Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 6 2 iv Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Suppose the weak-star closure of were a proper linear vector subspace of . The Hahn-Banach separation theorem would give a nonzero weak-star continuous linear functional vanishing on it. A continuous dual of a weak-star topology consists precisely of evaluations at points of : continuity bounds the linear functional by finitely many evaluations, so it factors through their finite-dimensional coordinate map and is a linear combination of them. Thus some would satisfy for all . The norming inequality would imply , a contradiction. Every norming subspace of is weak-star dense.
For the infinite-codimension example, takeHere is the absolutely summable sequence space and is the space of sequences converging to zero, a norm-closed vector subspace of . The dual identification is : a bounded sequence defines a linear functional of norm , and every linear functional on has this form by evaluating on the coordinate vectors and using density of finitely supported sequences.
For , use the finitely supported sequence whose first entries are and whose remaining entries vanish. It belongs to , has norm at most one, andThe reverse inequality follows from . Hence is 1-norming for , an instance of vanishing sequences norm the summable sequence space.
To prove infinite codimension, take disjoint infinite setsTheir indicator sequences have linearly independent classes in . Indeed, a finite combination has the constant value on ; if it tends to zero, every must vanish. Thus the quotient is infinite-dimensional.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 6 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The Riesz-Markov-Kakutani representation theorem says that a positive linear functional on has the form for a unique finite positive regular Borel measure , with norm . Its complex form says that every bounded complex linear functional is represented by a unique finite regular complex measure , andThe extension from positive to arbitrary linear functionals follows by positive/negative decomposition of real linear functionals and then real/imaginary decomposition. The last quantity is the total variation norm of a measure, so this identifies the dual isometrically.
An extreme point of a convex set cannot be written as with and distinct . The Krein-Milman theorem, applied with the underlying real locally convex weak-star topology, states
We next prove Milman's converse to the Krein-Milman theorem. Suppose an extreme point were outside the weak-star closure of . A basic weak-star neighborhood of disjoint from uses finitely many real coordinates: real and imaginary parts of evaluations at elements of . Its complement is the union of finitely many closed half-spacesIntersect these with , discard empty intersections, and call the resulting compact convex sets . They cover , and none contains .
The convex hull of their union is compact. Every point in it can be written with in the finite simplex and , by combining terms from the same convex set. The map from the simplex times to that sum is weak-star continuous, so its image is compact and closed. It therefore contains , in particular . But extremality forces every having a positive coefficient in a representation of to equal , contradicting . Hence
Assume . We claim that the extreme points of the dual unit ball of C(K) areA measure of norm less than one is not extreme, since it admits a small nonzero perturbation within the ball. For a measure of norm one, suppose is not a point mass. There is a Borel set with : if the measure support has two points, choose disjoint neighborhoods of positive mass; a regular probability measure supported at just one point is the corresponding point mass. Thenis a convex combination of distinct norm-one measures. Thus an extreme measure must have variation concentrated at one point, and must be with .
Conversely, if with , thenEquality throughout forces both measures to have all their variation at , and forces their phases to be . Hence , proving extremality. If , the dual ball is and its sole extreme point is .
Every finite Borel measure on is regular, so the given belongs to the dual unit ball of . Apply Banach-Alaoglu theorem and Krein-Milman theorem to that ball. It is the weak-star closed convex hull of these phased point masses. The unit ball of the finite-dimensional vector subspace is norm compact. Choose a finite -net in it. There is a convex combinationwhose integrals differ from those of by less than on every . Put . Then and . For any in the unit ball of , choose with . The linear functional has norm at most two, soScaling yields the requested estimate for every . This is atomic approximation on finite-dimensional spaces of continuous functions. Repeated nodes are allowed: keeping their individual terms preserves the exact sum of coefficient magnitudes even if their phases cancel. If , one point with coefficient one suffices.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 12 5 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Apply the polynomial method in combinatorics to the finite-field Kakeya set . We will actually obtain the stronger estimateLet be the vector space over the prime field of multivariate polynomials in variables of total degree of a polynomial at most . By the dimension of a bounded-total-degree polynomial space, its monomial basis consists of with and . Adding a slack exponent gives nonnegative exponents summing to ; the stars and bars count shows thatIf , the evaluation linear map has a nonzero element in its kernel of a linear map. Thus there is a nonzero polynomial of total degree of a polynomial vanishing at every point of . Its degree cannot be zero, since contains a line and is nonempty. Write for its nonzero top homogeneous polynomial part.
