Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ia Paper 1 10D Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-09-25
Let be continuous. If it were unbounded, one could choose with . The Bolzano-Weierstrass theorem gives a subsequence , but continuity would then give , contradicting unboundedness.
Now let . Choose with . A convergent subsequence and continuity give at its limit. Applying the same argument to shows that the infimum is attained. This proves the extreme value theorem on a closed bounded interval.
The functionis continuous and bounded, but attains neither its infimum nor its supremum . For the second example, enumerate the rationals in as and setEvery nondegenerate interval contains infinitely many rational numbers, hence some with arbitrarily large ; therefore is unbounded on every such interval.
For the running extrema, compactness lets us writeThe function is uniformly continuous on . Given , choose such that whenever . If and , every new value with is at most . Since ,Interchanging handles the other order. Applying this argument to proves continuity of as well.
Finally fix and put . For each positive integer , there must be some with . Otherwise, for some the continuous function would satisfy on the interval . By the intermediate value theorem, would have a constant sign there. The valueswould then increase or decrease by at least at every step, contradicting boundedness of . Thus and
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ib Paper 1 10G e Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
This is always true. Since is bounded and uniformly, there are and such thatfor every and . The continuous function is uniformly continuous on the compact interval . Therefore, given , a sufficiently small uniform bound on impliesHence uniformly.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ii Paper 2 11G i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Let and be independent. The displayed Bernstein polynomial isGiven , uniform continuity of supplies such that changing both coordinates by less than changes by less than . If , then Chebyshev inequality and
give, uniformly in ,Thus uniformly.
give, uniformly in ,Thus uniformly.
Each is a polynomial, whose iterated integrals may be interchanged term by term. Uniform convergence permits passage to the limit in both iterated integrals, proving the asserted continuous-function form of Fubini's theorem.
Now suppose every monomial moment of vanishes. By linearity,
for every two-variable polynomial . The just-proved Bernstein approximation gives polynomials uniformly. Thereforeso . Statement (i) is true.
for every two-variable polynomial . The just-proved Bernstein approximation gives polynomials uniformly. Thereforeso . Statement (i) is true.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 323 4 iii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Let be the th one-system marginal of , and put . Contractivity of trace distance under partial trace givesuniformly in . Because the one-system state space is a compact space, continuity of implies uniform continuity. Hence there is a function such thatfor every .
Multipartite superadditivity and additivity now implyThereforewhich proves the required lower asymptotic semicontinuity of quantum relative entropy argument.
Suppose the continuous function did not have uniform continuity on . Negating its definition gives such that for every there are withThe Bolzano-Weierstrass theorem, which states that every bounded sequence of real numbers has a convergent subsequence, gives . The inequalities imply . By the triangle inequality,Since continuous functions preserve convergent sequences, both and tend to . Their difference therefore tends to zero, contradicting its absolute value being at least . This proves the Heine-Cantor theorem in the required setting: has uniform continuity on .
A function is continuous on if it is continuous at every , meaningThe function has uniform continuity on whenFor continuity, may depend on both and . For uniform continuity, one must work for every pair of points in .
TakeBoth functions have values in . The reverse triangle inequality gives , so is Lipschitz continuous and hence has uniform continuity.
For and , the distances satisfy , whereasIn particular tolerance defeats every proposed : choose with . Thus does not have uniform continuity on .
For any , rationalizing the difference of square roots givessince . Given , use uniform continuity of with tolerance to obtain . Whenever , the displayed estimate yields . Thus has uniform continuity on . The square root function is in fact Lipschitz continuous with constant on .
One form of Schauder's theorem says that if is a nonempty closed bounded convex subset of a Banach space and is continuous with relatively compact image, then has a fixed point.
For a Schauder solution of a small Hammerstein integral equation, take with the supremum norm and . This set is nonempty, closed, bounded and convex. PutBoth maxima are finite by continuity on compact sets. Define . Continuity and uniform continuity of the kernel give , and for ,so it is a self-map. This choice of also handles the case when either maximum is zero without division by zero.
