4243

FIRST PUBLIC EXAMINATION

Preliminary Examination in Mathematics: Paper I
Preliminary Examination in Mathematics and Philosophy: Paper I
Preliminary Examination in Mathematics and Computer Science: Paper M1
Mathematics I
Trinity Term 2013
Monday, 17 June 2013, 2.30pm to 5.00pm
Each question is worth 20 marks.
There are four questions in Part A and three questions in Part B.
You should submit answers to no more than ve questions.
You should submit answers to no more than three questions from Part A and to no more
than two questions from Part B.
Begin the answer to each question in a new answer booklet.
Hand in your answers in numerical order.
Write the numbers of all the questions to be marked on the front cover sheet. The examiners
will only mark these ve questions.
If you answer fewer than ve questions you must submit an empty booklet for each unanswered
question, so that you still submit ve booklets in total.
Cross out all rough working and any working you do not want to be marked. If you have used
separate answer booklets for rough work please cross through the front of each such answer
booklet and attach these answer booklets at the back of your work.
Do not turn this page until you are told that you may do so
Page 1 of 4
Part A
1. Let V be a vector space over R and S a nite subset of V .
(a) [8 marks] What does it mean to say that S is linearly independent?
What does it mean to say that S spans V ?
What does it mean to say that S is a basis of V ?
Show that if S spans V then some subset of S is a basis of V .
(b) [8 marks] Assume that {v
1
, ..., v
n
} is a basis of V and {w
1
, ..., w
k
} is a linearly inde-
pendent subset of V . Show that k n. Deduce that any two bases of V have n
elements.
[You may assume the Steinitz Exchange Lemma, provided you state it clearly.]
(c) [4 marks] Suppose that {v
1
, ..., v
n
} is a basis of V .
For every t R consider the subspace
W
t
= Sp{v
1
, v
2
, . . . , v
n2
, v
n1
+tv
n
} .
(i) Show that dimW
t
= n 1 for every t.
(ii) Show that if t = s then dim(W
t
W
s
) = n 2.
2. (a) [7 marks] Let V be a nite-dimensional vector space and let A, B be subspaces of V .
Show that
dimA+ dimB = dim(A+B) + dim(A B) .
(b) [4 marks] Let {v
1
, ..., v
n
} be a basis of the vector space V and let w
1
, ..., w
n
be elements
of V . Show that there is a unique linear map T : V V such that T(v
i
) = w
i
for all
i = 1, ..., n.
(c) [9 marks] Let V be a nite-dimensional vector space and let A
1
, A
2
, B
1
, B
2
be subspaces
of V such that:
i. dimA
1
= dimA
2
, dimB
1
= dimB
2
, and
ii. A
1
+B
1
= A
2
+B
2
= V .
Show that there is a linear map T : V V such that T(A
1
) = A
2
and T(B
1
) = B
2
.
Is this still true if we drop the assumption ii? Give a proof or a counterexample.
3. (a) [8 marks] Explain what is meant by an elementary row operation. Let B be an aug-
mented matrix of the form [A|b] corresponding to the system Ax = b and let B

= [A

|b

]
be a matrix obtained by applying an elementary row operation to B. Show that the set
of solutions of the system A

x = b

is equal to the set of solutions of the system Ax = b.

(b) [12 marks] For which values of is the following system of linear equations solvable?
Find the solutions (x, y, z, t) in those cases.
x + ( 1)y + z + t = 1
2x 2y + z + t = 2
x + y + 2z + 2t = 4
x + z + t = 2
4243 Page 2 of 4
4. (a) [7 marks] Let , be the standard inner product on R
n
. Show that if A is a real
symmetric n n matrix and x, y R
n
then
Ax, y = x, Ay.
Show that if v, u are eigenvectors of A corresponding to distinct eigenvalues then
u, v = 0.
(b) [13 marks] Let
A =

0 1 1 1
1 0 1 1
1 1 0 1
1 1 1 0

.
(i) Find the eigenvalues of A and determine their algebraic and geometric multiplicities.
(ii) Find a matrix P such that P
T
P = I and P
T
AP is a diagonal matrix.
Part B
5. (a) [12 marks] What is meant by the cycle type of a permutation in S
n
?
Prove for a cycle (a
1
a
2
. . . a
k
) in S
n
and S
n
that

1
(a
1
a
2
. . . a
k
) = (a
1
a
2
. . . a
k
) .
Deduce that two permutations in S
n
are conjugate if and only if they have the same
cycle type.
(b) [8 marks] Let G be a group and g G. Show that the centralizer C
G
(g) of g, given by
C
G
(g) = {h G : gh = hg} ,
is a subgroup of G.
Explain why there are 18 elements of S
6
which commute with = (123) (456) and why
the centralizer C
S
6
() is not abelian.
6. (a) [10 marks] Let G and H be groups. What does it mean to say a map f : G H is a
homomorphism? What is meant by the kernel, ker f, of f?
Given a homomorphism f : G H, show that ker f is a normal subgroup of G.
State the First Isomorphism Theorem.
(b) [10 marks] Prove that the normal subgroups of S
3
are
{e} , A
3
, S
3
.
[You may quote any result from Question 5(a) without proof.]
Treating the dierent cases for n appropriately, determine all the homomorphisms from
S
3
to C
n
(the cyclic group of order n).
4243 Page 3 of 4 Turn Over
7. (a) [8 marks] What is meant by a left action of a group G on a set S? If s S dene the
orbit, Orb(s), of s.
Show that the orbits partition S.
(b) [6 marks] If G and S are nite, show that the number of orbits of the action equals
1
|G|

gG
x(g)
where
x(g) = |{s S : g s = s}| .
[You may assume, without proof, the Orbit-Stabilizer Theorem.]
(c) [6 marks] A squares edges are each painted one of n colours. Show that the number of
dierent colourings is
n
4
+ 2n
3
+ 3n
2
+ 2n
8
where two colourings of the square are considered equal if one is a rotation or reection
of the other.
4243 Page 4 of 4 End of Last Page