Part II, 2003, Paper 3
Part II, 2003, Paper 3
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B3.10
comment(a) Let be an affine algebraic variety. Define the tangent space for . Show that the set
is closed, for every .
(b) Let be an irreducible projective curve, , and a rational map. Show, carefully quoting any theorems that you use, that if is smooth at then extends to a regular map at .
B3.7
commentDefine a covering map. Prove that any covering map induces an injective homomorphisms of fundamental groups.
Show that there is a non-trivial covering map of the real projective plane. Explain how to use this to find the fundamental group of the real projective plane.
A3.10
comment(i) Consider the problem
where and . State and prove the Lagrangian sufficiency theorem.
In each of the following cases, where and , determine whether the Lagrangian sufficiency theorem can be applied to solve the problem:
(ii) Consider the problem in
where is a positive-definite symmetric matrix, is an matrix, and . Explain how to reduce this problem to the solution of simultaneous linear equations.
Consider now the problem
Describe the active set method for its solution.
Consider the problem
where . Draw a diagram partitioning the -plane into regions according to which constraints are active at the minimum.
B3.23
commentConsider the two Hamiltonians
where are three linearly independent vectors. For each of the Hamiltonians and , what are the symmetries of and what unitary operators are there such that ?
For derive Bloch's theorem. Suppose that has energy eigenfunction with energy where for large . Assume that for each . In a suitable approximation derive the energy eigenvalues for when . Verify that the energy eigenfunctions and energy eigenvalues satisfy Bloch's theorem. What happens if ?
B3.13
commentState the product theorem for Poisson random measures.
Consider a system of queues, each with infinitely many servers, in which, for , customers leaving the th queue immediately arrive at the th queue. Arrivals to the first queue form a Poisson process of rate . Service times at the th queue are all independent with distribution , and independent of service times at other queues, for all . Assume that initially the system is empty and write for the number of customers at queue at time . Show that are independent Poisson random variables.
In the case show that
where is a Poisson process of rate .
Suppose now that arrivals to the first queue stop at time . Determine the mean number of customers at the th queue at each time .
B3.17
commentLet be a continuous one-dimensional map of the interval . Explain what is meant by saying (a) that the map is topologically transitive, and (b) that the map has a horseshoe.
Consider the tent map defined on the interval by
for . Show that if then this map is topologically transitive, and also that has a horseshoe.
A3.6 B3.4
comment(i) Define the Poincaré index of a curve for a vector field . Explain why the index is uniquely given by the sum of the indices for small curves around each fixed point within . Write down the indices for a saddle point and for a focus (spiral) or node, and show that the index of a periodic solution of has index unity.
A particular system has a periodic orbit containing five fixed points, and two further periodic orbits. Sketch the possible arrangements of these orbits, assuming there are no degeneracies.
(ii) A dynamical system in depending on a parameter has a homoclinic orbit when . Explain how to determine the stability of this orbit, and sketch the different behaviours for and in the case that the orbit is stable.
Now consider the system
where are constants. Show that the origin is a saddle point, and that if there is an orbit homoclinic to the origin then are related by
where the integral is taken round the orbit. Evaluate this integral for small by approximating by its form when . Hence give conditions on (small) that lead to a stable homoclinic orbit at the origin. [Note that .]
A3.5 B3.3
comment(i) Given the electric field (in cartesian components)
use the Maxwell equation
to find subject to the boundary condition that as .
Let be the planar rectangular surface in the -plane with corners at
where is a constant and is some function of time. The magnetic flux through is given by the surface integral
Compute as a function of .
Let be the closed rectangular curve that bounds the surface , taken anticlockwise in the -plane, and let be its velocity (which depends, in this case, on the segment of being considered). Compute the line integral
Hence verify that
(ii) A surface is bounded by a time-dependent closed curve such that in time it sweeps out a volume . By considering the volume integral
and using the divergence theorem, show that the Maxwell equation implies that
where is the magnetic flux through as given in Part (i). Hence show, using (1) and Stokes' theorem, that (2) is a consequence of Maxwell's equations.
B3.24
commentA steady two-dimensional jet is generated in an infinite, incompressible fluid of density and kinematic viscosity by a point source of momentum with momentum flux in the direction per unit length located at the origin.
Using boundary layer theory, analyse the motion in the jet and show that the -component of the velocity is given by
where
Show that satisfies the differential equation
Write down the appropriate boundary conditions for this equation. [You need not solve the equation.]
A3.13 B3.21
comment(i) What are the commutation relations satisfied by the components of an angular momentum vector ? State the possible eigenvalues of the component when has eigenvalue .
Describe how the Pauli matrices
are used to construct the components of the angular momentum vector for a spin system. Show that they obey the required commutation relations.
