Part IA, {{ year }}
Part IA 2004
1.I.1B
Part IA, 2004 commentThe linear map represents reflection in the plane through the origin with normal , where , and referred to the standard basis. The map is given by , where is a matrix.
Show that
Let and be unit vectors such that is an orthonormal set. Show that
and find the matrix which gives the mapping relative to the basis .
1.I.2C
Part IA, 2004 commentShow that
for any real numbers . Using this inequality, show that if and are vectors of unit length in then .
3.II.7D
Part IA, 2004 commentLet be a real symmetric matrix. Show that all the eigenvalues of are real, and that the eigenvectors corresponding to distinct eigenvalues are orthogonal to each other.
Find the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of
Give an example of a non-zero complex symmetric matrix whose only eigenvalues are zero. Is it diagonalisable?
3.II.8D
Part IA, 2004 commentCompute the characteristic polynomial of
Find the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of for all values of .
For which values of is diagonalisable?
1.I.3D
Part IA, 2004 commentDefine the supremum or least upper bound of a non-empty set of real numbers.
State the Least Upper Bound Axiom for the real numbers.
Starting from the Least Upper Bound Axiom, show that if is a bounded monotonic sequence of real numbers, then it converges.
1.I.4E
Part IA, 2004 commentLet for . Show by induction or otherwise that for every integer ,
Evaluate the series
[You may use Taylor's Theorem in the form
without proof.]
1.II.9D
Part IA, 2004 commenti) State Rolle's theorem.
Let be continuous functions which are differentiable on .
ii) Prove that for some ,
iii) Suppose that , and that exists and is equal to .
Prove that exists and is also equal to .
[You may assume there exists a such that, for all and
iv) Evaluate .
1.II.10E
Part IA, 2004 commentDefine, for an integer ,
Show that for every , and deduce that
Show that , and that
Hence prove that
1.II.11F
Part IA, 2004 commentLet be defined on , and assume that there exists at least one point at which is continuous. Suppose also that, for every satisfies the equation
Show that is continuous on .
Show that there exists a constant such that for all .
Suppose that is a continuous function defined on and that, for every , satisfies the equation
Show that if is not identically zero, then is everywhere positive. Find the general form of .
1.II.12F
Part IA, 2004 comment(i) Show that if and
for all , and if converges, then converges.
(ii) Let
By considering , or otherwise, show that as .
[Hint: for .]
(iii) Determine the convergence or otherwise of
for (a) , (b) .
2.I.1B
Part IA, 2004 commentBy writing where is a constant, solve the differential equation
and find the possible values of .
Describe the isoclines of this differential equation and sketch the flow vectors. Use these to sketch at least two characteristically different solution curves.
Now, by making the substitution or otherwise, find the solution of the differential equation which satisfies .
2.I.2B
Part IA, 2004 commentFind two linearly independent solutions of the differential equation
Find also the solution of
that satisfies
1.II.5B
Part IA, 2004 commentThe vector satisfies the equation
where is a matrix and is a column vector. State the conditions under which this equation has (a) a unique solution, (b) an infinity of solutions, (c) no solution for .
Find all possible solutions for the unknowns and which satisfy the following equations:
in the cases (a) , and (b) .
2.II.5B
Part IA, 2004 commentConstruct a series solution valid in the neighbourhood of , for the differential equation
satisfying
Find also a second solution which satisfies
Obtain an expression for the Wronskian of these two solutions and show that
2.II.6B
Part IA, 2004 commentTwo solutions of the recurrence relation
are given as and , and their Wronskian is defined to be
Show that
Suppose that , where is a real constant lying in the range , and that . Show that two solutions are and , where . Evaluate the Wronskian of these two solutions and verify .
2.II.7B
Part IA, 2004 commentShow how a second-order differential equation may be transformed into a pair of coupled first-order equations. Explain what is meant by a critical point on the phase diagram for a pair of first-order equations. Hence find the critical points of the following equations. Describe their stability type, sketching their behaviour near the critical points on a phase diagram.
Sketch the phase portraits of these equations marking clearly the direction of flow.
2.II.8B
Part IA, 2004 commentConstruct the general solution of the system of equations
in the form
and find the eigenvectors and eigenvalues .
