Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 106 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The Hahn-Banach theorem for bounded linear functionals says that a bounded linear functional on any linear subspace of a normed vector space extends to the whole space with its norm unchanged. No closedness or completeness of the subspace is required. Question 1 uses real-valued , so its operator assertions are read over the real scalar field. The analogous complex statements use complex-valued indexed functions.
For , define on its one-dimensional span. This is a norm-one functional, so Hahn-Banach theorem supplies an extension withThe canonical embedding into the bidual is . It is linear and . The bounded linear functional just constructed gives the reverse inequality for nonzero , and the zero case is immediate. Thus and is injective.
For the coordinate functional representation of an operator into bounded indexed functions, let evaluate a coordinate and put . If is bounded and linear, then and . Conversely, if , the formula defines a bounded scalar function for each , is linear, and satisfies . Combining the two estimates givesFor an empty index set both spaces/families have norm bound zero; the supremum of the empty nonnegative family is taken as zero.
Choose and . The Hahn-Banach theorem makes , so this is a linear isometric embedding into bounded scalar functions on an index set.
If is nonzero and separable, choose a dense sequence in its unit sphere and supporting functionals with . For a unit vector and , some satisfies , whence . Thus is a countable norming family and is an isometry into the l-infinity sequence space. Completeness of is not needed.
If instead for a separable normed vector space , choose a dense sequence in . The evaluations lie in and continuity of gives . This again gives , even when is not separable. If , use zero coordinates throughout.
To prove 1-injectivity, take on a subspace of . Extend every coordinate to by Hahn-Banach theorem, keeping its norm. Their uniform bound defines , and the coordinate norm identity yieldsSelection of these extensions uses the usual choice convention for arbitrary index sets. This verifies the lambda-injective normed space definition with .
For the final retraction characterization of lambda-injectivity, suppose first that is lambda-injective and is a linear isometry. The inverse has norm one when ; extend it to with . Then , and is a bounded projection onto . For the zero space take .
Conversely, suppose every linear isometry out of has such a left inverse. Fix an isometry as above and a left inverse with . For any , extend to by 1-injectivity. Then extends , and . Therefore is lambda-injective exactly when every isometric embedding admits a bounded map satisfying
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 106 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The weak-star topology is the coarsest topology making continuous for every . Its basic neighbourhoods of zero impose finitely many inequalities .
Suppose first that zero had a countable neighbourhood base in the entire dual. Choose a basic neighbourhood controlled by a finite set , and let . Given , the neighbourhood contains some , hence . If , the Hahn-Banach theorem supplies a bounded linear functional which vanishes on but has . Indeed, the finite-dimensional span is closed, and the functional taking to on its sum with is bounded because . Every scalar multiple of lies in , contradicting . Thus , and has countable Hamel dimension.
If is infinite-dimensional, every finite-dimensional is closed and has empty interior. Completeness rules out their union. For clarity, the Baire category theorem needed here has a direct nested-ball proof: inside a starting open ball choose a closed ball missing , then inside its interior choose a closed ball missing , and continue with positive radii tending to zero. The centres are Cauchy; their limit belongs to every ball and to none of the , a contradiction. A metric topology would have a countable ball base at zero. HenceThis is the weak-star topology on an entire infinite-dimensional Banach dual is not metrizable result. It does not contradict weak-star metrizability of the dual ball for a separable predual: that assertion concerns a bounded subset.
The Banach-Alaoglu theorem states that is compact for for every normed vector space , whether complete or not. Embed it in the product by its evaluations. Each factor is compact, so Tychonoff theorem makes the product compact Hausdorff. The equations expressing additivity and scalar homogeneity define a closed subset of the product. Its elements are exactly the bounded linear functionals of norm at most one, since the coordinate bounds give . The induced product topology is precisely weak-star, proving the theorem.