For every nonzero , the directional hypothesis supplies an affine line in a vector spaceDirections are one-dimensional vector subspaces; rescaling a representative does not change this line. The univariate polynomial has degree at most and vanishes for all values of . The root bound for a polynomial makes it the zero polynomial. Its coefficient of is exactly , so for every nonzero . Because , too.
To finish, we prove the relevant polynomial nonvanishing below the field size. A polynomial over of degree at most in each variable cannot vanish on all of unless it is zero. Induct on . The one-variable case is the root bound for a polynomial. For more variables, writeFixing the first coordinates gives a univariate polynomial with roots of a polynomial, so all its coefficients are zero. Hence every vanishes on , and the induction hypothesis makes every zero. Applying this to , whose total degree of a polynomial is less than , contradicts its choice as nonzero.
Therefore . Finally,which proves the requested lower bound. The crucial observation in the finite-field Kakeya polynomial bound is that complete lines force the highest homogeneous polynomial part to vanish in every direction.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 1 2 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For each , and each , choose , using incomparability. PutThen belongs to the other two prime ideals and does not belong to , by primality. In particular each lies in the union. But for every : modulo , the sum equals . The union is not closed under addition and is not an ideal. This is a concrete instance of prime avoidance.
The union of three incomparable nonprime ideals example can retain pairwise incomparability. In the ringtakeThese distinct two-element ideals are pairwise incomparable, yetwhich is an ideal. None is prime: its quotient ring still contains a nonzero element of square zero. The three one-dimensional vector subspaces cover the two-dimensional vector space over .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 18 2 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For a differential form of type (p, q), is equivalent to both and , because the two resulting types are distinct. Moreover has type when has type , andby the square-zero and anticommutation identities. Thus the denominator defining Bott-Chern cohomology is a vector subspace of its numerator, making the quotient well defined.
Complex conjugation of differential-form type sends a -closed -form to a -closed -form. For a representative in the denominator,The minus sign does not change the denominator vector subspace. Conjugation consequently induces a conjugate-linear bijection between the two Bott-Chern cohomology spaces; applying it twice is the identity. Equivalently, as complex vector spaces.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 6 5 Solution 2026-10-06
We prove the required Hahn-Banach theorem for a seminorm directly. First suppose the vector space is real. At an intermediate extension stage, let be a linear functional with , and let . Extending to amounts to choosing . The upper domination requiresThe interval is nonempty: for all ,Its endpoints are finite since inserting zero gives bounds and , while every lower candidate is below every upper candidate. Choose in the interval and put . For , the upper bound with proves . For , writing and applying the lower bound with proves the same inequality. The case is already known. Applying this domination to and using gives .
Partially order all dominated linear functional extensions of the original by extension of their domains and values. They form a nonempty set. The union along any chain is a well-defined dominated linear functional on a vector subspace, so every chain has an upper bound. The Zorn lemma gives a maximal extension. If its domain were not , the preceding one-dimensional construction would enlarge it, a contradiction. Thus the required extension exists on .
For a complex vector space, apply the proved real result to on the underlying real vector subspace. Let be the resulting real linear functional, with , and setIt is additive and real-linear, and , so it is complex-linear. On , the identity proves . Choose with and when . ThenThe bound is immediate if . This proves the real and complex seminorm forms of Hahn-Banach theorem without invoking any version of that theorem.
For the distance to a set assertion, let . Define on the linear functional . The decomposition is unique because , and for ,For the bound is immediate. Apply the just-proved Hahn-Banach theorem with to get , , , and . Choose with . Sinceand , passage to the limit gives . Thus . This version of the Hahn-Banach distance formula needs neither a closed nor an attained distance to a set.