Show that and each have eigenvalues . Verify that has eigenvalue
(ii) Let and denote the standard operators and state vectors of angular momentum theory. Assume units where . Consider the operator
Show that
Show that the state vectors are eigenvectors of . Suppose that is measured for a system in the state ; show that the probability that the result is equals
Consider the case . Evaluate the probability that the measurement of will result in .
A3.3 B3.2
comment(i) Let be a point of the compact interval and let be defined by . Show that
is a continuous, linear map but that
is not continuous.
(ii) Consider the space of -times continuously differentiable functions on the interval . Write
for . Show that is a complete normed space. Is the space also complete?
Let be an -times continuously differentiable map and define
Show that is a continuous linear map when is equipped with the norm .
B3.6
commentLet be a separable polynomial of degree over a field . Explain what is meant by the Galois group of over . Explain how can be identified with a subgroup of the symmetric group . Show that as a permutation group, is transitive if and only if is irreducible over .
Show that the Galois group of over is , stating clearly any general results you use.
Now let be a finite extension of prime degree . By considering the degrees of the splitting fields of over and , show that also.
A3.7
comment(i) Suppose that is a curve in the Euclidean -plane and that is parameterized by its arc length . Suppose that in Euclidean is the surface of revolution obtained by rotating about the -axis. Take as coordinates on , where is the angle of rotation.
Show that the Riemannian metric on induced from the Euclidean metric on is
(ii) For the surface described in Part (i), let and . Show that, along any geodesic on , the quantity is constant. Here is the metric tensor on .
[You may wish to compute for any vector field , where are functions of . Then use symmetry to compute , which is the rate of change of along .]
A3.4
comment(i) Let be the splitting field of the polynomial over the rationals. Find the Galois group of and describe its action on the roots of .
(ii) Let be the splitting field of the polynomial (where ) over the rationals. Assuming that the polynomial is irreducible, prove that the Galois group of the extension is either , or , or the dihedral group .
B3.8
commentLet be the space of all functions on the real line of the form , where is a polynomial with complex coefficients. Make into an inner-product space, in the usual way, by defining the inner product to be
You should assume, without proof, that this equation does define an inner product on . Define the norm by for . Now define a sequence of functions on by
Prove that is an orthogonal sequence in and that it spans .
For every define the Fourier transform of by
Show that
(a) for ;
(b) for all and ,
(c) for all .
A3.8 B3.11
comment(i) What does it mean for a function from to to be recursive? Write down a function that is not recursive. You should include a proof that your example is not recursive.
(ii) What does it mean for a subset of to be recursive, and what does it mean for it to be recursively enumerable? Give, with proof, an example of a set that is recursively enumerable but not recursive. Prove that a set is recursive if and only if both it and its complement are recursively enumerable. If a set is recursively enumerable, must its complement be recursively enumerable?
[You may assume the existence of any universal recursive functions or universal register machine programs that you wish.]
A3.1 B3.1
comment(i) Consider the continuous-time Markov chain with state-space and -matrix
Set
and
Determine which, if any, of the processes and are Markov chains.
(ii) Find an invariant distribution for the chain given in Part (i). Suppose . Find, for all , the probability that .
A3.17
comment(i) Explain what is meant by the assertion: "the series is asymptotic to as .
Consider the integral
where is real and has the asymptotic expansion
as , with . State Watson's lemma describing the asymptotic behaviour of as , and determine an expression for the general term in the asymptotic series.
(ii) Let
for . Show that
as .
Suggest, for the case that is smaller than unity, the point at which this asymptotic series should be truncated so as to produce optimal numerical accuracy.
B3.19
commentLet
where is a path beginning at and ending at (on the real axis). Identify the saddle points and sketch the paths of constant phase through these points.
Hence show that as .
A3.18
comment(i) Write down a Lax pair for the equation
Discuss briefly, without giving mathematical details, how this pair can be used to solve the Cauchy problem on the infinite line for this equation. Discuss how this approach can be used to solve the analogous problem for the nonlinear Schrödinger equation.
(ii) Let satisfy the equations
where is a constant.
(a) Show that the above equations are compatible provided that both satisfy the Sine-Gordon equation
(b) Use the above result together with the fact that
to show that the one-soliton solution of the Sine-Gordon equation is given by
where is a constant.
A3.9
comment(i) Let be a real number and let , where the product is taken over all primes . Prove that .
(ii) Define the continued fraction of any positive irrational real number . Illustrate your definition by computing the continued fraction of .
Suppose that are positive integers with and that has the periodic continued fraction . Prove that .
A3.19 B3.20
comment(i) The diffusion equation
with the initial condition and zero boundary conditions at and , is solved by the finite-difference method
where and .
Assuming sufficient smoothness of the function , and that remains constant as and become small, prove that the exact solution satisfies the numerical scheme with error .
(ii) For the problem defined in Part (i), assume that there exist such that . Prove that the method is stable for .