The theorem printed as “Goldstein” is the standard Goldstine theorem: is weak-star dense in for the canonical embedding into the bidual. To prove it, fix and . The set is convex. If were outside its closure, finite-dimensional Hahn-Banach separation theorem would supply coefficients such that, for ,The real case omits real parts; in the complex case every real-linear separating functional on has the displayed form. The supremum equals the dual norm by multiplying vectors by signs or unimodular scalars. The strict inequality contradicts . Thus , which is exactly approximation on every prescribed finite family of weak-star coordinates.
Now take with its compact Hausdorff weak-star topology. For each , the evaluation is continuous on , and Hahn-Banach theorem gives . Thereforeis the isometric evaluation embedding into continuous functions on a compact dual ball, over the same scalar field as .
For the final sequential assertions, choose a norm-dense sequence in the separable dual and suppose . Each bounded scalar sequence has a convergent subsequence: divide a bounding interval or square into finitely many smaller closed pieces, repeatedly retain one containing infinitely many terms, and let the diameters tend to zero. Successive extraction for , followed by a diagonal subsequence , makes every converge.
If the conclusion is immediate. Otherwise, for any and , choose with . For sufficiently large ,Thus exists for every . Taking limits proves linearity, and provesThis diagonal argument includes the continuity estimate rather than appealing to a sequential compactness theorem.
If is not reflexive, choose , scaling a bidual element outside if necessary. The Goldstine theorem proved above supplies with for . Norm density and the bound extend this convergence to every . Hence weak-star. Every subsequence has the same coordinate limits, so a weakly convergent subsequence with limit would give , a contradiction. This sequential Goldstine approximation for a separable dual provesThe construction uses the Goldstine proof already given, not an unproved weak sequential compactness result.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 132 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
In local holomorphic coordinates, write the two positive singular values of as . Preservation of orientation gives , and quasiconformality gives .
For an admissible conformal metric on , define a density on by . Along each path,so . The change of variables formula and giveAlso , so . Thus has positive finite area and is admissible, andTaking the supremum over provesApplying the same argument to , which has the same bound on its maximal dilatation, also gives . The inequalities remain valid for extended extremal lengths; no extremizing density need exist.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 217 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The equal-variance form of Slepian's lemma is the following. If are centered vectors with multivariate normal distributions, for every , and whenever , thenfor every threshold vector . In particular . No nonsingularity of the covariance matrices is required.
Here the pointwise variances and differ. To make the comparison rigorous, use the increment form, namely the Sudakov-Fernique inequality: if centered multivariate normal distributions satisfy for every pair, then . Unlike the preceding form of Slepian's lemma, this statement has no equal-pointwise-variance hypothesis.
For completeness, the increment form follows by Gaussian integration by parts. Make independent, define for , and letThe are softmax function weights, with and . Direct differentiation gives and . The Gaussian integration by parts identity therefore yieldsThe last summands are nonnegative because . Sinceintegration in and the limit prove the Sudakov-Fernique inequality. All derivatives needed here are bounded for a fixed . Singular covariance matrices can be handled by adding small independent centered normal noise with the same variance to both vectors, proving the identity for the nonsingular vectors, and letting the noise variance decrease to zero.
Use the printed normalization of fractional Brownian motion, which omits the conventional factor . Its increment variance isFor and , . Enumerate by increasing finite subsets whose union is , with . The Sudakov-Fernique inequality givesBoth Gaussian processes vanish at zero almost surely. Thus these maxima are nonnegative and increase with ; monotone convergence theorem givesTheir continuous modifications agree with the original Gaussian processes simultaneously on the countable set , after discarding a single null event. Continuity and density of the rational parameters make each rational supremum equal to the supremum over for these modifications.
The expected suprema are finite. Indeed, the canonical distance of is . A Euclidean grid supplies a closed-ball metric covering number bound for . The Dudley entropy integral bound for an anchored centered separable Gaussian process isThe integral is finite since its integrand grows at most like a constant times near zero. The same argument applies to .
