Part II, 2021, Paper 2
Part II, 2021, Paper 2
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Paper 2, Section II, I
commentLet be an algebraically closed field and . Exhibit as an open subset of affine space . Deduce that is smooth. Prove that it is also irreducible.
Prove that is isomorphic to a closed subvariety in an affine space.
Show that the matrix multiplication map
that sends a pair of matrices to their product is a morphism.
Prove that any morphism from to is constant.
Prove that for any morphism from to is constant.
Paper 2, Section II, 21F
comment(a) State a suitable version of the Seifert-van Kampen theorem and use it to calculate the fundamental groups of the torus and of the real projective plane .
(b) Show that there are no covering maps or .
(c) Consider the following covering space of :
Here the line segments labelled and are mapped to the two different copies of contained in , with orientations as indicated.
Using the Galois correspondence with basepoints, identify a subgroup of
(where is the wedge point) that corresponds to this covering space.
Paper 2, Section II, H
commentDefine the Schwartz space, , and the space of tempered distributions, , stating what it means for a sequence to converge in each space.
For a function , and non-negative integers , we say if
You may assume that equipped with is a Banach space in which is dense.
(a) Show that if there exist and such that
Deduce that there exists a unique such that for all .
(b) Recall that is positive if for all satisfying . Show that if is positive, then there exist and such that
Hint: Note that
Paper 2, Section II, 36B
comment(a) The -wave solution for the scattering problem of a particle of mass and momentum has the asymptotic form
Define the phase shift and verify that .
(b) Define the scattering amplitude . For a spherically symmetric potential of finite range, starting from , derive the expression
giving the cross-section in terms of the phase shifts of the partial waves.
(c) For with , show that a bound state exists and compute its energy. Neglecting the contributions from partial waves with , show that
(d) For with compute the -wave contribution to . Working to leading order in , show that has a local maximum at . Interpret this fact in terms of a resonance and compute its energy and decay width.
Paper 2, Section II,
commentLet be an irreducible, non-explosive, continuous-time Markov process on the state space with generator .
(a) Define its jump chain and prove that it is a discrete-time Markov chain.
(b) Define what it means for to be recurrent and prove that is recurrent if and only if its jump chain is recurrent. Prove also that this is the case if the transition semigroup satisfies
(c) Show that is recurrent for at least one of the following generators:
[Hint: You may use that the semigroup associated with a -matrix on such that depends only on (and has sufficient decay) can be written as
where . You may also find the bound useful.
Paper 2, Section II, 32A
comment(a) Let and , for , be real-valued functions on .
(i) Define what it means for the sequence to be an asymptotic sequence as .
(ii) Define what it means for to have the asymptotic expansion
(b) Use the method of stationary phase to calculate the leading-order asymptotic approximation as of
[You may assume that .]
(c) Use Laplace's method to calculate the leading-order asymptotic approximation as of
[In parts (b) and (c) you should include brief qualitative reasons for the origin of the leading-order contributions, but you do not need to give a formal justification.]
Paper 2, Section I, F
commentAssuming the definition of a deterministic finite-state automaton (DFA) , what is the extended transition function for ? Also assuming the definition of a nondeterministic finite-state automaton (NFA) , what is in this case?
Define the languages accepted by and , respectively, in terms of .
Given an NFA as above, describe the subset construction and show that the resulting DFA accepts the same language as . If has one accept state then how many does have?
Paper 2, Section I, D
commentShow that, in a uniform gravitational field, the net gravitational torque on a system of particles, about its centre of mass, is zero.
Let be an inertial frame of reference, and let be the frame of reference with the same origin and rotating with angular velocity with respect to . You may assume that the rates of change of a vector observed in the two frames are related by
Derive Euler's equations for the torque-free motion of a rigid body.
Show that the general torque-free motion of a symmetric top involves precession of the angular-velocity vector about the symmetry axis of the body. Determine how the direction and rate of precession depend on the moments of inertia of the body and its angular velocity.