For the Banach limit construction below, take the real l-infinity sequence space, let be its left shift on bounded sequences, put , and let . This is a vector subspace and its distance to a set from determines the construction.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ib Paper 1 9F d Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Every commutator has zero trace, by the cyclic identity. Hence its linear span is contained in . For the reverse inclusion, the matrix units satisfyThe off-diagonal matrix units and the differences for span all traceless matrices: a traceless diagonal part is . Thus every element of the kernel is a linear combination of commutators, provingThis establishes that traceless matrices are spanned by commutators. For , both vector subspaces are zero. Notice that the argument needs a span of commutators; it does not assume that every such sum has already been written as a single commutator.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ib Paper 4 10F b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
The adjoint operator is uniquely characterized byLet . Its quadratic form is nonnegative:If , both norms vanish. In particular , while means is orthogonal to , by the defining adjoint operator identity. A vector belonging to a vector subspace and its orthogonal complement must be zero. Hence is injective, and finite dimensionality makes it surjective.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ib Paper 4 1F Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Put and arrange the four vectors as the columns of . On the one-dimensional vector subspace spanned by , the eigenvalue is . On the three-dimensional orthogonal complement , the eigenvalue is . Thusand the vectors fail to be a basis exactly when or .
For , all four columns equal . The matrix rank is , a basis of their span is , and an extension to a basis of isThe last coordinate first forces the coefficient of to vanish in any linear dependence, after which the other coefficients vanish.
For , the matrix rank is and the span is exactly . A basis consists of the first three original columns,Indeed, writing them as , a vanishing linear combination has coefficient sum zero by its fourth coordinate, and then each coefficient is zero by the first three coordinates. Adjoin to extend this basis to , since .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 102 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Schur's lemma says that a nonzero intertwiner between irreducible representations is an isomorphism; over , every endomorphism of a finite-dimensional irreducible representation is scalar. To prove the Schur lemma, let be a intertwining operator between irreducible representations. Its kernel and image of a linear map are invariant. If , irreducibility forces and . This proves the first assertion over any field. In particular the endomorphisms of an irreducible representation form a division ring.
When is finite-dimensional over an algebraically closed field, an endomorphism has an eigenvalue . The endomorphism has nonzero kernel. By the first assertion it must be zero, so . Consequently, for complex finite-dimensional irreducible representations, the space of intertwining operators has dimension zero for nonisomorphic representations and dimension one for isomorphic representations.
Every finite-dimensional representation of a complex semisimple Lie algebra is completely reducible. We prove the Weyl complete reducibility theorem using the allowed Casimir operator facts, without assuming a splitting in advance. For dual bases with respect to the Killing form, the Casimir elementis central in the universal enveloping algebra. Hence its Casimir operator commutes with the action on every Lie algebra representation and is compatible with subrepresentations, quotient representations, and intertwining operators. On the trivial Lie algebra representation it acts by zero. On every nontrivial finite-dimensional Irreducible Lie algebra representation it acts by a nonzero scalar.
For clarity, the last fact can be expressed by the Casimir eigenvalue formula: on an irreducible with dominant integral weight , the scalar is , with the inner product induced by the Killing form and the half-sum of positive roots. On the real span of the weights this inner product is positive definite, and the scalar is positive for . For a semisimple Lie algebra with several simple factors the scalars add, so a nontrivial representation still gives a nonzero scalar. These are properties of the Casimir operator being used here.
First establish Casimir splitting of a trivial quotient. Supposeis a short exact sequence of finite-dimensional Lie algebra representations, with trivial quotient. The generalized eigenspaces of are invariant, soEach with maps to zero under : applying a sufficiently large power of and using gives . Thus .
Take a composition series of a module of . The Casimir operator is nilpotent on , so its scalar on every irreducible composition factor is zero. The stated Casimir operator property makes every such factor trivial. In a basis adapted to the composition series of a module, the image of on therefore consists of strictly upper triangular matrices, so that image is solvable. The allowed fact that a semisimple Lie algebra acts trivially on every one-dimensional representation implies that is a perfect Lie algebra: otherwise a nonzero linear functional on would define a nontrivial one-dimensional Lie algebra representation. Thus , and its image is consequently a perfect Lie algebra too. A perfect Lie algebra that is also a solvable Lie algebra is zero, since its derived series of a Lie algebra is constant until it vanishes. Hence acts trivially on . Choose with . The map is an invariant section, proving the split short exact sequence assertion.
Now let be any nonzero subrepresentation. On the Hom representation the action isConsider the invariant subspaceRestriction produces a short exact sequenceSurjectivity follows by extending to a linear map on . The quotient is trivial, because commutes with the action on . The preceding Casimir splitting of a trivial quotient yields an invariant with . Thusand is invariant. The zero subrepresentation also has a complement. Repeatedly splitting off an irreducible subrepresentation now gives a direct sum of irreducibles, proving the Weyl complete reducibility theorem.
