty ridge limit without an invertibility assumption. The limit is the minimum-norm least-squares solution: every other least-squares solution differs by a vector in , orthogonal to the displayed solution, and therefore has at least as large a Euclidean norm.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 69 3 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Interpret the printed coordinate notation as the square corners , , , . This listed order is clockwise, contrary to the counterclockwise convention in (ii). Keep the printed first side directed from top to bottom. Then , , and . Put and , where is the outward normal derivative on the right side. The pullback formula, without any orientation shortcut, givesIndeed , and . If one reverses the side to match the counterclockwise convention, its parameter is and its integrand is . Reversing every side multiplies the global relation by minus one, leaving its zero value unchanged.
The unheaded numerical reconstruction request. The four unknown Neumann boundary conditions are four functions on the sides, not four scalar values. The polygonal global relation is linear in their outward normal derivatives, and its remaining terms depend only on the prescribed Dirichlet boundary data.
Choose a finite approximation on each side, for example an expansion of in Legendre polynomials or piecewise polynomials. Substitute those expansions into the consistently oriented global relation. At chosen nonzero spectral parameters for a linear boundary value problem, integrate the exponential kernels against each basis function to assemble a complex linear system; the known right-hand side is obtained by integrating the given Dirichlet boundary data. Use enough independent samples to resolve all side coefficients, and preferably oversample. The conjugate global relations for the modified Helmholtz equation provide useful companion tests; for complex data use the corresponding independent adjoint relation rather than assuming the traces real.
Solve the scaled system by least-squares solution using a stable factorization such as a singular value decomposition. Sampling directions should probe all sides, and exponential row scaling avoids overflow and poor conditioning. Refine the side approximation and spectral samples until the recovered traces and unused global relation residuals stabilize. Corner incompatibilities or limited corner regularity call for mesh refinement or enriched endpoint basis functions. This realizes a numerical Dirichlet-to-Neumann map without first discretizing the whole interior.
The underlying Dirichlet problem is uniquely solvable in the usual trace class for with : the homogeneous problem has . This supports the boundary reconstruction, although uniqueness of the continuous problem alone does not guarantee that an arbitrary finite set of spectral samples is well conditioned.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 111 4 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The selected singular value decomposition directly givesEach is a real nonnegative singular value. The scale factor in both matrices cancels in this equation and is chosen to give the precise Hilbert-Schmidt inner product normalization in (iv).
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 111 4 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use , the necessary parameter range for the bounds involving . The construction comes from the singular value decomposition of matrix Fourier blocks. For each inequivalent unitary irreducible representation of dimension , consider the Hilbert space with the Hilbert-Schmidt inner product and the operatorIts operator norm is at most one, since is a unitary matrix and . Thus all its singular values lie in .
Two identities control their weighted moments:Here the expectation in is uniform on the solutions of the constraint, and the trace on used to compute each moment is the ordinary operator trace. We justify the identities explicitly to fix their normalizations and the noncommutative order.
The adjoint operator is , soFor rectangular matrices, the operator has trace , as is seen on the matrix-unit basis. Squaring the previous operator therefore givesThe required representation theory consists of unitarization of a finite-group representation, the Schur orthogonality relations, and the regular representation decomposition. The last gives the character expansion of the identity deltaSumming the two operator traces with weights selects in the first, and in the second. Multiplication by converts each independent-variable expectation to its conditional expectation. This proves . In particular is real and nonnegative, despite the apparently complex summands in its original formula. Since , the nonvacuous hypothesis has .
Select every singular value satisfying . Index the selected pairs by , set , , and choose unit right singular vectors and unit left singular vectors with . DefineBoth are matrices, proving (i). Repeated group representations in this list are literally the same chosen representative, rather than different equivalent realizations.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 323 4 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For any normalized pure state on finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces , the Schmidt decomposition givesThe and form orthonormal sets in their respective spaces. The positive numbers are the Schmidt coefficients, and is the Schmidt rank. Taking a partial trace gives the reduced density matricesThus the nonzero eigenvalues of the two reduced density matrices agree.
One construction is a singular value decomposition of the coefficient matrix in . If , the columns of give , the complex conjugates of the columns of give , and the singular values give . This also explains why the Schmidt coefficients are real and nonnegative.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 331 4 b iv Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For the linear evolution from part (iii), maximize the energy ratio at each time. The optimal energy amplification of a linear system isThus the optimizing initial state is a right singular vector, not generally an eigenvector of .
There is a convenient exact way to find the maximizing time. Let be a unit optimizing initial vector and . The singular value decomposition gives . For , the top singular value is simple. At an interior time maximum,Since , this also equals . Thus both initial and final orientations are neutral energy-growth directions. The positive entries of let the top right singular vector be chosen with positive components. Its orientation decreases through the growth sector, so it must start at and end at .
Put and . The solution givesSetting this equal to yieldsTherefore the exact optimal time for isHere and below is the natural logarithm. This is the unique positive stationary time: decreases monotonically from one to zero, and the neutral-direction condition determines one . Also , , and admits initial energy growth, so this stationary point is the global maximum. For , the instantaneous energy-growth criterion for a linear system gives no amplification, and the maximum is one at time zero.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 326 1 3 a Solution 2026-10-06
A singular system of a compact operator consists of positive singular values and orthonormal systems , satisfyingThey span and , respectively. The singular value decomposition isFor an infinite-rank compact operator, the singular values tend to zero; for finite rank the sum is finite. Vectors in contribute nothing. This convention labels the input singular vectors by and the output ones by .
For , truncating after diagonal entries gives finite-rank operators with operator-norm error , proving compactness. Its SVD is