For any real path vanishing at zero,A centered Gaussian process has the same probability law as its negative. Combining this symmetry with the increment comparison gives the stronger boundIn particular the requested comparison isThe common normalization factor affects both sides equally. The comparison is valid for every , including the equality cases or in the increment bounds.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 339 1 h Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For in the dual cone , copositivity of gives . An upper-bounding Lagrangian for the maximization is thereforeIts supremum over unrestricted is finite precisely when . Minimizing that upper bound gives the conic programThis is completely positive optimization, not simply semidefinite programming: is the completely positive cone.
There is also a direct equality certificate. Every feasible , , has . Its objective is a weighted average of the nonnegative-sphere Rayleigh quotients, hence is at least . For a minimizing unit vector from part (g), is feasible and has objective . Thus attains the dual and both values agree, without relying on unverified regularity assumptions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ia Paper 1 3E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Let be increasing and bounded above, and let . For every , the definition of the supremum supplies with . Monotonicity gives for every , proving . This is the monotone bounded sequence theorem.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 202 1 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Use the standard convention that the finite-variation process has càdlàg paths and that the stochastic integral starts from zero. Write for its total-variation process. The necessary admissibility condition is almost surely for each finite ; it holds, for example, for locally bounded . Define the pathwise Lebesgue-Stieltjes integralAn atom at contributes , so this convention also fixes the treatment of jumps.
Fix . For a generator of the predictable sigma-algebra, with , the Lebesgue-Stieltjes integral isIt vanishes when and is -measurable otherwise. The total-variation process is adapted: for a càdlàg path its value at is the supremum over a countable collection of partitions of an interval using rational interior points and endpoint . Thus the positive and negative Lebesgue-Stieltjes measures have -measurable masses on the generator intervals.
The Monotone class theorem, applied separately to these positive random measures on , extends this measurability from the generators of the predictable sigma-algebra to all nonnegative predictable processes. Truncation and positive/negative decomposition then cover every admissible . Consequently is adapted.
The integrability condition is essential. Taken literally, an arbitrary previsible process cannot always be integrated against a finite-variation process: with and deterministic for , , the proposed value at every diverges. The usual càdlàg convention is also what identifies by .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ia Paper 1 10D Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
The intermediate value theorem states that if is continuous and lies between and , then some satisfies .
Assume and letThe least-upper-bound property makes well defined. If , continuity gives points immediately to the right of in , contradicting that is an upper bound. If , continuity gives a left neighborhood of disjoint from , contradicting the definition of the supremum. Thus . The endpoint and reversed-order cases follow directly or by replacing with .
The mean value theorem states that if is continuous on and differentiable on , then some satisfiesFor the functions in the question, the definition of the derivative makes continuous at and continuous at , withIf the middle secant slope equals , take . If it exceeds , the intermediate value theorem applied to gives with , and we take . If it is below , apply the theorem to to obtain with , and take . In every caseThe mean value theorem on this subinterval then produces withThis is the Darboux theorem for derivatives for the stated pair of derivative values.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ib Paper 2 4G b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
First recall from the least-upper-bound property that every real interval is connected. For completeness, if were a separation with , let be the supremum of the points for which remains in . Relative openness rules out both and : in the first case one can move slightly to the right while staying in , and in the second one finds points of slightly to the left of , contrary to the definition of . Thus no separation exists.
Part (a) now makes a connected subset of the real line. Such a set is an interval: if it contained but omitted , its intersections with and would separate it. Since contains and , it consequently contains every number between them. Therefore for each such there is an with . This derives the intermediate value theorem from connectedness.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ib Paper 4 3E ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
No. For each , , whereas for every . The pointwise limit on is thereforeThis limit is not continuous at . Since every is continuous, the uniform limit theorem rules out uniform convergence. Directly, for , whose supremum over is for every .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 121 2 ii Solution 2026-10-03
Fix . Inside the ambient transitive model , the Axiom of power set makes the collection of constructible subsets of a set. For each such subset , choose the least stage of the constructible hierarchy at which appears. The Axiom schema of replacement and the supremum of a set of ordinals give an ordinal bounding all these stages; enlarge so that .