Explain what is meant by resonance in a forced system of linear differential equations.
Consider the forced system
Find conditions on and such that there is no resonant response to the forcing.
4.I.3A
Part IA, 2004 commentA lecturer driving his car of mass along the flat at speed accidentally collides with a stationary vehicle of mass . As both vehicles are old and very solidly built, neither suffers damage in the collision: they simply bounce elastically off each other in a straight line. Determine how both vehicles are moving after the collision if neither driver applied their brakes. State any assumptions made and consider all possible values of the mass ratio . You may neglect friction and other such losses.
An undergraduate drives into a rigid rock wall at speed . The undergraduate's car of mass is modern and has a crumple zone of length at its front. As this zone crumples upon impact, it exerts a net force on the car, where is the amount the zone has crumpled. Determine the value of at the point the car stops moving forwards as a function of , where .
4.I.4A
Part IA, 2004 commentA small spherical bubble of radius a containing carbon dioxide rises in water due to a buoyancy force , where is the density of water, is gravitational attraction and is the volume of the bubble. The drag on a bubble moving at speed is , where is the dynamic viscosity of water, and an accelerating bubble acts like a particle of mass , for some constant . Find the location at time of a bubble released from rest at and show the bubble approaches a steady rise speed
Under some circumstances the carbon dioxide gradually dissolves in the water, which leads to the bubble radius varying as , where is the bubble radius at and is a constant. Under the assumption that the bubble rises at speed given by , determine the height to which it rises before it disappears.
4.II.9A
Part IA, 2004 commentA horizontal table oscillates with a displacement , where is the amplitude vector and the angular frequency in an inertial frame of reference with the axis vertically upwards, normal to the table. A block sitting on the table has mass and linear friction that results in a force , where is a constant and is the velocity difference between the block and the table. Derive the equations of motion for this block in the frame of reference of the table using axes on the table parallel to the axes in the inertial frame.
For the case where , show that at late time the block will approach the steady orbit
where
and is a constant.
Given that there are no attractive forces between block and table, show that the block will only remain in contact with the table if .
4.II.10A
Part IA, 2004 commentA small probe of mass is in low orbit about a planet of mass . If there is no drag on the probe then its orbit is governed by
where is the location of the probe relative to the centre of the planet and is the gravitational constant. Show that the basic orbital trajectory is elliptical. Determine the orbital period for the probe if it is in a circular orbit at a distance from the centre of the planet.
Data returned by the probe shows that the planet has a very extensive but diffuse atmosphere. This atmosphere induces a drag on the probe that may be approximated by the linear law , where is the drag force and is a constant. Show that the angular momentum of the probe about the planet decays exponentially.
4.II.11A
Part IA, 2004 commentA particle of mass and charge moves through a magnetic field . There is no electric field or external force so that the particle obeys
where is the location of the particle. Prove that the kinetic energy of the particle is preserved.
Consider an axisymmetric magnetic field described by in cylindrical polar coordinates . Determine the angular velocity of a circular orbit centred on .
For a general orbit when , show that the angular momentum about the -axis varies as , where is the angular momentum at radius . Determine and sketch the relationship between and . [Hint: Use conservation of energy.] What is the escape velocity for the particle?
4.II.12A
Part IA, 2004 commentA circular cylinder of radius , length and mass is rolling along a surface. Show that its moment of inertia is given by .
At the cylinder is at the bottom of a slope making an angle to the horizontal, and is rolling with velocity and angular velocity . Assuming slippage does not occur, determine the position of the cylinder as a function of time. What is the maximum height that the cylinder reaches?
The frictional force between the cylinder and surface is given by , where is the friction coefficient. Show that the cylinder begins to slip rather than roll if . Determine as a function of time the location, speed and angular velocity of the cylinder on the slope if this condition is satisfied. Show that slipping continues as the cylinder ascends and descends the slope. Find also the maximum height the cylinder reaches, and its speed and angular velocity when it returns to the bottom of the slope.
1.II.6A
Part IA, 2004 commentExpress the product in suffix notation and thence prove that the result is zero.