A derivation of a Lie algebra is a linear map satisfying the Leibniz ruleThe space is a vector subspace of . Equip it with the commutator . Expanding the Leibniz rule twice givesSubtracting proves that is again a derivation of a Lie algebra. Antisymmetry and the Jacobi identity hold for the commutator in every associative endomorphism algebra, so this defines the derivation Lie algebra.
The Jacobi identity says that is a derivation of a Lie algebra. Moreover, for ,soThis makes an ideal of a Lie algebra in .
Finally suppose is semisimple. Let act on by . The Weyl complete reducibility theorem supplies an invariant complement to . For , invariance gives , while the ideal identity above gives . Their intersection is zero, so for every . The center of a Lie algebra of a semisimple Lie algebra is zero, hence for every , and . ThereforeEvery derivation of a Lie algebra is inner, and the element giving it is unique because the center of a Lie algebra vanishes.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 106 5 iv Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Weak compactness of the adjoint forces weak compactness of the original operator. Assume is weakly compact. Apply the already proved to this operator, rather than assuming the adjoint equivalence in advance. It givesTake annihilating , so for every . Write for some . For every ,Hence and . It follows thatfor every annihilating .
The vector subspace is closed in the norm topology in because is complete and is an isometry. The Hahn-Banach theorem says that any point outside a closed linear subspace can be separated from it by a bounded linear functional vanishing on that subspace. Applying this in shows that an element annihilated by all such must belong to . Therefore for every , proving . The reverse implications above now establish all four equivalences, including weak compactness of an operator and its adjoint:
Finally, if is a reflexive Banach space, every is for some , and . If is a reflexive Banach space, , so the same range condition holds automatically. In either case, proves
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 108 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
On a probability measure-preserving system, for a finite measurable partition , the entropy of a finite measurable partition isUse natural logarithms, so information entropy is measured in nats; another fixed logarithm base rescales all answers. The join of measurable partitions is their common refinement, and write , with an empty join the trivial partition. The entropy rate of a measurable partition and Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy are respectivelyThe block entropies form a subadditive sequence, so the first limit exists by the Fekete lemma. For finite partitions the conditional entropy of finite measurable partitions is .
Put and for . The chain rule for information entropy, applied from the last coordinate backwards, and measure preservation giveThe second equality uses invariance of the joint partition atom probabilities under the common pullback ; invertibility is unnecessary. Since conditioning reduces entropy, decreases to a nonnegative limit . The Cesaro convergence of a sequence of this convergent sequence has the same limit. ThereforeEquivalently , where . Here conditional entropy of a countable measurable partition conditioned on a sigma-algebra is computed using conditional partition atom probabilities; the martingale convergence theorem gives continuity under increasing conditioning sigma-algebras. This is the infinite-future formula for partition entropy rate.
The Kolmogorov-Sinai generator theorem states that if a finite or countable measurable partition has finite entropy of a countable measurable partition and its iterates generate the whole completed sigma-algebra modulo null sets, then . For an invertible system, generating means modulo null sets. For a noninvertible system a one-sided generator, using , suffices. The two-sided and one-sided versions must not be confused.
For a Bernoulli shift with discrete symbol probabilities , the coordinate-zero measurable partition has independent coordinate iterates. ThusFor a finite alphabet the coordinate partition is a generator of finite entropy of a finite measurable partition; on the two-sided sequence space use all integer coordinate iterates, and on the one-sided space use the nonnegative ones. The Kolmogorov-Sinai generator theorem proves the displayed answer in both cases. The same calculation applies to countably many symbols when their Shannon entropy is finite, using the countable finite-entropy version of the theorem. If the Shannon entropy is infinite, merge all but the first symbols into one cell. These finite coordinate partitions have entropy rate , so the system entropy is infinite. Zero-probability symbols contribute zero. In particular a fair -symbol shift has entropy .
For the final assertion, let and complete it modulo null sets. The approximation property forces modulo null sets. Indeed for each , choose approximating sets from finite blocks with error tending to zero. Their indicators approach in , and is a closed vector subspace, so is -measurable modulo a null set.