Paper 2, Section II, D
comment(a) Show that the Hamiltonian
where is a positive constant, describes a simple harmonic oscillator with angular frequency . Show that the energy and the action of the oscillator are related by .
(b) Let be a constant. Verify that the differential equation
is solved by
when , where is a constant you should determine in terms of .
(c) Show that the solution in part (b) obeys
Hence show that the fractional variation of the action in the limit is , but that these variations do not accumulate. Comment on this behaviour in relation to the theory of adiabatic invariance.
Paper 2, Section I, K
commentState Shannon's noisy coding theorem for a binary symmetric channel, defining the terms involved.
Suppose a channel matrix, with output alphabet of size , is such that the entries in each row are the elements of the set in some order. Further suppose that all columns are permutations of one another. Show that the channel's information capacity is given by
Show that the information capacity of the channel matrix
is given by .
Paper 2, Section II,
comment(a) Define what it means to say that is a binary cyclic code. Explain the bijection between the set of binary cyclic codes of length and the factors of in .
(b) What is a linear feedback shift register?
Suppose that is a linear feedback shift register. Further suppose and is a positive integer such that . Let be the matrix . Considering as a parity check matrix of a code , show that is a binary cyclic code.
(c) Suppose that is a binary cyclic code. Prove that, if does not contain the codeword , then all codewords in have even weight.
Paper 2, Section I, 9B
comment(a) The generalised Boltzmann distribution is given by
where is the chemical potential,
Find the average particle number with momentum , assuming that all particles have rest mass and are either
(i) bosons, or
(ii) fermions .
(b) The photon total number density is given by
where . Consider now the fractional ionisation of hydrogen
In our universe , where is the baryon-to-photon number density. Find an expression for the ratio
in terms of , the electron mass , the speed of light and the ionisation energy of hydrogen .
One might expect neutral hydrogen to form at a temperature , but instead in our universe it happens at the much lower temperature . Briefly explain why this happens.
[You may use without proof the Saha equation
for chemical equilibrium in the reaction
Paper 2, Section II,
commentLet be a domain in , and let be a smooth map. Define what it means for to be an immersion. What does it mean for an immersion to be isothermal?
Write down a formula for the mean curvature of an immersion in terms of the first and second fundamental forms. What does it mean for an immersed surface to be minimal? Assume that is an isothermal immersion. Prove that it is minimal if and only if are harmonic functions of .
For , and smooth functions , assume that
is an isothermal immersion. Find all possible pairs such that this immersion is minimal.
Paper 2, Section II, A
commentConsider a modified van der Pol system defined by
where and are constants.
(a) A parallelogram PQRS of width is defined by
where . Show that if is sufficiently large then trajectories never leave the region inside the parallelogram.
Hence show that if there must be a periodic orbit. Explain your reasoning carefully.
(b) Use the energy-balance method to analyse the behaviour of the system for , identifying the difference in behaviours between and .
(c) Describe the behaviour of the system for , using sketches of the phase plane to illustrate your arguments for the cases and .
Paper 2, Section II, 39A
comment(a) Incompressible fluid of viscosity fills the thin, slowly varying gap between rigid boundaries at and . The boundary at translates in its own plane with a constant velocity , while the other boundary is stationary. If has typical magnitude and varies on a lengthscale , state conditions for the lubrication approximation to be appropriate.
Write down the lubrication equations for this problem and show that the horizontal volume flux is given by
where is the pressure.
Explain why for some function . Deduce that satisfies the equation
(b) Now consider the case for and for , where and are constants, and are polar coordinates. A uniform pressure gradient is applied at infinity. Show that as , where the constant is to be determined.
Given that , you may assume that the equations of part (a) apply for and , and are subject to conditions that the radial component of the volume flux and the pressure are both continuous across . Show that these continuity conditions imply that
respectively, where []denotes the jump across .
Hence determine and deduce that the total flux through is given by
Paper 2, Section I, 7E
commentThe function satisfies the differential equation
where and are complex analytic functions except, possibly, for isolated singularities in (the extended complex plane).