Silver Beard the space pirate believed people relied so much on space-age navigation techniques that he could safely write down the location of his treasure using the ancient art of vector algebra. Spikey the space jockey thought he could follow the instructions, by moving by the sequence of vectors one stage at a time. The vectors (expressed in 1000 parsec units) were defined as follows:
Start at the centre of the galaxy, which has coordinates .
Vector a has length , is normal to the plane and is directed into the positive quadrant.
Vector is given by , where .
Vector has length , is normal to and , and moves you closer to the axis.
Vector .
Vector has length . Spikey was initially a little confused with this one, but then realised the orientation of the vector did not matter.
Vector has unknown length but is parallel to and takes you to the treasure located somewhere on the plane .
Determine the location of the way-points Spikey will use and thence the location of the treasure.
4.I.1E
Part IA, 2004 comment(a) Use Euclid's algorithm to find positive integers such that .
(b) Determine all integer solutions of the congruence
(c) Find the set of all integers satisfying the simultaneous congruences
4.I.2E
Part IA, 2004 commentProve by induction the following statements:
i) For every integer ,
ii) For every integer is divisible by 6 .
4.II.5E
Part IA, 2004 commentShow that the set of all subsets of is uncountable, and that the set of all finite subsets of is countable.
Let be the set of all bijections from to , and let be the set
Show that is uncountable, but that is countable.
4.II.6E
Part IA, 2004 commentProve Fermat's Theorem: if is prime and then .
Let and be positive integers with . Show that if where is prime and , then
Now assume that is a product of distinct primes. Show that if and only if, for every prime divisor of ,
Deduce that if every prime divisor of satisfies , then for every with , the congruence
holds.
4.II.7E
Part IA, 2004 commentPolynomials for are defined by
Show that for every , and that if then .
Prove that if is any polynomial of degree with rational coefficients, then there are unique rational numbers for which
Let . Show that
Show also that, if and are polynomials such that , then is a constant.
By induction on the degree of , or otherwise, show that if for every , then for all .
4.II.8E
Part IA, 2004 commentLet be a finite set, subsets of and . Let be the characteristic function of , so that
Let be any function. By considering the expression
or otherwise, prove the Inclusion-Exclusion Principle in the form
Let be an integer. For an integer dividing let
By considering the sets for prime divisors of , show that
(where is Euler's function) and
2.I.3F
Part IA, 2004 commentDefine the covariance, , of two random variables and .
Prove, or give a counterexample to, each of the following statements.
(a) For any random variables
(b) If and are identically distributed, not necessarily independent, random variables then
2.I.4F
Part IA, 2004 commentThe random variable has probability density function
Determine , and the mean and variance of .
2.II.9F
Part IA, 2004 commentLet be a positive-integer valued random variable. Define its probability generating function . Show that if and are independent positive-integer valued random variables, then .
A non-standard pair of dice is a pair of six-sided unbiased dice whose faces are numbered with strictly positive integers in a non-standard way (for example, ) and . Show that there exists a non-standard pair of dice and such that when thrown
total shown by and is total shown by pair of ordinary dice is
for all .
[Hint:
2.II.10F
Part IA, 2004 commentDefine the conditional probability of the event given the event .
A bag contains four coins, each of which when tossed is equally likely to land on either of its two faces. One of the coins shows a head on each of its two sides, while each of the other three coins shows a head on only one side. A coin is chosen at random, and tossed three times in succession. If heads turn up each time, what is the probability that if the coin is tossed once more it will turn up heads again? Describe the sample space you use and explain carefully your calculations.
1.II.7A
Part IA, 2004 commentSimplify the fraction
where is the complex conjugate of . Determine the geometric form that satisfies
Find solutions to
and
where is a complex variable. Sketch these solutions in the complex plane and describe the region they enclose. Derive complex equations for the circumscribed and inscribed circles for the region. [The circumscribed circle is the circle that passes through the vertices of the region and the inscribed circle is the largest circle that fits within the region.]
2.II.11F
Part IA, 2004 commentThe random variables and are independent, and each has an exponential distribution with parameter . Find the joint density function of
and show that and are independent. What is the density of ?
2.II.12F
Part IA, 2004 commentLet be events such that for . Show that the number of events that occur satisfies
Planet Zog is a sphere with centre . A number of spaceships land at random on its surface, their positions being independent, each uniformly distributed over the surface. A spaceship at is in direct radio contact with another point on the surface if . Calculate the probability that every point on the surface of the planet is in direct radio contact with at least one of the spaceships.
