Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ii Paper 4 29K a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Write , where has the standard normal distribution. Apply Gaussian integration by parts to :Since ,The polynomial growth assumption and decay of the normal distribution density justify the integration by parts.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 211 2 c Solution 2026-10-03
Condition on and use the characteristic function of a standard normal distribution:The integrand has modulus one, so Fubini's theorem is immediate. Taking expectation over yields
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 348 1 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The intended monotone rearrangement isHere is the quantile function of , agreeing with the ordinary inverse when is continuous and strictly increasing. With an atomless measure , its cumulative distribution function is continuous, and the probability integral transform makes uniform on for . Thus . The one-dimensional monotone rearrangement theorem says this transport map minimizes the cost for convex continuous , whenever the cost integrals are well defined. Values at exceptional endpoints may be chosen arbitrarily.
The printed assumptions omit an essential source condition. Invertibility of alone does not ensure an admissible transport map. For example, and a standard normal distribution satisfy the stated condition on , but is always a Dirac measure. There is no solution to the Monge optimal transport problem in this example. The boxed answer therefore requires the additional assumption that is an atomless measure, or an equivalent condition making the displayed map admissible. For arbitrary sources the always admissible monotone transport plan is , which need not be induced by a map.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ia Paper 1 12F c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
Since and a standard normal variable has second and fourth moments and ,Thus has the chi-squared distribution with degrees of freedom and
Convergence in distribution means that the cumulative distribution functions satisfy at every continuity point of . The Lévy continuity theorem states that this is equivalent to pointwise convergence of characteristic functions to the characteristic function of , provided the limiting function is continuous at zero.
For fixed , independence and a Gaussian integral giveUsing ,Therefore , the characteristic function of the standard normal distribution. Lévy's theorem now givesThis derives the limit directly, without assuming the central limit theorem.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 3 28J ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
Let be the likelihood function. Since the prior distribution is , the posterior density has the formwhere is the normalizing constant.
Choose and use the Gaussian autoregressive proposal reversible with respect to a standard normal distributionThuswhose covariance matrix is the required . Reversibility with respect to the standard normal distribution sayssoThe Metropolis–Hastings acceptance probability therefore reduces toThis is the Preconditioned Crank–Nicolson algorithm with proposal scale .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 iii Paper 223 1 a Solution 2026-09-28
Let . Since has an everywhere positive density, it is continuous and strictly increasing, so . Membership in the Kolmogorov neighborhood of a distribution givesBy the symmetry of the standard normal distribution,The stated asymptotic-bias formula for the sample median therefore yields
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 iii Paper 223 3 b Solution 2026-09-28
If , then has a scaled half-normal distribution withPut . The population median is , and the asymptotic distribution of a sample median gives
Under , positivity of the scale means . If is the -quantile of the standard normal distribution, an asymptotically level- test rejects forLarger scale makes the population median larger, so this is the appropriate one-sided rejection region.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 ii Paper 3 28J b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Let be the corresponding standard normal distribution quantile. Slutsky theorem permits replacing by the consistent estimator , giving the confidence intervalAfter standardization, the preceding convergence in distribution and continuity of the normal distribution show that its coverage tends to .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ii Paper 2 5J Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-09-25
The commands choose observations and predictors; generate a matrix of independent standard-normal values; generate independent binary random variables with success probability ; and report the observed number of successes, . The first
glm call then fits the Bernoulli logistic-regression modelThe prediction command returns the fitted response probabilities and sums them.The likelihood isAt the maximum-likelihood estimator, the intercept component of the score function isThereforeexactly, by the fitted-mean balance for logistic regression with an intercept.
The second fit uses probit regression,where is the standard normal distribution function. Its intercept score isa weighted residual equation. It does not imply , so exact equality is not expected. The output should nevertheless be close to : the data were generated with constant success probability independently of , so the fitted slopes should be small, the linear predictors should cluster near a common intercept, and the score weights should be nearly constant.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 223 1 a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Put . The standardized efficient score function for scale isAn optimal B-robust scale M-estimator solveswhere the optimal bounded score has the clipped-score formThe constants enforce Fisher consistency, the chosen normalization, and the clipping bound on the influence function.
For the standard normal distribution, , hence . The score therefore simplifies towith chosen so that for .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 356 2 b Solution 2026-09-28
Let be independent random variables with the standard normal distribution. The unconstrained Milstein method step isThe noise is additive, so its Milstein correction vanishes. The diagonal, independent noise fields commute, so no cross iterated stochastic integral is required.
Implement each reflecting boundary condition for a diffusion by folding the proposed coordinate back into . One formula that also handles multiple overshoots isThe complete update isUnder the usual smoothness assumptions, the Milstein discretization has strong order of convergence one and weak order of convergence one. The reflection enforces the boundary pathwise.
The probability density function must integrate to one, soAlso, linearity of expectation and the mean and variance of the standard normal distribution giveUsing the probability density function to compute this expected value givesThese are the values and of the gamma function.
Since is nonnegative, its cumulative distribution function is zero for . For ,The last equality uses the symmetry of the standard normal distribution. Thus
Apply the central limit theorem to the independent and identically distributed random variables , whose mean and variance are and . It gives the approximate standard normal distributionThe supplied standard normal quantile leaves probability in each tail. HenceSince , this event is equivalent toFor , equivalently integer , both denominators below are positive. Inverting the inequalities gives the approximate confidence intervalThe approximation is justified for large ; positivity at by itself does not guarantee accurate coverage. This construction is a confidence interval from a relative normal pivot: the unknown scale remains inside the pivotal ratio until the inequalities are inverted. Its meaning is that the random interval covers the fixed statistical parameter with probability approximately under repeated sampling.
The sample mean is exactly , so has the standard normal distribution. The given quantile gives probability to the interval . Inverting this pivot yields the exact confidence interval
Let and . The standard normal distribution is symmetric and assigns no probability mass to zero. Thus , and its equal two-sided tails giveThereforeso the two events are independent. The permitted approximation gives and , but independence is exact.
An expected value of a signed random variable is finite precisely when its absolute value is integrable. With the standard normal distribution probability density function,For , this integral equals . For , its integrand does not decay sufficiently and the integral diverges. ThereforeThe value is zero by the odd function and the symmetric distribution. For the other , both positive and negative parts have infinite integrals; formal cancellation would give only a Cauchy principal value, not an expected value. This distinction is the integrability threshold for exponential powers of a Gaussian.
The standard normal distribution function is strictly increasing. Thus impliesRearranging givesThis is the confidence-interval/test duality for the matching one-sided procedures. The strict inequalities agree with the printed open interval.
Let and . For independent and identically distributed random variables, the central limit theorem statesThe limit is the standard normal distribution. If the variance is zero, then almost surely; the centered sums are zero, and division by is not defined.
By part (c) with , let for independent and identically distributed exponential random variables. The requested integral is . Each summand has expectation one and variance one, so the central limit theorem givesZero is a continuity point of the standard normal distribution, and consequently