(a) Given equation , state the conditions for a point to be
(i) an ordinary point,
(ii) a regular singular point,
(iii) an irregular singular point.
(b) Now consider and use a suitable change of variables , with , to rewrite as a differential equation that is satisfied by . Hence, deduce the conditions for to be
(i) an ordinary point,
(ii) a regular singular point,
(iii) an irregular singular point.
[In each case, you should express your answer in terms of the functions and .]
(c) Use the results above to prove that any equation of the form ( ) must have at least one singular point in .
Paper 2, Section II, 13E
commentThe temperature in a semi-infinite bar satisfies the heat equation
where is a positive constant.
For , the bar is at zero temperature. For , the temperature is subject to the boundary conditions
where and are positive constants, and as .
(a) Show that the Laplace transform of with respect to takes the form
and find . Hence write in terms of and .
(b) By performing the inverse Laplace transform using contour integration, show that for
Paper 2, Section II, 18I
comment(a) Let be a polynomial of degree , and let be its splitting field.
(i) Suppose that is irreducible. Compute , carefully stating any theorems you use.
(ii) Now suppose that factors as in , with each irreducible, and if . Compute , carefully stating any theorems you use.
(iii) Explain why is a cyclotomic extension. Define the corresponding homomorphism for this extension (for a suitable integer ), and compute its image.
(b) Compute for the polynomial . [You may assume that is irreducible and that its discriminant is .]
Paper 2, Section II, 38C
commentConsider the following metric for a 3-dimensional, static and rotationally symmetric Lorentzian manifold:
(a) Write down a Lagrangian for arbitrary geodesics in this metric, if the geodesic is affinely parameterized with respect to . What condition may be imposed to distinguish spacelike, timelike, and null geodesics?
(b) Find the three constants of motion for any geodesic.
(c) Two observation stations are sitting at radii and respectively, and at the same angular coordinate. Each is accelerating so as to remain stationary with respect to time translations. At a photon is emitted from the naked singularity at .
(i) At what time does the photon reach the inner station?
(ii) Express the frequency of the photon at the outer station in terms of the frequency at the inner station. Explain whether the photon is redshifted or blueshifted as it travels.
(d) Consider a complete (i.e. infinite in both directions) spacelike geodesic on a constant- slice with impact parameter . What is the angle between the two asymptotes of the geodesic at ? [You need not be concerned with the sign of or the periodicity of the coordinate.]
[Hint: You may find integration by substitution useful.]
Paper 2, Section II, 17 G
comment(a) Define a tree and what it means for a graph to be acyclic. Show that if is an acyclic graph on vertices then . [You may use the fact that a spanning tree on vertices has edges.]
(b) Show that any 3-regular graph on vertices contains a cycle of length . Hence show that there exists such that every 3-regular graph on more than vertices must contain two cycles with disjoint vertex sets.
(c) An unfriendly partition of a graph is a partition , where , such that every vertex has and every has . Show that every graph with has an unfriendly partition.
(d) A friendly partition of a graph is a partition , where , such that every vertex has and every has . Give an example of a 3-regular graph (on at least 1 vertex) that does not have a friendly partition. Using part (b), show that for large enough every 3-regular graph with has a friendly partition.
Paper 2, Section II, 34D
comment(a) Explain briefly how the linear operators and can be used to give a Lax-pair formulation of the equation .
(b) Give a brief definition of the scattering data
attached to a smooth solution of the KdV equation at time . [You may assume to be rapidly decreasing in .] State the time dependence of and , and derive the time dependence of from the Lax-pair formulation.
(c) Show that
satisfies . Now let be the solution of the equation
and let , where . Defining by , show that
(d) Given that obeys the equations
where , deduce that
and hence that solves the equation.
Paper 2, Section II, 22H
comment(a) Let be a real normed vector space. Show that any proper subspace of has empty interior.