Nowis definable over with parameter . It therefore belongs to the definable power set . This set contains exactly the subsets of that belong to the constructible universe, so it witnesses the Axiom of power set in . Therefore Power Set.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ii Paper 3 16I iii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
True. For each , the singleton set is a finite subset of , so the hypothesis givesTaking the supremum over all yields
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 ib Paper 3 11F Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
A topological space is connected when it is not the union of two disjoint nonempty open subsets. It is path-connected when every two points can be joined by a path, meaning a continuous map with and .
To prove that is connected, suppose it had a separation with . LetWhichever of or contains , its relative openness supplies an interval about that contradicts either the definition of the supremum or the fact that all points immediately below lie in . Thus no separation exists.
If is path-connected and were a separation, choose and . A path from to would make the union of the disjoint nonempty open sets and , contradicting the connectedness just proved. Hence
Now let be open. Every point lies in an open ball contained in , and an open ball is path-connected by straight line segments. It follows that every path component of is open. If there were more than one path component, one component and the union of all the others would separate . Consequently a connected open subset of Euclidean space is path-connected. The converse follows from the preceding implication.
The same argument answers the locally Euclidean question affirmatively. Every point has a neighbourhood homeomorphic to an open subset of , hence a path-connected open neighbourhood after restricting to a sufficiently small ball. Thus is locally path-connected, its path components are open, and connectedness forces there to be only one.
For the final example, putThe set is path-connected: each vertical segment meets the horizontal segment . The segment is also path-connected and lies in the closure of , because for every . A connected set together with a connected subset of its closure is connected, so
It is not path-connected. The image of the first coordinate of any path in lies inbut, while the path has positive height, its first coordinate lies in the totally disconnected set . A path beginning on cannot leave before reaching height zero, and contains no point with . Hence no path joins to , and
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ii Paper 2 16H a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
For a nonzero ordinal , letThe set is nonempty because , and it is an initial segment because ordinal exponentiation by is strictly increasing. Put .
If is a successor, the definition of the supremum forces . If is a limit ordinal, then continuity of ordinal exponentiation givesso again . Thus , while by the definition of the supremum. Hence is the greatest required exponent.
Apply division by an additively indecomposable ordinal with :Since , the quotient is nonzero. It must be finite: if , thencontradicting the maximality of . Writing givesThis is the leading-term decomposition.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 202 2 a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
A càdlàg process is a finite-variation process when, almost surely, for every ,where the supremum is over every finite partition of an interval .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 131 2 b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
The Bonnet-Myers theorem states that if a complete connected -dimensional Riemannian manifold satisfiesfor some , thenIn particular, is compact and has finite fundamental group.
By the Hopf-Rinow theorem, points are joined by a unit-speed length-minimizing geodesic . Choose a parallel orthonormal frame normal to and setThe endpoint-vanishing fields arise from fixed-endpoint variations. Since minimizes length, its Riemannian index form is nonnegative on each . Summing the second variation of Riemannian arc length givesUsing the Ricci curvature bound and integrating and yieldsso . Taking the supremum over proves the diameter bound. Hopf-Rinow now makes the closed bounded space compact. Finally, the same bound applies to the complete universal cover; a compact universal cover has finite fibres over , so is finite.
Pointwise versus uniform risk distinction 2026-10-06
A risk function can decay rapidly for each fixed regression function while its supremum over a function class decays more slowly or fails to decay. Bounds depending on each function's local differentiability remainder need not be uniform. In fixed-design nonparametric regression, a class with no common smoothness bound permits smooth bump functions whose supports shrink between design points. Such sequences obstruct uniform estimation without contradicting fixed-function mean squared error bounds.
Suppose with a random finite . On , a finite net with radius bounds the full supremum by the grid maximum plus . The Markov inequality controls the exceptional event using , and a union bound controls the grid maximum. Choosing the net spacing balances these two costs.
Relaxed graph-area functional 2026-10-06