If uniformly in , uniform continuity of on makes uniformly. The integral estimate then proves continuity of in the supremum norm. Moreoverwhich tends to zero with uniformly in . Thus the image is uniformly bounded and equicontinuous. Arzelà-Ascoli states that such a family on a compact interval has compact closure in the supremum norm. Hence is relatively compact, and Schauder gives a fixed point for each in the specified interval. Therefore a continuous solution with supremum norm at most exists. The argument imposes no Lipschitz hypothesis on and makes no uniqueness assertion.
We prove uniform continuity by contradiction. If it fails, there is such that, for every , we can choose withBy sequential compactness, pass to a subsequence with . The triangle inequality givesBy continuity, both and converge to . A second triangle inequality therefore givescontradicting the lower bound. Thus the requested , independent of , exists for every .
Write the increment function of the one-step method as . Its consistency error isAs , the first term tends to and the second tends to by continuity. Both limits are uniform along the exact-solution curve, a compact set: its small stage perturbations lie in a fixed compact neighborhood, so uniform continuity applies there. Thus , proving consistency for every .
Past exam of the topics in applied mathematics course of the University of Oxford 2008 B 5 Solution 2026-10-31
A fixed point satisfies . A perturbation obeys , where the periodic-orbit multiplier is . It is linearly attracting for and repelling for ; at nonlinear terms decide Lyapunov stability. A crossing through can produce a saddle-node, transcritical or pitchfork bifurcation, depending on the mathematical model parameter dependence and symmetry. A crossing through generically gives a period-doubling bifurcation. A real one-dimensional function cannot have the complex conjugate pair needed for a Neimark–Sacker bifurcation.
For a genuine period-two orbit, study the return map at either point. By the chain rule its periodic-orbit multiplier isIts modulus determines linear stability by the same criterion, now per two iterates.
For the real quadratic iteration map, the fixed-point equation givesThe derivative is . The lower branch is repelling whenever . The upper branch satisfies exactly forAt the two fixed points merge in a saddle-node bifurcation. With at that mathematical model parameter, , so the point attracts from the right and is repelling from the left. At , has periodic-orbit multiplier and undergoes a period-doubling bifurcation. At the threshold itself and the two-step return is , proving weak asymptotic stability there despite the inconclusive linear test.
Factor the second-iterate equation:Removing the fixed-point factor yields the periodic orbit pointsThey are distinct and exchanged by exactly when ; at equality they coincide with the fixed point. Their product is , hence their periodic-orbit multiplier is . ThusIt is repelling for and reaches its next period-doubling bifurcation threshold at . At that exact endpoint it is weakly attracting: if is expanded about either periodic orbit point as , then , , and . Its second return is .
At put . The double-angle identity givesThis verifies the printed relation to the Bernoulli shift. Precisely, it is a semiconjugacy: , so it is not invertible on the circle. To obtain a genuine interval topological conjugacy, use the homeomorphism from onto , and the full tent mapThe same identity proves .
The full tent map has dense periodic points, is topologically mixing and has sensitive dependence on initial conditions. To see these properties directly, its th iterate has monotone branches on dyadic intervals of length , each mapping onto . Every nonempty open interval contains such a branch domain, and a later iterate covers all of , proving topological mixing. On any branch, the function graph of the iterate has a fixed point by the intermediate value theorem, so periodic points occur in every open interval. Given any initial point and any neighborhood, some iterate of that neighborhood covers the interval; one can choose a nearby point whose image differs from the initial point's image by at least a fixed positive distance. This proves sensitive dependence on initial conditions. Uniform continuity of the inverse homeomorphism transfers these properties to on .
Consequently the real quadratic iteration map is chaotic on its invariant interval in the Devaney sense: topological transitivity, dense periodic points and sensitive dependence on initial conditions, with all these orbits bounded. There are also aperiodic orbits: periodic points form a countable union of finite sets of roots of an equation of the equations , whereas the interval is uncountable. The semiconjugacy alone would not justify treating as invertible; the tent-map argument supplies the missing rigorous transfer.