[Hint: You may use without proof the Gerschgorin theorem: All the eigenvalues of the matrix are contained in , where
B3.14
commentState Pontryagin's Maximum Principle (PMP).
In a given lake the tonnage of fish, , obeys
where is the rate at which fish are extracted. It is desired to maximize
choosing under the constraints , and if . Assume the PMP with an appropriate Hamiltonian . Now define and . Show that there exists such that on the optimal trajectory maximizes
and
Suppose that and that under an optimal policy it is not optimal to extract all the fish. Argue that is impossible and describe qualitatively what must happen under the optimal policy.
B3.18
commentConsider the initial value problem
to be solved for , subject to the initial conditions
for in the Schwarz space . Use the Fourier transform in to obtain a representation for the solution in the form
where should be determined explicitly. Explain carefully why your formula gives a smooth solution to (1) and why it satisfies the initial conditions (2), referring to the required properties of the Fourier transform as necessary.
Next consider the case . Find a tempered distribution (depending on ) such that (3) can be written
and (using the definition of Fourier transform of tempered distributions) show that the formula reduces to
State and prove the Duhamel principle relating to the solution of the -dimensional inhomogeneous wave equation
to be solved for , subject to the initial conditions
for a function. State clearly assumptions used on the solvability of the homogeneous problem.
[Hint: it may be useful to consider the Fourier transform of the tempered distribution defined by the function .]
A3.2
comment(i) An axisymmetric bowling ball of mass has the shape of a sphere of radius . However, it is biased so that the centre of mass is located a distance away from the centre, along the symmetry axis.
The three principal moments of inertia about the centre of mass are . The ball starts out in a stable equilibrium at rest on a perfectly frictionless flat surface with the symmetry axis vertical. The symmetry axis is then tilted through , the ball is spun about this axis with an angular velocity , and the ball is released.
Explain why the centre of mass of the ball moves only in the vertical direction during the subsequent motion. Write down the Lagrangian for the ball in terms of the usual Euler angles and .
(ii) Show that there are three independent constants of the motion. Eliminate two of the angles from the Lagrangian and find the effective Lagrangian for the coordinate .
Find the maximum and minimum values of in the motion of the ball when the quantity is (a) very small and (b) very large.
A3.12 B3.15
comment(i) Let be independent, identically distributed random variables, with the exponential density .
Obtain the maximum likelihood estimator of . What is the asymptotic distribution of ?
What is the minimum variance unbiased estimator of Justify your answer carefully.
(ii) Explain briefly what is meant by the profile log-likelihood for a scalar parameter of interest , in the presence of a nuisance parameter . Describe how you would test a null hypothesis of the form using the profile log-likelihood ratio statistic.
In a reliability study, lifetimes are independent and exponentially distributed, with means of the form where are unknown and are known constants. Inference is required for the mean lifetime, , for covariate value .
Find, as explicitly as possible, the profile log-likelihood for , with nuisance parameter .
Show that, under , the profile likelihood ratio statistic has a distribution which does not depend on the value of . How might the parametric bootstrap be used to obtain a test of of exact size ?
[Hint: if is exponentially distributed with mean 1 , then is exponentially distributed with mean .]
B3.12
commentExplain what is meant by the characteristic function of a real-valued random variable and prove that is also a characteristic function of some random variable.
Let us say that a characteristic function is infinitely divisible when, for each , we can write for some characteristic function . Prove that, in this case, the limit
exists for all real and is continuous at .
Using Lévy's continuity theorem for characteristic functions, which you should state carefully, deduce that is a characteristic function. Hence show that, if is infinitely divisible, then cannot vanish for any real .
B3.5
commentIf and are representations of the finite groups and respectively, define the tensor product as a representation of the group and show that its character is given by
Prove that
(a) if and are irreducible, then is an irreducible representation of ;
(b) each irreducible representation of is equivalent to a representation where each is irreducible
Is every representation of the tensor product of a representation of and a representation of ?
B3.9
commentLet be the lattice for two non-zero complex numbers whose ratio is not real. Recall that the Weierstrass function is given by the series
the function is the (unique) odd anti-derivative of ; and is defined by the conditions
(a) By writing a differential equation for , or otherwise, show that is an odd function.
(b) Show that for some constants . Use (a) to express in terms of . [Do not attempt to express in terms of .]
(c) Show that the function is periodic with respect to the lattice and deduce that .
B3.22
commentA diatomic molecule, free to move in two space dimensions, has classical Hamiltonian
where is the particle's momentum and is its angular momentum. Write down the classical partition function for an ideal gas of such molecules in thermal equilibrium at temperature . Show that it can be written in the form
where and are the one-molecule partition functions associated with the translational and rotational degrees of freedom, respectively. Compute and and hence show that the energy of the gas is given by
where is Boltzmann's constant. How does this result illustrate the principle of equipartition of energy?