Assuming to be infinite-dimensional and complete, prove that any algebraic basis of is uncountable. [The Baire category theorem can be used if stated properly.] Deduce that the vector space of polynomials with real coefficients cannot be equipped with a complete norm, i.e. a norm that makes it complete.
(b) Suppose that and are norms on a vector space such that and are both complete. Prove that if there exists such that for all , then there exists such that for all . Is this still true without the assumption that and are both complete? Justify your answer.
(c) Let be a real normed vector space (not necessarily complete) and be the set of linear continuous forms . Let be a sequence in such that for all . Prove that
Paper 2, Section II, G
commentWrite down the inductive definition of ordinal exponentiation. Show that for every ordinal . Deduce that, for every ordinal , there is a least ordinal with . Show that, if , then must be a successor ordinal.
Now let be a non-zero ordinal. Show that there exist ordinals and , where , and a positive integer such that . Hence, or otherwise, show that can be written in the form
where are positive integers and are ordinals. [We call this the Cantor normal form of , and you may henceforth assume that it is unique.]
Given ordinals and positive integers find the Cantor normal form of . Hence, or otherwise, given non-zero ordinals and , find the Cantor normal form of in terms of the Cantor normal forms
and
of and .
Paper 2, Section I, E
commentConsider a stochastic birth-death process in a population of size , where deaths occur in pairs for . The probability per unit time of a birth, for , is , that of a pair of deaths, for , is , and that of the death of a lonely singleton, , is .
(a) Write down the master equation for , the probability of a population of size at time , distinguishing between the cases and .
(b) For a function , show carefully that
where .
(c) Deduce the evolution equation for the mean , and simplify it for the case .
(d) For the same value of , show that
Deduce that the variance in the stationary state for satisfies
Paper 2, Section II, J
comment(a) What is meant by the subdifferential of a convex function at ? Write down the subdifferential of the function given by , where .
Show that minimises if and only if .
What does it mean for a function to be strictly convex? Show that any minimiser of a strictly convex function must be unique.
(b) Suppose we have input-output pairs with . Consider the objective function
where and . Assume that . Fix and define
where for . Show that if , then
[You may use any results from the course without proof, other than those whose proof is asked for directly.]
Paper 2, Section II, 20G
commentLet be a field containing . What does it mean to say that an element of is algebraic? Show that if is algebraic and non-zero, then there exists such that is a non-zero (rational) integer.
Now let be a number field, with ring of integers . Let be a subring of whose field of fractions equals . Show that every element of can be written as , where and is a positive integer.
Prove that is a free abelian group of , and that has finite index in . Show also that for every nonzero ideal of , the index of in is finite, and that for some positive integer is an ideal of .
Suppose that for every pair of non-zero ideals , we have
Show that .
[You may assume without proof that is a free abelian group of rank ] ]
Paper 2, Section , I
commentDefine the Möbius function , and explain what it means for it to be multiplicative.
Show that for every positive integer
where is the Euler totient function.
Fix an integer . Use the Chinese remainder theorem to show that there are infinitely many positive integers for which
Paper 2, Section II, 41E
comment(a) Let and define by
Let be defined as the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) of , i.e.
Show that
(b) Define the discrete cosine transform by
For with , show that, similar to the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), there exists an algorithm that computes the DCT of a vector of length , where the number of multiplications required is bounded by , where is some constant independent of .
[You may not assume that the FFT algorithm requires multiplications to compute the DFT of a vector of length . If you use this, you must prove it.]
Paper 2, Section II, B
comment(a) Let be a basis of eigenstates of a non-degenerate Hamiltonian , with corresponding eigenvalues . Write down an expression for the energy levels of the perturbed Hamiltonian , correct to second order in the dimensionless constant .
(b) A particle travels in one dimension under the influence of the potential
where is the mass, a frequency and a length scale. Show that, to first order in , all energy levels coincide with those of the harmonic oscillator. Calculate the energy of the ground state to second order in .
Does perturbation theory in converge for this potential? Briefly explain your answer.
