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MSC Maths Entrance Test

This document contains an entrance examination for admission to the MSc Mathematics program at Birkbeck, University of London. The exam consists of two sections, Section A with 4 straightforward questions and Section B with 4 more challenging questions. Section A covers topics such as inequalities, logarithms, derivatives using the chain rule, and integrals. Section B includes questions on group homomorphisms, matrix properties, and Pythagorean triples. The exam is open book and applicants have 3 weeks to complete and return the test.

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589 views5 pages

MSC Maths Entrance Test

This document contains an entrance examination for admission to the MSc Mathematics program at Birkbeck, University of London. The exam consists of two sections, Section A with 4 straightforward questions and Section B with 4 more challenging questions. Section A covers topics such as inequalities, logarithms, derivatives using the chain rule, and integrals. Section B includes questions on group homomorphisms, matrix properties, and Pythagorean triples. The exam is open book and applicants have 3 weeks to complete and return the test.

Uploaded by

Swarna Khare
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

BIRKBECK

(University of London)
ENTRANCE EXAMINATION

Department of Economics, Mathematics and Statistics


For admission to MSc Mathematics

This test paper is aimed at applicants for Birkbecks MSc in Mathematics. There are two
sections, Section A (four questions) and Section B (four questions). Please attempt all eight
questions. Section A questions are intended to be more straightforward, while Section B
questions are more challenging. Do feel free to consult books when completing this test, but it
should be your own work. Please return this test within three weeks.

Section A
1. (a) Solve the following inequalities. Express your answers using interval notation.
i) 8 3x > 14 5x
ii) |x + 3| |2x 5|.

[1]
[3]

i) Write 2 log x 3 log(x + 1) + 12 log(x 1) as a single logarithm.


[1]
2 + 3i
ii) Express the complex numbers (2 + 3i)(4 7i) and
in the form a + ib,
4 7i
where a and b are real.
[3]

dz
1
3 uv
(c) Let z = u e
where u = t and v = t . Use the chain rule to nd dt , giving your
nal answer in terms of t.
[4]

(b)

(d) Integrate the following expressions with respect to x.


3 + x2
i)
x
cos 3x
ii)
(2 + sin 3x)2

iii) x 2 + x

[1]
[2]
[2]

(e) For x, y, z R+ and k Z+ , let W = (x2 + 2xy + 2yz + z 2 )k . Show that


W
W
W
4kW (x + y + z)
+
+
= 2
.
x
y
z
x + 2xy + 2yz + z 2

2. (a) Find the inverse of

[3]

1 1 1
X = 2 3 2 .
3 8 2

[3]

(b) Let u = (2 3 4) and v = (1 k 1). Given that u and v are perpendicular:


i) nd k; and
ii) nd a nonzero vector which

0
(c) Consider the matrices A =
0

is orthogonal to both u

0 1
2

2 0
0
and B =
0 1
0

and v.

0 1
1 0 .
0 1

[2]
[3]

i) Find the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of A, and the eigenvalues and eigenvectors
of B.
[8]
ii) For each of the matrices X = A and X = B, determine whether X is diagonalizable, and if it is, nd an invertible matrix P such that P 1 XP is a diagonal
matrix.
[4]

Please turn over


c
Birkbeck
College
Page 2 of 5

3. (a) Express the following sums in terms of n.


n

i)
r(r + 2)

[2]

r=1

ii)

r=1

1
.
r(r + 2)

[3]

(b) How many odd numbers, greater than 600,000 and less than 1,000,000, can be
formed from the digits 5,6,7,8,9,0
i) if repetitions are allowed?
[2]
ii) if repetitions are not allowed?
[3]
3
4
(c) Find 11 (mod 37) and 31 (mod 37). Hence, or otherwise, nd the remainder
when 3129 + 4829 is divided by 37.
[5]
(d) Solve the linear congruence 228x + 555 27 (mod 612).
[5]

4. (a) The relation on Z+ is given by m n if and only if there exists q Q+ such that
mq = n.
i) Show that is an equivalence relation on Z+ .
[3]
ii) List the ve smallest elements of the equivalence class [9].
[1]
(b) Consider the elements = (125)(476) and = (142)(3567) of S7 . Find , , 2
and 1 (where for x {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}, ()(x) is dened to be ((x))).
[4]
(c) Recall that Q is the set of nonzero rational numbers. For r, s Q , let r s = 3rs.
Show that Q under is a group.
[4]
(d) Below is the partially completed multiplication table of a group G = {p, q, r, s, t, u}.
p q r s t u
p u t
q
u
r
p
t
s
q
t
p
r
p
u
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)

Which element of G is the identity? Explain your reasoning.