In an improved model of the two-dimensional gas of diatomic molecules, the angular momentum is quantized in integer multiples of :
Write down an expression for in this case. Given that , obtain an expression for the energy in the form
where and are constants that should be computed. How is this result compatible with the principle of equipartition of energy? Find , the specific heat at constant volume, for .
Why can the sum over in be approximated by an integral when ? Deduce that in this limit.
A3.14
comment(i) The pressure and mass density , at distance from the centre of a spherically-symmetric star, obey the pressure-support equation
where , and the prime indicates differentiation with respect to . Let be the total volume of the star, and its average pressure. Use the pressure-support equation to derive the "virial theorem"
where is the total gravitational potential energy [Hint: multiply by ]. If a star is assumed to be a self-gravitating ball of a non-relativistic ideal gas then it can be shown that
where is the total kinetic energy. Use this result to show that the total energy is negative. When nuclear reactions have converted the hydrogen in a star's core to helium the core contracts until the helium is converted to heavier elements, thereby increasing the total energy of the star. Explain briefly why this converts the star into a "Red Giant". (ii) Write down the first law of thermodynamics for the change in energy of a system at temperature , pressure and chemical potential as a result of small changes in the entropy , volume and particle number . Use this to show that
The microcanonical ensemble is the set of all accessible microstates of a system at fixed . Define the canonical and grand-canonical ensembles. Why are the properties of a macroscopic system independent of the choice of thermodynamic ensemble?
The Gibbs "grand potential" can be defined as
Use the first law to find expressions for as partial derivatives of . A system with variable particle number has non-degenerate energy eigenstates labeled by , for each , with energy eigenvalues . If the system is in equilibrium at temperature and chemical potential then the probability that it will be found in a particular -particle state is given by the Gibbs probability distribution
where is Boltzmann's constant. Deduce an expression for the normalization factor as a function of and , and hence find expressions for the partial derivatives
in terms of .
Why does also depend on the volume ? Given that a change in at fixed leaves unchanged the Gibbs probability distribution, deduce that
Use your results to show that
for some constant .
A3.11 B3.16
comment(i) What does it mean to say that the process is a Brownian motion? What does it mean to say that the process is a martingale?
Suppose that is a Brownian motion and the process is given in terms of as
for constants . For what values of is the process
a martingale? (Here, is a positive constant.)
(ii) In a standard Black-Scholes model, the price at time of a share is represented as . You hold a perpetual American put option on this share, with strike ; you may exercise at any stopping time , and upon exercise you receive . Let . Suppose you plan to use the exercise policy: 'Exercise as soon as the price falls to or lower.' Calculate what the option would be worth if you were to follow this policy. (Assume that the riskless rate of interest is constant and equal to .) For what choice of is this value maximised?
A3.15
comment(i) Given that the character of an transformation in the -dimensional irreducible representation is given by
show how the direct product representation decomposes into irreducible representations.
(ii) Find the decomposition of the direct product representation of into irreducible representations.
Mesons consist of one quark and one antiquark. The scalar Meson Octet consists of the following particles: , and .
Use the direct product representation of to identify the quark-type of the particles in the scalar Meson Octet. Deduce the quark-type of the singlet state contained in .
A3.16
comment(i) When a solid crystal grows into a supercooled infinite melt, latent heat must be removed from the interface by diffusion into the melt. Write down the equation and boundary conditions satisfied by the temperature in the melt, where is position and time, in terms of the following material properties: solid density , specific heat capacity , coefficient of latent heat per unit mass , thermal conductivity , melting temperature . You may assume that the densities of the melt and the solid are the same and that temperature in the melt far from the interface is , where is a positive constant.
A spherical crystal of radius grows into such a melt with . Use dimensional analysis to show that is proportional to .
(ii) Show that the above problem should have a similarity solution of the form
where is the radial coordinate in spherical polars and is the thermal diffusivity. Recalling that, for spherically symmetric , write down the equation and boundary conditions to be satisfied by . Hence show that the radius of the crystal is given by , where satisfies the equation
and .
Integrate the left hand side of this equation by parts, to give
Hence show that a solution with small must have , which is self-consistent if is large.
B3.25
commentDerive the wave equation governing the velocity potential for linearised sound in a perfect gas. How is the pressure disturbance related to the velocity potential? Write down the spherically symmetric solution to the wave equation with time dependence , which is regular at the origin.
A high pressure gas is contained, at density , within a thin metal spherical shell which makes small amplitude spherically symmetric vibrations. Ignore the low pressure gas outside. Let the metal shell have radius , mass per unit surface area, and elastic stiffness which tries to restore the radius to its equilibrium value with a force per unit surface area. Show that the frequency of these vibrations is given by