Peano existence theorem Created 2026-09-29 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be an open set, , and a continuous function. Through every there is a local solution of a differential equation: a continuously differentiable function on an open interval containing , satisfying the displayed initial value problem pointwise. No Lipschitz condition is assumed.[ref]
Ordinary Differential Equations and Dynamical Systems by Gerald Teschl. Gerald Teschl, Ordinary Differential Equations and Dynamical Systems, §2.7, Theorem 2.19, printed p. 56: forward existence and the analogous backward result
Continuity of a proposed rate law therefore guarantees at least one trajectory for a short time. For a physical model, this is a first consistency check: can the stated rule and initial condition actually be followed? Prediction also needs uniqueness. The delayed solutions of a square-root differential equation below show how the same rule and initial condition can leave a departure time undetermined. The Picard-Lindelöf theorem supplies a sufficient additional hypothesis for uniqueness; failure of that hypothesis alone does not prove nonuniqueness.
For the initial value problem , , a forward solution of a differential equation can stay zero until any , then follow . The delayed solutions of a square-root differential equation verify this freedom exactly.
One initial condition admits an arbitrary forward waiting time
. Colored curves leave zero at the marked waits ; the dashed curve stays zero forever. Every curve satisfies the same original differential equation for . Details.Local existence gives neither a global solution of a differential equation nor a bound on all future values. The continuous function already permits finite-time blowup; the finite-dimensional continuation criterion explains the additional issue of extending a trajectory within its domain.
Proof outline: choose a compact set . By the extreme value theorem, . Take with . Forward Euler method polygons remain in the closed ball and satisfy . The Arzelà-Ascoli theorem yields a convergent subsequence with uniform convergence. Uniform continuity of on makes their integral equation defect tend uniformly to zero, so the limit satisfiesThe fundamental theorem of calculus gives a continuously differentiable function. Repeat backward and join at , where both derivatives equal .[ref]
The compact set here uses a finite-dimensional vector space; bounded closed balls in an arbitrary Banach space need not be compact. When , the constant solution of a differential equation works on the entire time interval in . In general the proof selects a subsequence, without asserting that all polygons converge to one unique trajectory.
A product of two uniformly continuous functions need not have uniform continuity on an unbounded domain. The functions give the counterexample , since inputs and approach each other while their squared values remain separated. For bounded factors the estimate restores uniform continuity.
For continuous and , restrict to the closed supremum-norm ball of radius in . Boundedness on the compact kernel and nonlinearity boxes makes the integral map preserve this ball for sufficiently small positive . Uniform continuity of proves continuity of the map; uniform continuity of gives an equicontinuous bounded image. Arzelà-Ascoli makes that image relatively compact, and Schauder gives a solution. No global Lipschitz hypothesis or uniqueness conclusion is needed.
Translation continuity in L1 on the circle Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
For with normalized Lebesgue measure, translation on the circle group is continuous in the L1 norm: as modulo one. Approximate in the L1 norm by a continuous function, use its uniform continuity, and use translation invariance to preserve the approximation error. In particular, for every measurable .
Uniformly continuous function Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-18
A uniformly continuous function has one input tolerance valid throughout its domain of a function. For , with , uniform continuity meansChoose the output tolerance first, then a positive valid for every pair of function inputs. It may depend on , the function and its domain of a function, but not on the pair’s location. The absolute values measure input and output distance.[ref]
Basic Analysis: Introduction to Real Analysis, Volume I by Jiří Lebl. §3.4, Definition 3.4.1: a single positive input tolerance for all pairs in the specified real domain
Compare the quantifier order with the epsilon-delta definition of continuity:Both lines end with . In the first, can depend on the point ; in the second, it is chosen before . Thus uniform continuity implies continuity at every point. Each requested gets its own shared tolerance.
For an exact example, take the polynomial function on the closed interval . For every pair of function inputs in that interval, polynomial factorization givesConsequently works everywhere on this domain of a function. With , the common tolerance is . Near the right endpoint, for example, and have input distance and output distance . The bound is sufficient; it does not claim the largest admissible input window at each point.
