Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 29 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
For , define the Riemann zeta function by the absolutely convergent Dirichlet seriesThe Euler product follows from unique prime factorization and absolute convergence. The counting-function integral givesBecause the fractional part is bounded, the last integral, and its derivatives with respect to on compact subsets, converge uniformly for . It is a holomorphic function there. This proves the Meromorphic continuation of the Riemann zeta function to the right half-plane, with a simple pole at one of residue one and no other singularity in that half-plane.
The Gamma function isThe Gamma function recurrence extends it meromorphically; its poles are at the nonpositive integers and it has no zeros. The functional equation of the Riemann zeta function can be stated asor, equivalently,These are identities of meromorphic functions; the second also extends the Riemann zeta function to the remaining half-plane. The critical strip is ; its boundary lines will also be treated below, rather than included among possible exceptional zeros.
For , the absolutely convergent reciprocal Euler product gives . For , the factors , , and in the second functional equation of the Riemann zeta function are finite and nonzero. Hence the only zeros there are the zeros of the sine factor:Each is simple. At zero, the sine zero cancels the pole of ; using its residue one gives , not zero. Nonvanishing on the rest of follows from the boundary-line proof below and the functional equation of the Riemann zeta function. Together these facts prove that the trivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function are the only zeros outside the open critical strip.
Here is a Jensen disk proof of the zeta zero-count bound which avoids any unproved left-half-plane growth estimate. Set , a holomorphic function throughout , including at one. The integral continuation formula givesFor each integer , apply Jensen's formula in the disk with centre , outer radius and inner radius . The outer disk stays in , so its maximum modulus is . At its centre,since . Therefore the number of zeros in its inner disk, counted with multiplicity, is at mostThe rectangle , fits in the inner disk because its farthest point has distance . Summing over such disks counts zeros in the right half of the critical strip up to height . The first functional equation of the Riemann zeta function bijects zeros, with multiplicities, in the left half with their reflections in the right half; its Gamma function factors are finite and nonzero in the strip. ThusThe pole of zeta function at one does not count as a zero: .
Finally, for real and , the Euler-product logarithms and the nonnegative trigonometric polynomialgive the three-four-one product proof of zeta boundary nonvanishing:If had a zero of order , its factor would be as . The real zeta function factor has pole order three, and the factor at stays bounded because . The product would tend to zero as , contradicting that it is at least one. ThereforeAt there is a pole, not a zero. Applying the sine-form functional equation of the Riemann zeta function at now proves nonvanishing on the remaining imaginary axis, completing the earlier assertion about all zeros outside the critical strip.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 11 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Write . A sequence in the circle group is an equidistributed sequence if, for every interval ,where is its normalized length. Equivalently, averages of every continuous function along the sequence tend to its circle integral. Trigonometric polynomials approximate continuous functions, and interval indicators can be squeezed between continuous functions with arbitrarily close integrals. The nonconstant additive characters have integral zero. These facts give the Weyl criterion:This is the link between equidistribution and cancellation in exponential sums.
Suppose every positive-shift difference sequence were equidistributed. Fix and set . For every fixed , the Weyl criterion would giveThe omitted final terms change a normalized average by at most .
Here is the needed Van der Corput inequality for finite scalar sequences. Extend by zero outside and average consecutive translates of the sum. Cauchy-Schwarz givesIndeed, apply Cauchy-Schwarz to and expand the squared inner sum. Taking first leaves a bound ; then let . Every nonzero Fourier average of vanishes, so the Weyl criterion makes equidistributed. This is the differencing obstruction to equidistribution. By contraposition, a non-equidistributed sequence has a non-equidistributed difference for some positive , hence for some as requested.
For , the difference is . For any nonzero integer , its exponential sum is a constant phase times a geometric progression with ratio . Its normalized magnitude is at most , which tends to zero. Thus every positive-shift difference is equidistributed, and the contraposition just established proves
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 61 1 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Take . In the normalization used here, the Dirichlet kernel has the finite expansionAveraging a finite number of the integral formulas for the Fourier partial sums is legitimate by linearity of the integral. Hence the Fejér sum is convolution withTo obtain the nonnegative form of the Fejér kernel, expand a squared geometric sum:The coefficient counts pairs of indices whose difference is . Dividing by and summing the geometric progression givesAt the ratio has its continuous limiting value . Thus this is a continuous, nonnegative trigonometric polynomial, not a kernel with genuine singularities.
Integration over a full period kills every nonconstant cosine term, soTranslation invariance of integration over the circle consequently gives, for every ,The first step is the integral triangle inequality, the second uses nonnegativity, and the last uses the mass just computed. Taking the supremum norm provesIn particular, Fejér summation is a uniform-norm contraction. The factor , rather than , is essential for the half-normalized Dirichlet kernel and Fejér kernel in this problem.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 61 1 2 a Solution 2026-10-07
Let be a positive integer and let the trigonometric polynomial have frequencies only in . For every , its Fourier partial sum is the polynomial itself: . Every term in the defining average of the de la Vallée Poussin sum therefore equals , givingThis is exact reproduction of the degree-at-most- trigonometric polynomials, irrespective of the positive averaging length .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 61 1 2 c Solution 2026-10-07
For any degree-at-most- trigonometric polynomial , linearity and reproduction giveThe operator norm bound in the preceding part yieldsTake the infimum over all such trigonometric polynomials. By the definition of best uniform approximation,No choice of a minimizer is needed for this argument. It is an instance of the polynomial reproduction error bound: a bounded linear reproducing operator has error at most times the optimal error.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 61 4 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The first Jackson theorem for periodic approximation asserts that a universal constant satisfiesfor every continuous -periodic function , where the infimum is over degree-at-most- trigonometric polynomials.
Apply it to the even function . If is a trigonometric polynomial approximating , its even parthas no larger error, because and the triangle inequality bounds each averaged error by . Every even trigonometric polynomial has the formHere the Chebyshev polynomials have algebraic degree , so has degree at most . Surjectivity of cosine givesConversely, every algebraic polynomial of degree at most yields such an even trigonometric polynomial. Taking infima therefore proves the exact identity , not merely an inequality. Combine this with the periodic theorem and the preceding modulus of continuity estimate:Symmetrization, the degree correspondence and the equality of norms justify every step in transferring the Jackson-type estimate.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 8 1 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Use normalized Fourier coefficients and the inner productThe functions are orthonormal. Hence the Fourier partial sum is the orthogonal projection onto the trigonometric polynomials of degree at most . For any such polynomial , orthogonality givesso .
Given , the permitted density result supplies a trigonometric polynomial with . Once includes its degree,Therefore the Fourier partial sums converge to in the normalized norm, giving exactly the stated mean-square limit.