Paper 2, Section II, J
commentLet be i.i.d. random observations taking values in with a continuous distribution function . Let for each .
(a) State the Kolmogorov-Smirnov theorem. Explain how this theorem may be used in a goodness-of-fit test for the null hypothesis , with continuous.
(b) Suppose you do not have access to the quantiles of the sampling distribution of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test statistic. However, you are given i.i.d. samples with distribution function . Describe a test of with size exactly .
(c) Now suppose that are i.i.d. taking values in with probability density function , with . Define the density estimator
Show that for all and all ,
Paper 2, Section II, H
commentLet be a measure space. A function is simple if it is of the form , where and .
Now let be a Borel-measurable map. Show that there exists a sequence of simple functions such that for all as .
Next suppose is also -integrable. Construct a sequence of simple -integrable functions such that as .
Finally, suppose is also bounded. Show that there exists a sequence of simple functions such that uniformly on as .
Paper 2, Section I, 10D
commentLet denote the set of all -bit strings and let be a Boolean function which obeys either
(I) for all , or
(II) for exactly half of all .
Suppose we are given the -qubit state
Show how we may determine with certainty whether is of case (I) or case (II).
Suppose now that Alice and Bob are separated in space. Alice possesses a quantum oracle for a Boolean function and Bob similarly possess a quantum oracle for a Boolean function . These functions are arbitrary, except that either
(1) for all , or
(2) for exactly half of all .
Alice and Bob each have available a supply of qubits in state and each can apply local quantum operations (including their own function oracle) to any qubits in their possession. Additionally, they can send qubits to each other.
Show how Bob may decide with certainty which case applies, after he has received qubits from Alice. [Hint: You may find it helpful to consider the function , where denotes addition mod 2.]
Paper 2, Section II, D
commentAlice and Bob are separated in space and can communicate only over a noiseless public classical channel, i.e. they can exchange bit string messages perfectly, but the messages can be read by anyone. An eavesdropper Eve constantly monitors the channel, but cannot alter any passing messages. Alice wishes to communicate an -bit string message to Bob whilst keeping it secret from Eve.
(a) Explain how Alice can do this by the one-time pad method, specifying clearly any additional resource that Alice and Bob need. Explain why in this method, Alice's message does, in fact, remain secure against eavesdropping.
(b) Suppose now that Alice and Bob do not possess the additional resource needed in part (a) for the one-time pad, but that they instead possess pairs of qubits, where , with each pair being in the state
where the real parameters are known to Alice and Bob and obey and . For each qubit pair in state , Alice possesses qubit and Bob possesses qubit . They each also have available a supply of ancilla qubits, each in state , and they can each perform local quantum operations on qubits in their possession.
Show how Alice, using only local quantum operations, can convert each state into by a process that succeeds with non-zero probability. [Hint: It may be useful for Alice to start by adjoining an ancilla qubit and work locally on her two qubits in
Hence, or otherwise, show how Alice can communicate a bit string of expected length to Bob in a way that keeps it secure against eavesdropping by Eve.
Paper 2, Section II, I
commentLet be a finite group and work over .
(a) Let be a faithful character of , and suppose that takes precisely different values as varies over all the elements of . Show that every irreducible character of is a constituent of one of the powers . [Standard properties of the Vandermonde matrix may be assumed if stated correctly.]
(b) Assuming that the number of irreducible characters of is equal to the number of conjugacy classes of , show that the irreducible characters of form a basis of the complex vector space of all class functions on . Deduce that are conjugate if and only if for all characters of .
(c) Let be a character of which is not faithful. Show that there is some irreducible character of such that for all integers .
Paper 2, Section II, F
commentLet be a domain, let be a function element in , and let be a path with . Define what it means for a function element to be an analytic continuation of along .
Suppose that is a path homotopic to and that is an analytic continuation of along . Suppose, furthermore, that can be analytically continued along any path in . Stating carefully any theorems that you use, prove that .