On the whole real line, the same polynomial function is a continuous function but fails uniform continuity. Take the sequences and , for positive integers . ThenFor any proposed , choose an integer . The inputs are closer than , yet their outputs violate the fixed tolerance . The sequences need not themselves have a finite limit: their mutual distance is what tends to zero. This is the obstruction captured by the sequential criterion for uniform continuity. Restricting the domain of a function to removes these escaping pairs.
A uniformly continuous function need not be a bounded function. The identity function on the real line has , so always works, although its image of a function is the unbounded real line. Uniform continuity controls changes between nearby inputs, not the overall size of outputs. Likewise, an unbounded domain of a function does not by itself prevent uniform continuity.
The square root supplies a different common tolerance on the interval . Assuming , put and . Since ,Interchanging the inputs when necessary provesThus guarantees uniform continuity on the entire domain of a function, including zero. For , any input distance below suffices. The pairs and both have input distance ; their output distances are respectively and . The common guarantee accommodates quite different local sensitivities.
This Hölder continuity bound allows a curved tolerance rule. It is weaker than a Lipschitz bound: at zero the output change divided by the input change isNo finite Lipschitz constant works near zero, even though uniform continuity does. A Lipschitz function does have uniform continuity, choosing when its Lipschitz bound is positive; when it is a constant function.[ref]
Basic Analysis: Introduction to Real Analysis, Volume I by Jiří Lebl. §3.4, Proposition 3.4.8 and Example 3.4.10: Lipschitz continuity implies uniform continuity; the square root on the nonnegative half-line separates the properties
Square-root input changes share an output tolerance even though amplification near zero is unbounded
. At left, the exact output changes for base points stay inside whenever and . The right panel computes the amplification for inputs : it grows without bound as decreases. These are calculated function graphs, with no experimental measurements. Details.For general metric spaces, replace the absolute values by the respective distance functions. The Heine-Cantor theorem gives an existence guarantee: every continuous function on a compact metric space is uniformly continuous. In particular, continuity on a finite closed interval provides a common tolerance, even when no simple formula for it is known.[ref]
Basic Analysis: Introduction to Real Analysis, Volume I by Jiří Lebl. §7.5, Definition 7.5.10 and Theorem 7.5.11: uniform continuity between metric spaces and the compact-domain theorem
For a short proof outline, fix . Continuity gives each point an open ball of radius within which outputs differ from by less than . The open balls of half these radii still cover the domain of a function. Compactness supplies a finite subcover. Take to be the smallest half-radius in this finite set. Two inputs closer than lie together in one of the original open balls, so the triangle inequality bounds their output distance by . The beautiful step is that the compact set turns local choices into finitely many choices, whose minimum stays positive.
A shared tolerance also makes uniformly continuous functions preserve Cauchy sequences: after choosing for , all sufficiently late input pairs are closer than , so all corresponding output pairs are closer than . Unlike a convergent sequence argument, this does not require an input limit inside the domain of a function. It is why uniform continuity is useful for extending a function toward missing endpoints and for the decay argument below.
Uniformly continuous function on a totally bounded set is bounded Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
Choose the uniform continuity input tolerance corresponding to output tolerance one. A totally bounded domain is covered by finitely many balls of smaller radius centred in the domain. Every function value differs by less than one from the value at one of their finitely many centres. Taking the largest centre value bounds the whole function. Compactness or closedness of the domain is unnecessary.
Suppose is nonnegative, integrable and uniformly continuous on the positive half-line. If at times tending to infinity, uniform continuity supplies intervals of one fixed positive length around those times on which . An infinite disjoint subsequence of these intervals contradicts integrability. Thus the displayed implication holds. Mere smoothness at every finite time is insufficient: smooth peaks of shrinking widths can have finite integral and heights bounded away from zero.
If a uniformly continuous function belongs to Lp space for some , then as . Otherwise choose points escaping to infinity with . Uniform continuity gives one radius on which around every . Extract disjoint such balls. Their contributions to are each at least , a contradiction. The finite- condition is essential: the constant function one lies in and does not vanish at infinity.


