Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 4 4 Solution 2026-10-14
Put and , where powers mean closed generated subgroups. The finite-quotient arguments of Question 3 pass to a powerful pro-p group: in particular is powerfully embedded, the power map is onto , andFor the root assertion, apply the finite result to every finite quotient and use the finite intersection property on the closed sets of possible roots in the compact group. Each is finitely generated by the appropriate powers of a finite generating tuple, and is finite and elementary abelian. Thus the are open. They form an identity-neighbourhood basis: in any finite continuous quotient their images form a terminating lower p-series, so some is contained in the kernel. In particular . Collection also givesOne can see the extra index directly by induction from : collect for . Its leading factor advances one layer, and the remaining iterated commutators, with their binomial coefficients, lie at least as deep. Products and limits preserve the inclusion. This is the usual strongly central property of the lower p-series.
A uniform pro-p group is a finitely generated powerful pro-p group for which all the indices equal . The preliminary congruence gives surjective linear mapsIf is uniform, these maps are bijective. If , write and choose the unique layer with . Bijectivity of and the power congruence imply , so . Thus the power map is injective. A finite-order element of a pro-p group has -power order; repeated injectivity of the power map excludes every nonidentity such element. Hence a uniform group is a torsion-free group.
Conversely, suppose some has a nonzero kernel. Choose with . At step , if the current satisfies , surjectivity of supplies withSet . The power congruence gives . Since the corrections tend to in the complete profinite group, the converge to , with and . In particular . A torsion-free group cannot have such an element, so every is injective and all layer indices are equal. This proves the root correction criterion for uniformity andFor a uniform group the power maps are continuous bijections , hence homeomorphisms. Their inverses define the unique roots used below. Comparison at the first differing layer also proves the power congruences in a uniform pro-p group:
The intrinsic Lie algebra of a uniform pro-p group has the same underlying set as , zero equal to the group identity, and operationsHere is the limit of integral powers approaching . The first root is taken in and the second in ; the commutator actually lies in . The following faithful algebra realization verifies convergence and the Lie algebra axioms, rather than assuming them as part of the definition.
Choose a minimal tuple of topological generators. The layer isomorphisms show that the images of are bases of . The ordered-coordinate argument of Question 3 therefore gives a continuous bijectionExistence follows by successive digits and compactness; uniqueness follows by the first digit at which the coordinates differ, because its images are linearly independent in the corresponding power layer. Thus this map is a homeomorphism.
Here are details of the norm needed on the group algebra. In put . Its elements have unique ordered expansions with . To verify this description, identify the ordered coordinates of with . Elements of the completed group algebra are integral measures on this space; their values on the binomial polynomials are precisely the coefficients . The finite-difference identity pairs the ordered monomial with this binomial polynomial as . The Mahler expansion of a continuous function therefore proves both existence and uniqueness of the measure with the specified coefficients. This also proves that the ordinary rational group algebra embeds in these expansions.
Choose and setThis defines the weighted group algebra of a uniform pro-p group. Its multiplication is submultiplicative in the valuation convention, . Indeed, has valuation ; collection of ordered coordinates gives the same lower bound for when . Interchanging two adjacent in a product introduces a correction coming from , of valuation at least . Iterating the interchange rule never lowers the total weight; the corrections have strictly increasing weight, so infinite collection converges. The same argument with -th powers showsThe equality follows from the first nonzero coordinate digit: its leading terms are , at least one with unit , and cannot cancel in the ordered expansion. Completing the rational group algebra in this norm produces a complete normed algebra in which embeds faithfully and with its original topology.
Since , the seriesconverge on the relevant balls in and are inverse there. Their convergence follows from and ; formal one-variable identities prove that they are inverse. Put and . The Baker--Campbell--Hausdorff formula in now givesbecause every term of degree at least two tends to zero after this rescaling. Similarly expansion of givesThe leading term is the indicated associative-algebra commutator and all terms of degree at least three tend to zero. These expressions are the logarithms of the unique roots in the intrinsic formulas. The image is compact and hence closed in , so both limits belong to , and the inverse logarithm takes the limits back to . Also . Consequently identifies the intrinsic operations with addition, scalar multiplication and commutation in . The Jacobi identity follows by expanding the associative products; thus is indeed a Lie algebra over .
The commutator roots in the intrinsic formula belong to , so their limit gives . Iterating the power congruence gives . Taking the unique roots shows that intrinsic addition modulo is the original group product modulo . Consequently is the original elementary abelian quotient , and the images of the form a basis. Successively removing digits expresses every element uniquely as an additive sum : existence uses completeness, while a nonzero relation would have a first nonzero digit contradicting the basis in . Hence is a free module of rank over the p-adic integers and is a powerful Lie lattice.
Conversely a powerful Lie algebra over p-adic integers, for odd , is a finite free -module with a bilinear alternating Lie bracket satisfying the Jacobi identity and . DefineFor completeness, integrality and convergence can be verified without guessing which individual denominators are units. In set . Then , so its integral universal enveloping algebra has an ordered basis by the Poincaré-Birkhoff-Witt theorem. Its coefficientwise -adic norm is submultiplicative, and consists of elements of valuation at least one. The homogeneous degree- terms in have coefficients of valuation at least : expand the logarithm, use on each nonconstant exponential factor, and on a product of such factors. Therefore evaluating degree on gives valuation at leastwhich tends to infinity and is at least two when . Each homogeneous term is a rational Lie polynomial by the formal Baker--Campbell--Hausdorff formula. The ordered enveloping-algebra basis shows that its intersection with is exactly , so the estimate places the sum in , with the non-linear part in .
Associativity follows from the identity in the completed universal enveloping algebra. Its identity is , its inverse is , and , since the bracket of with itself is zero. The same coefficient estimate for the group commutator puts it in . Conjugation in the BCH group is ; each term preserves , because each bracket adds a factor of and . Thus the submodules are normal subgroups for , their intersection is zero, and their finite quotients have -power order. Thus is a powerful pro-p group, withA module basis topologically generates this group: it generates the quotient , and successive power digits lift that generation through all . The BCH construction therefore gives a uniform pro-p group.