MATHEMATICAL TRIPOS Part IA

Thursday, 2 June, 2022 9:00am to 12:00pm

PAPER 1
Before you begin read these instructions carefully
The examination paper is divided into two sections. Each question in Section II
carries twice the number of marks of each question in Section I. Section II questions
also carry an alpha or beta quality mark and Section I questions carry a beta quality
mark.
Candidates may obtain credit from attempts on all four questions from Section I
and at most five questions from Section II. Of the Section II questions, no more
than three may be on the same course.

Write on one side of the paper only and begin each answer on a separate sheet.
Write legibly; otherwise you place yourself at a grave disadvantage.

At the end of the examination:

Separate your answers to each question.
Complete a gold cover sheet for each question that you have attempted, and place
it at the front of your answer to that question.
Complete a green master cover sheet listing all the questions that you have
attempted.
Every cover sheet must also show your Blind Grade Number and desk
number.
Tie up your answers and cover sheets into a single bundle, with the master cover
sheet on the top, and then the cover sheet and answer for each question, in the
numerical order of the questions.

STATIONERY REQUIREMENTS
Gold cover sheets
Green master cover sheet

You may not start to read the questions

printed on the subsequent pages until
instructed to do so by the Invigilator.
 2

SECTION I
1B Vectors and Matrices
(a) Consider the equation

|z − a| + |z − b| = c ,

for z ∈ C, where a, b ∈ C, a 6= b, and c ∈ R, c > 0.

For each of the following cases, either show the equation has no solutions for z or
give a rough sketch of the set of solutions:

(i) c < |a − b| ,

(ii) c = |a − b| ,

(iii) c > |a − b| .

(b) Let ω be the solution to ω 3 = 1 with Im(ω) > 0. Calculate the following:
6
(i) (1 + ω)10 ,

(ii) all values of (1 + ω)1+ω .

2B Vectors and Matrices

Consider the equation
M T JM = J , (∗)
where M is a 2 × 2 real matrix and
 
1 0
J= .
0 −1

(a) (i) What are the possible values of det(M ) if M satisfies (∗)? Justify your answer.
(ii) Suppose that (∗) holds when M = M1 and when M = M2 . Show that (∗)
also holds when M = M1 M2 and when M = (M1 )−1 .

(b) Show that if M satisfies (∗) and its first entry satisfies M11 > 0 then M takes one
of the forms    
a(u) b(u) a(u) −b(u)
, ,
c(u) d(u) c(u) −d(u)
where u ∈ R and a(u), b(u), c(u), d(u) are hyperbolic functions whose form you
should determine.

Part IA, Paper 1

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3D Analysis I P (−1)n
State the alternating series test. Deduce that the series ∞n=1
√
n
converges. Is
this series absolutely convergent? Justify your answer.
(−1)n
Find a divergent series which has the same terms √
n
taken in a different order.
You should justify the divergence.
[You may use the comparison test, provided that you accurately state it.]

4D Analysis I
Let a ∈ R and let f and g be continuous real-valued functions defined on R which
are not identically zero on any interval containing a.
Must the function F (x) = f (x) + g(x) be non-differentiable at a ∈ R if (a) f is
differentiable at a and g is not differentiable at a; (b) both f and g are not differentiable
at a?
Must the function G(x) = f (x)g(x) be non-differentiable at a ∈ R if (a) f is
differentiable at a and g is not differentiable at a; (b) both f and g are not differentiable
at a?
Justify your answers.

Part IA, Paper 1 [TURN OVER]

 4

SECTION II
5B Vectors and Matrices
Let A, B, C, D be vectors in R3 .

(a) (i) Define the scalar product A·B and the vector product A × B, expressing the
products in terms of vector components.
(ii) Obtain expressions for A × (B × C) and (A × B) × C as linear combinations
of A, B and C.
(iii) Now suppose that A, B, C are linearly independent. By considering the
expression (A × B) × (C × D), obtain an expression for D as a linear
combination of A, B, C.

(b) Again suppose that the vectors A, B, C are linearly independent, and that they
are position vectors of points on a sphere S that passes through the origin O. By
writing the position vector of the centre of S in the form

P = αA + βB + γC ,

obtain three linear equations for α, β, γ in terms of A, B, C. Hence find P when

A = (1, 0, 0), B = (1, 1, 0), C = (0, 1, 2) in Cartesian coordinates.

6B Vectors and Matrices

(a) (i) Find, with brief justification, the 2×2 matrix R representing an anticlockwise
rotation through angle θ in the xy-plane and the 2 × 2 matrix M representing reflection
in the x-axis in the xy-plane.
(ii) Show that M RM = Ra , where a is an integer that you should determine.
(iii) Can Ra = M Rb for some integers a, b? Justify your answer.
(b) Now let n > 3 be an integer and θ = 2π
n . Consider matrices of the form

M m1 Rn1 M m2 Rn2 . . . M mk Rnk ,

where k > 1 is an integer and mi > 0, ni > 0 are integers for i = 1, . . . , k.

Show that there are precisely 2n distinct matrices of this form, and give explicit
expressions for them as 2 × 2 matrices.