Give an example of a function element that can be analytically continued to every point of and a pair of homotopic paths in starting in such that the analytic continuations of along and take different values at .
Paper 2, Section I, J
commentDefine a generalised linear model for a sample of independent random variables. Define further the concept of the link function. Define the binomial regression model (without the dispersion parameter) with logistic and probit link functions. Which of these is the canonical link function?
Paper 2, Section II,
comment(a) What systems are described by microcanonical, canonical and grand canonical ensembles? Under what conditions is the choice of ensemble irrelevant?
(b) In a simple model a meson consists of two quarks bound in a linear potential, , where is the relative displacement of the two quarks and is a positive constant. You are given that the classical (non-relativistic) Hamiltonian for the meson is
where is the total mass, is the reduced mass, is the total momentum, is the internal momentum, and is the centre of mass position.
(i) Show that the partition function for a single meson in thermal equilibrium at temperature in a three-dimensional volume can be written as , where
and
Evaluate and evaluate in the large-volume limit .
What is the average separation of the quarks within the meson at temperature ?
You may assume that for ]
(ii) Now consider an ideal gas of such mesons in a three-dimensional volume .
Calculate the total partition function of the gas.
What is the heat capacity
Paper 2, Section II, 30K
commentConsider a one-period market model with risky assets and one risk-free asset. Let denote the vector of prices of the risky assets at time and let be the interest rate.
(a) What does it mean to say a portfolio is an arbitrage for this market?
(b) An investor wishes to maximise their expected utility of time-1 wealth attainable by investing in the market with their time- 0 wealth . The investor's utility function is increasing and concave. Show that, if there exists an optimal solution to the investor's expected utility maximisation problem, then the market has no arbitrage. [Assume that is integrable for any attainable time-1 wealth .]
(c) Now introduce a contingent claim with time-1 bounded payout . How does the investor in part (b) calculate an indifference bid price for the claim? Assuming each such claim has a unique indifference price, show that the map is concave. [Assume that any relevant utility maximisation problem that you consider has an optimal solution.]
(d) Consider a contingent claim with time-1 bounded payout . Let be the set of initial no-arbitrage prices for the claim; that is, the set consists of all such that the market augmented with the contingent claim with time- 0 price has no arbitrage. Show that . [Assume that any relevant utility maximisation problem that you consider has an optimal solution. You may use results from lectures without proof, such as the fundamental theorem of asset pricing or the existence of marginal utility prices, as long as they are clearly stated.]
Paper 2, Section I,
commentLet be a non-empty bounded open set in with closure and boundary and let be a continuous function. Give a proof or a counterexample for each of the following assertions.
(i) If is twice differentiable on with for all , then there exists an with for all .
(ii) If is twice differentiable on with for all , then there exists an with for all .
(iii) If is four times differentiable on with
for all , then there exists an with for all .
(iv) If is twice differentiable on with for all , then there exists an with for all .
Paper 2, Section II, H
commentLet be a continuous function with for all but finitely many values of .
(a) Show that
defines an inner product on .
(b) Show that for each there exists a polynomial of degree exactly which is orthogonal, with respect to the inner product , to all polynomials of lower degree.
(c) Show that has simple zeros on .
(d) Show that for each there exist unique real numbers , such that whenever is a polynomial of degree at most ,
(e) Show that
as for all .
(f) If is real with and , show that
(g) If and , identify (giving brief reasons) and the . [Hint: A change of variable may be useful.]
Paper 2, Section II, 40A
commentA semi-infinite elastic medium with shear modulus and shear-wave speed lies in . Above it, there is a layer of a second elastic medium with shear modulus and shear-wave speed . The top boundary is stress-free. Consider a monochromatic SH-wave propagating in the -direction at speed with wavenumber .
(a) Derive the dispersion relation
for trapped modes with no disturbance as .
(b) Show graphically that there is always a zeroth mode, and show that the other modes have cut-off frequencies
where is a positive integer. Sketch a graph of frequency against for the mode showing the behaviour near cut-off and for large .