Invertibility now gives modulo null sets. In particular the present partition is measurable with respect to its entire future, so . The infinite-future formula gives . Since the given one-sided generator is also a two-sided generator, the Kolmogorov-Sinai generator theorem finishes the proof:This is finite one-sided generator of an invertible system forces zero entropy. Invertibility is essential: a fair binary one-sided Bernoulli shift has a finite one-sided generator and Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 114 5 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The ordinary Poincare duality statement here is for a compact manifold without boundary, of dimension , oriented over the field . Its fundamental class induces isomorphismsfor every . For a manifold with boundary the appropriate statement is Poincare-Lefschetz duality with relative groups; the ordinary pairing need not be nondegenerate. Over a field, the universal coefficient theorem for cohomology identifies with the full dual of . The cap-cup evaluation identity and duality therefore makea perfect pairing. Explicitly, a nonzero has a nonzero cap product, and a linear functional on its homology group takes a nonzero value on that product. The same argument in the other variable proves nonsingularity. On the whole graded cohomology, define by taking the degree- part of before evaluation. For a nonzero component choose homogeneous of degree to pair nontrivially with it. All other components contribute zero in degree . This proves that the Poincare duality pairing is a nondegenerate bilinear form on ; it need not be symmetric on all degrees.
Put , so is positive and odd, and orient each by its product orientation. The Künneth theorem gives integral cohomology in degrees zero and , in degree , and zero elsewhere. Its two degree- generators have , equal to its top orientation class, and .
For a connected sum of oriented manifolds, excision and the long exact sequence for deleting a ball show that deleting a ball removes the top homology class and leaves all lower positive homology groups unchanged. The boundary sphere represents zero in the punctured manifold: it is the boundary of its relative fundamental chain. In the Mayer–Vietoris sequence for the two punctured pieces joined along the separating sphere, the orientation class of the connected sum maps onto that sphere's class. The intermediate positive groups are consequently the direct sums of the groups of the two original manifolds. This also covers , where the sphere is a circle and the boundary-class observation is necessary in the middle degree. Iterating and applying the universal coefficient theorem for cohomology givesHere ; under the conventional extension the same formula holds with a zero middle group.
Let be the top cohomological orientation class. The connected-sum pinch map to the wedge of the sphere products gives degree-one projections to each summand. Pull back the two factor classes from summand to obtain . Their product is , since the projection has degree one. Classes from different wedge summands have zero positive-degree cup products, and graded commutativity of the cup product supplies the reversed sign. Thus the full cohomology ring of a connected sum of odd-dimensional sphere products is the graded free abelian group just displayed with multiplicationThe unit is , and times any positive-degree class is zero by dimension. This describes all products, including .
The smooth involution is a diffeomorphism, since it is its own inverse. Its fixed set is closed; discreteness and compactness therefore make it finite. The supplied positivity of makes every fixed point nondegenerate with local index . The Lefschetz-Hopf fixed-point theorem then givesIndeed the degree-zero and top-degree traces are both one, because the manifold is connected and preserves its orientation; the middle degree is odd.
On , the form is a nondegenerate alternating bilinear form by Poincare duality and the oddness of . Thus it is a symplectic vector space of dimension . Naturality and orientation preservation show that preserves , and . For the eigenspaces of a symplectic involution, write : the polynomial has distinct roots over . If and , then , so the two vector subspaces are orthogonal. Each restricted form is nondegenerate, since a vector annihilating its own vector subspace also annihilates the other and hence all of . Their dimensions are therefore even, say , , with . ConsequentlyThis proves the fixed-point congruence for an involution on an odd-sphere connected sum:
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 128 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The Jacobson radical is , where runs over the maximal right ideals of ; equivalently, it is the intersection of the annihilators of all simple modules. It is a two-sided ideal. A projective module has the lifting property against every surjective R-module homomorphism. A finitely generated module is a projective module precisely when it is a direct summand of a finitely generated free module. An indecomposable module is nonzero and admits no direct sum decomposition into two nonzero submodules.
To calculate the top of an indecomposable projective module, use the right Artinian ring hypothesis, namely the descending chain condition on right ideals. The Hopkins-Levitzki theorem gives finite composition length of the right regular module, hence of its submodule . Also is a nilpotent ideal, and is a semisimple ring. Thus the quotient module is a semisimple module; it is nonzero, since would imply for sufficiently large .