Part IA, Paper 1

 5

7B Vectors and Matrices

An n×n complex matrix P is called an orthogonal projection matrix if P 2 = P = P † ,
where † denotes the Hermitian conjugate. An n × n complex matrix A is positive
semidefinite if (x, Ax) > 0 for all x ∈ Cn . [Recall that the standard inner product on
Cn is defined by (x, y) = x† y.]
(a) Show that the eigenvalues of any n × n Hermitian matrix are real.
(b) Show that every n × n orthogonal projection matrix is positive semidefinite.
(c) If P is an n × n orthogonal projection matrix, show that every vector v ∈ Cn
can be written in the form v = v0 + v1 , where v0 is in the kernel of P , P v1 = v1 and
(v0 , v1 ) = 0.
(d) If A and B are distinct n×n Hermitian matrices, show that there is an orthogonal
projection matrix P such that Tr(P A) 6= Tr(P B).
(e) If P and Q are n × n orthogonal projection matrices, is P Q necessarily a positive
semidefinite matrix? Justify your answer.

8B Vectors and Matrices

Let M be an n × n complex matrix with columns c1 , . . . , cn ∈ Cn . Verify that
c1 = M e1 , . . . , cn = M en , where e1 , . . . , en are the standard basis vectors for Cn . If P is
also an n × n complex matrix, show that P M has columns P c1 , . . . , P cn .
For an n × n complex matrix A with characteristic polynomial

χA (x) = (−1)n (xn + an−1 xn−1 + . . . + a1 x + a0 ) ,

consider the matrix  

0 0 ... 0 −a0
1 0 . . . 0 −a1 
 
 −a2 
C = 0 1 . . . 0 .
 .. .. .. .. 
. . . . 
0 0 ... 1 −an−1
Show that there exists an invertible matrix S such that

S −1 AS = C

if and only if there is a vector v ∈ Cn such that v, Av, . . . , An−1 v are linearly independent.
You may assume that χA (A) = 0 (the Cayley-Hamilton theorem).
[Hint: consider the columns of S.]

Part IA, Paper 1 [TURN OVER]

 6

9D Analysis I
(a) Let an be a sequence of real numbers. Show that if an converges, the sequence
1 Pn 1 Pn
n k=1 ak also converges and n→∞
lim n k=1 ak = lim an .
n→∞
1 P n
If n k=1 ak converges, must an converge too? Justify your answer.
(b) Let xn be a sequence of real numbers with xn > 0 for all n. By considering the
√
sequence log xn , or otherwise, show that if xn converges then lim n x1 x2 . . . xn = lim xn .
n→∞ n→∞
You may assume that exp and log are continuous functions.
xn √ xn
Deduce that if the sequence converges, then lim n xn = lim .
xn−1 n→∞ n→∞ xn−1

(c) What is a Cauchy sequence? State the general principle of convergence for real
sequences.

P∞ Let an be a decreasing sequence of positive real numbers and suppose that the series
n=1 an converges. Prove that lim nan = 0.
n→∞

10D Analysis I
Prove that every continuous real-valued function on a closed bounded interval is
bounded and attains its bounds. [The Bolzano–Weierstrass theorem can be assumed
provided it is accurately stated.]
Give an example of a continuous function φ : (0, 1) → R that is bounded but does
not attain its bounds and an example of a function ψ : [0, 1] → R that is not bounded on
any interval [a, b] such that 0 6 a < b 6 1. Justify your examples.
Let f : [a, b] → R be a continuous function. Prove that the functions

m(x) = inf f (ξ) and M (x) = sup f (ξ)

a6ξ6x a6ξ6x

are also continuous on [a, b].

Let a function g : (0, ∞) → R be continuous and bounded. Show that for every
T > 0 there exists a sequence xn such that xn → ∞ and

lim (g(xn + T ) − g(xn )) = 0.

n→∞

[The intermediate value theorem can be assumed.]

Part IA, Paper 1

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11D Analysis I
In this question a < b are real numbers.
(a) State and prove Rolle’s theorem. State and prove the mean value theorem.
(b) Prove that if a continuous function f : [a, b] → R is differentiable on (a, b) and
f (b) − f (a)
is not a linear function, then f 0 (ξ) > for some ξ with a < ξ < b.
b−a
(c) Let f : [a, b] → R be a continuous function and let f be differentiable on (a, b).
Must there exist, for every ξ ∈ (a, b), two points x1 , x2 with a 6 x1 < ξ < x2 6 b such
f (x2 ) − f (x1 )
that = f 0 (ξ)? Give a proof or counterexample as appropriate.
x2 − x1
(d) Let functions f and g be continuous on [a, b] and differentiable on (a, b) with
g(a) 6= g(b) and suppose that f 0 (x) and g 0 (x) never vanish for the same value of x. By
considering λf + µg + ν for suitable real constants λ, µ, ν, or otherwise, prove that

f (b) − f (a) f 0 (ξ)

= 0 for some ξ with a < ξ < b.
g(b) − g(a) g (ξ)

Give an example to show that the condition that f 0 (x) and g 0 (x) never vanish for the same
x cannot be omitted.

12D Analysis I
Let f : [0, 1] → R be a monotone function.
Show that for all dissections D and D0 of [0, 1] one has LD (f ) 6 UD0 (f ), where
LD (f ) and UD0 (f ) are the lower and upper sums of f for the respective dissections. Show
further that for each ε > 0 there is a dissection D such that UD (f ) − LD (f ) < ε. Deduce
that f is integrable.
Show that Z 
n


1
1 X k
 |f (1) − f (0)|
 f (x)dx − f <
0 n n  n
k=1

for all positive integers n.

Let a function F be continuous on some open interval containing [0, 1] and have a
continuous derivative F 0 on [0, 1]. Denote
Z n
1
1X k

∆n = F (x)dx − F .
0 n n
k=1

Stating clearly any results from the course that you require, show that

lim n∆n = (F (0) − F (1))/2.

n→∞

R k/n

[Hint: it might be helpful to consider (k−1)/n F (x) − F ( nk ) dx.]

END OF PAPER

Part IA, Paper 1