[1]
What is the inverse of q? Explain your reasoning.
[1]
Calculate p(rq) and hence nd pr.
[2]
Complete the table, given that G is abelian, that G has an element of order 2,
and that the inverse of p is u.
[4]

Please turn over


c
Birkbeck
College
Page 3 of 5

Section B
5. (a) Let D = Dih(8), the group of symmetries of the square. Then
D = , : 4 = 1, 2 = 1, = 1 .
Find the elements of the conjugacy class of .

[4]

(b) Consider S3 = {1, (12), (13), (23), (123), (132)}. Let H = {1, (12)}. Find the right
H-cosets and the left H-cosets. Is H a normal subgroup of S3 ? Explain your
answer.
[4]
(c) The set GL2 (R) of 2 2 invertible real matrices is a group under matrix multiplication. The set C of nonzero complex numbers
( is a group
) under multiplication. A map
x y
f : C GL2 (R) is given by f (x + iy) =
.
y x
Show that f is a homomorphism. Is f an isomorphism? Explain your answer. [4]
(d) This part of the question is about the groups (Z,+) and (C , ). A map : Z C
is given by (n) = in , for all n Z (where i = 1).
i) Show that is a homomorphism from (Z, +) to (C , ), and nd im() and
ker().
[5]
ii) Use the Homomorphism Theorem (also known as the First Isomorphism Theorem) to determine whether Z/ ker() is cyclic.
[3]

6. (a) The set M2 (R) of 2 2 real matrices is a ring under the usual addition and multiplication of matrices. Let T and K be the following subsets of M2 (R).
)
}
)
}
{(
{(
x x
x y
:xR
: x, y R
K=
T =
x x
0 x
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)

Show that T is a subring of M2 (R).


[3]
Find the zero divisors, if any, of T .
[2]
Is T a division ring? Explain your answer.
[1]
Show that K is a eld under the usual addition and multiplication of matrices,
making sure to specify the multiplicative identity element of F .
[5]

(b) This part of the question is about Z9 [x], the ring of polynomials in x over Z9 . A
certain element f (x) Z9 [x] is given by f (x) = ax+b, for some a, b Z9 . Determine
for which values of a and b the element f (x) is a unit.
[4]
(c) Consider the ring of real polynomials R[x] and let f (x) = x4 + x3 + 2x2 + x + 1 and
g(x) = x3 + 2x2 + x + 2.
i) Find a greatest common divisor of f (x) and g(x) in R[x].
ii) Express f (x) as a product of irreducible polynomials in R[x].

[3]
[2]

Please turn over


c
Birkbeck
College
Page 4 of 5

7. A Pythagorean triple is a triple (a, b, c) of positive integers satisfying a2 + b2 = c2 . The


triple is primitive when a, b and c are mutually coprime.
(a) Let s and t be positive integers with s > t.
i) Show that (2st, s2 t2 , s2 + t2 ) is a Pythagorean triple.
[3]
ii) It can be shown that all primitive Pythagorean triples have the form given in
part i). State the extra conditions on s and t that are required in this case. [2]
(b) For n Z+ , let tn denote the nth triangular number.
i) Show that if n = 1 then there are at least two distinct primitive Pythagorean
triples of the form (4tn , x, y).
[6]
ii) Prove that if n = 1 and both n and n + 1 are prime powers, then there are
exactly two primitive Pythagorean triples of the form (4tn , x, y).
[4]
iii) Find three values of n for which there are exactly two primitive Pythagorean
triples of the form (4tn , x, y), and give the corresponding Pythagorean triples. [5]

8. (a)

i) State the general formula for the Taylor series for a function f at x0 .
[1]
ii) Now let f (x) = sin(x) and x0 = 0. Show that the remainder of the Taylor
formula converges to 0 as n . From this give an explicit description of the
Taylor series for sin x at 0.
[4]

(b) Find the general solution of the dierential equation

d2 y
dx

dy
+ 2 dx
+ 5y = 6e3x .

[4]

(c) The set R[x] of polynomials in x with real coecients is a real vector space. Let n
be a positive integer. Dene
Vn = {a0 + a1 x1 + + an xn : a0 , a1 , . . . , an R}.
i) Show that Vn is a subspace of R[x].
ii) Let Bn = {1, x, x2 , . . . , xn }. Show that Bn is a basis for Vn .
The map : V3 V2 is dened as follows: for f V3 , dene (f ) =
(f ) is the derivative of f with respect to x.

[2]
[2]
df
.
dx

That is,

iii) Show that is a linear transformation.


[1]
[4]
iv) Find ker and im and hence determine the rank and nullity of .
v) Find the matrix M for with respect to the bases B3 for V3 and B2 for V2 given
in part (c)ii).
[2]

c
Birkbeck
College
Page 5 of 5

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