Suppose were not a simple module. A nontrivial direct sum decomposition of this semisimple module would give an idempotent that is neither zero nor the identity. Writing , the lifting property of the projective module gives with . The Fitting lemma for an indecomposable module of finite composition length says that is either invertible or a nilpotent element. Its induced map would then be invertible or a nilpotent element, respectively. Neither is possible for a nontrivial idempotent. Therefore is simple. This argument does not assume that an embedded projective module automatically splits off from the ambient module.
A block of an Artinian algebra is a nonzero two-sided direct summand determined by a primitive central idempotent : cannot be written as a sum of two nonzero orthogonal central idempotents. Its identity is . For a finite-dimensional associative algebra, the blocks of an Artinian algebra give its unique decomposition as a finite product of indecomposable algebras, or equivalently as a direct sum of two-sided ideals.
For the block of S3 in characteristic three, put , , and . The group algebra has basis for . In characteristic three,Consequently is a two-sided nilpotent ideal, , and . A nilpotent ideal lies in the Jacobson radical, and a quotient that is a semisimple ring forces the reverse inclusion. HenceDefine orthogonal idempotents and . They sum to one, so the right regular module decomposes asThe two summands are the indecomposable projectives of S3 in characteristic three. Each direct summand is a projective module, with basis . Its quotient module modulo multiplication by is one-dimensional: the trivial representation for , and the sign representation for . Each is an indecomposable module, since two nonzero direct summands would each have nonzero quotient module modulo , contradicting its one-dimensional top. For additional detail, the successive factors of the radical series of a module are the trivial representation, sign representation, trivial representation for , and the sign representation, trivial representation, sign representation for . Indeed, modulo the relation reverses the -sign, whereas commutes with .
The center of an associative algebra is spanned by the conjugacy class sums , , and . Since and , this center of an associative algebra isIts vector subspace is a square-zero ideal. If is a central idempotent, then and . Thus or and . There is no nontrivial central idempotent, so the whole group algebra is its single block. The two three-dimensional projective modules above are a decomposition of the regular module, not two blocks of an Artinian algebra.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 128 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Choose a finite-dimensional generating vector subspace containing , and write for the linear span of products of elements of . The Gelfand–Kirillov dimension isFor a nonzero finitely generated module considered as a right module, choose a finite-dimensional generating vector subspace and define the Gelfand–Kirillov dimension of a module byFor left modules, replace by . These values are independent of the choices: two algebra-generating vector subspaces satisfy and for some positive integers , and two module-generating vector subspaces are contained in bounded-degree translates of one another. The corresponding growth bounds differ only by a constant rescaling and shift of , which do not change the limit superior.
Let be a nonzero standard graded algebra, generated by elements of degree one. It is a homogeneous quotient ring of the polynomial ring . By the Hilbert-Serre theorem, its Hilbert series is a rational function whose only possible pole is at . After canceling, write it as with , where . The cumulative dimensions are the coefficients of and are eventually a polynomial in of degree , with positive leading coefficient. With , these cumulative dimensions equal . ConsequentlyFor the algebra is finite-dimensional and nonzero, so the cumulative dimension is eventually a positive constant. If the zero algebra is allowed, the common convention is an exception to the printed assertion; the integer conclusion concerns nonzero unital algebras.
For the Weyl algebra , the total-degree filtered algebra structure has associated graded ring . Its ordered monomials form a basis. Every finitely generated module has a good filtration of a module, and its associated graded module is finitely generated over . The Hilbert-Serre theorem therefore shows that its Gelfand–Kirillov dimension is an integer in .
A nonzero module of Gelfand–Kirillov dimension zero here would have eventually constant cumulative dimension, hence be finite-dimensional. This is impossible in characteristic zero: taking the trace of the endomorphisms representing gives . For right modules the right-action operators reverse composition and give the negative identity instead, with the same contradiction. ThusBoth occur. The regular module has , hence Gelfand–Kirillov dimension two. For a right module of Gelfand–Kirillov dimension one, take with and . These actions satisfy the defining relation because . The module is a cyclic module generated by , and . This also gives the lower bound for this particular Weyl algebra without invoking a general inequality for higher Weyl algebras.