[Hint: The intersection of the surface of a sphere with a plane through the centre of the sphere is called a great circle. You may find it helpful to use the fact that random great circles partition the surface of a sphere into disjoint regions with probability one.]
3.I.3C
Part IA, 2004 commentIf and are differentiable vector fields, show that
(i) ,
(ii) .
3.I.4C
Part IA, 2004 commentDefine the curvature, , of a curve in .
The curve is parametrised by
Obtain a parametrisation of the curve in terms of its arc length, , measured from the origin. Hence obtain its curvature, , as a function of .
3.II.9C
Part IA, 2004 commentFor a function state if the following implications are true or false. (No justification is required.)
(i) is differentiable is continuous.
(ii) and exist is continuous.
(iii) directional derivatives exist for all unit vectors is differentiable.
(iv) is differentiable and are continuous.
(v) all second order partial derivatives of exist .
Now let be defined by
Show that is continuous at and find the partial derivatives and . Then show that is differentiable at and find its derivative. Investigate whether the second order partial derivatives and are the same. Are the second order partial derivatives of at continuous? Justify your answer.
3.II.10C
Part IA, 2004 commentExplain what is meant by an exact differential. The three-dimensional vector field is defined by
Find the most general function that has as its differential.
Hence show that the line integral
along any path in between points and vanishes for any values of and .
The two-dimensional vector field is defined at all points in except by
is not defined at .) Show that
for any closed curve in that goes around anticlockwise precisely once without passing through .
3.II.11C
Part IA, 2004 commentLet be the 3 -dimensional sphere of radius 1 centred at be the sphere of radius centred at and be the sphere of radius centred at . The eccentrically shaped planet Zog is composed of rock of uniform density occupying the region within and outside and . The regions inside and are empty. Give an expression for Zog's gravitational potential at a general coordinate that is outside . Is there a point in the interior of where a test particle would remain stably at rest? Justify your answer.
3.II.12C
Part IA, 2004 commentState (without proof) the divergence theorem for a vector field with continuous first-order partial derivatives throughout a volume enclosed by a bounded oriented piecewise-smooth non-self-intersecting surface .
By calculating the relevant volume and surface integrals explicitly, verify the divergence theorem for the vector field
defined within a sphere of radius centred at the origin.
Suppose that functions are continuous and that their first and second partial derivatives are all also continuous in a region bounded by a smooth surface .
Show that
Hence show that if is a continuous function on and a continuous function on and and are two continuous functions such that
then for all in .
1.II.8C
Part IA, 2004 comment(i) The vectors in satisfy . Are necessarily linearly independent? Justify your answer by a proof or a counterexample.
(ii) The vectors in have the property that every subset comprising of the vectors is linearly independent. Are necessarily linearly independent? Justify your answer by a proof or a counterexample.
(iii) For each value of in the range , give a construction of a linearly independent set of vectors in satisfying
where is the Kronecker delta.
3.I.1D
Part IA, 2004 commentState Lagrange's Theorem.
Show that there are precisely two non-isomorphic groups of order 10 . [You may assume that a group whose elements are all of order 1 or 2 has order .]
3.I.2D
Part IA, 2004 commentDefine the Möbius group, and describe how it acts on .
Show that the subgroup of the Möbius group consisting of transformations which fix 0 and is isomorphic to .
Now show that the subgroup of the Möbius group consisting of transformations which fix 0 and 1 is also isomorphic to .
3.II.5D
Part IA, 2004 commentLet be the dihedral group of order 12 .
i) List all the subgroups of of order 2 . Which of them are normal?
ii) Now list all the remaining proper subgroups of . [There are of them.]
iii) For each proper normal subgroup of , describe the quotient group .
iv) Show that is not isomorphic to the alternating group .
3.II.6D
Part IA, 2004 commentState the conditions on a matrix that ensure it represents a rotation of with respect to the standard basis.
Check that the matrix
represents a rotation. Find its axis of rotation .
Let be the plane perpendicular to the axis . The matrix induces a rotation of by an angle . Find .