NATIONAL BOARD FOR HIGHER MATHEMATICS

Research Scholarships Screening Test

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Time Allowed: 150 Minutes

Maximum Marks: 40

Please read, carefully, the instructions that follow.

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES

• Please ensure that this booklet contains 12 numbered (and printed)

pages. The back of each printed page is blank and can be used for
rough work.

• There are five sections, containing ten questions each, entitled Alge-
bra, Analysis, Topology, Calculus & Differential Equations and Miscel-
laneous. Answer as many questions as possible. The assessment of the
paper will be based on the best four sections. Each question carries
one point and the maximum possible score is forty.

• Answer each question, as directed, in the space provided in the answer

booklet, which is being supplied separately. This question paper is
meant to be retained by you and so do not answer questions on it.

• In certain questions you are required to pick out the qualifying state-
ment(s) from multiple choices. None of the statements, or one or more
than one statement may qualify. Write none if none of the statements
qualify, or list the labels of all the qualifying statements (amongst (a),
(b), and (c)).

• Points will be awarded for questions involving more than one answer
only if all the correct answers are given. There will be no partial
credit.

• Calculators are not allowed.

1
 Notation

• N denotes the set of natural numbers {1, 2, 3, · · ·}, Z - the integers, Q

- the rationals, R - the reals and C - the field of complex numbers.

• Rn (respectively, Cn ) denotes the n-dimensional Euclidean space over

R (respectively, over C), and is assumed to be endowed with its ‘usual’
topology. Mn (R) (respectively, Mn (C)) will denote the set of all n × n
matrices with entries from R (respectively, C) and is identified with
2 2
Rn (respectively, Cn ) when considered as a topological space.

• The symbol ]a, b[ will stand for the open interval {x ∈ R | a < x < b}
while [a, b] will stand for the corresponding closed interval; [a, b[ and
]a, b] will stand for the corresponding left-closed-right-open and left-
open-right-closed intervals respectively.

• The space of continuous real-valued functions on an interval [a, b] is

denoted by C[a, b] and is endowed with its usual ‘sup-norm’ metric.
The space of continuously differentiable real-valued functions on [a, b]
is denoted by C 1 [a, b].

• The derivative of a function f is denoted by f 0 and the second derivative

by f 00 .

• The transpose (respectively, adjoint) of a vector x ∈ Rn (respectively,

Cn ) will be denoted by xT (respectively, x∗ ). The transpose (respec-
tively, adjoint) of a matrix A ∈ Mn (R) (respectively, Mn (C)) will be
denoted by AT (respectively, A∗ ).

• The symbol I will denote the identity matrix of appropriate order.

• The determinant of a square matrix A will be denoted by det(A) and

its trace by tr(A).

• The null space of a linear functional ϕ (respectively, a linear operator

A) on a vector space will be denoted by ker(ϕ) (respectively, ker(A)).
The range of the linear map A will be denoted by R(A).

• GLn (R) (respectively, GLn (C)) will denote the group of invertible n×n
matrices with entries from R (respectively, C) with the group operation
being matrix multiplication.

• The symbol Sn will denote the group of all permutations of n symbols

{1, 2, · · · , n}, the group operation being composition.

• Unless specified otherwise, all logarithms are to the base e.

2
 Section 1: Algebra

1.1 Let G be a finite group of order n ≥ 2. Which of the following statements

are true?
a. There always exists an injective homomorphism from G into Sn .
b. There always exists an injective homomorphism from G into Sm for some
m < n.
c. There always exists an injective homomorphism from G into GLn (R).

1.2 Let C∗ denote the multiplicative group of non-zero complex numbers and
let P denote the subgroup of positive (real) numbers. Identify the quotient
group C∗ /P .

1.3 Given a finite group and a prime p which divides its order, let N (p)
denote the number of p-Sylow subgroups of G. If G is a group of order 21,
what are the possible values for N (3) and N (7)?

1.4 Let V be the real vector space of all polynomials, in a single variable
and with real coefficients, of degree at most 3. Let V ∗ be its dual space.
Let t1 = 1, t2 = 2, t3 = 3, t4 = 4. Which of the following sets of functionals
{fi , 1 ≤ i ≤ 4} form a basis for V ∗ ?
a. For 1 ≤ i ≤ 4, and for all p ∈ V , fi (p) = p(ti ).
b. For all p ∈ V , fi (p) = p(ti ) for i = 1, 2, f3 (p) = p0 (t1 ) Rand f4 (p) = p0 (t2 ).
2
c. For all p ∈ V , fi (p) = p(ti ) for 1 ≤ i ≤ 3 and f4 (p) = 1 p0 (t) dt.

1.5 Let V be a finite dimensional real vector space and let f and g be non-
zero linear functionals on V . Assume that ker(f ) ⊂ ker(g). Which of the
following statements are true?
a. ker(f ) = ker(g).
b. f = λg for some real number λ 6= 0.
c. The linear map A : V → R2 defined by

Ax = (f (x), g(x)),

for all x ∈ V , is onto.

1.6 Let V be a finite dimensional real vector space and let A : V → V be a

linear map such that A2 = A. Assume that A 6= 0 and that A 6= I. Which
of the following statements are true?
a. ker(A) 6= {0}.
b. V = ker(A) ⊕ R(A).
c. The map I + A is invertible.

1.7 Let A ∈ M2 (R) be a matrix which is not a diagonal matrix. Which of

the following statements are true?
a. If tr(A) = −1 and det(A) = 1, then A3 = I.
b. If A3 = I, then tr(A) = −1 and det(A) = 1.
c. If A3 = I, then A is diagonalizable over R.

3
1.8 Let x ∈ Rn be a non-zero (column) vector. Define A = xxT ∈ Mn (R).
a. What is the rank of A?
b. What is the necessary and sufficient condition for I − 2A to be an orthog-
onal matrix?

1.9 Let A ∈ GLn (R) have integer entries. Let b ∈ Rn be a (column) vector,
also with integer entries. Which of the following statements are true?
a. If Ax = b, then the entries of x are also integers.
b. If Ax = b, then the entries of x are rational.
c. The matrix A−1 has integer entries if, and only if, det(A) = ±1.

1.10 In each of the following cases, describe the smallest subset of C which
contains all the eigenvalues of every member of the set S.
a. S = {A ∈ Mn (C) | A = BB ∗ for some B ∈ Mn (C)}.
b. S = {A ∈ Mn (C) | A = B + B ∗ for some B ∈ Mn (C)}.
c. S = {A ∈ Mn (C) | A + A∗ = 0}.

4
 Section 2: Analysis

2.1 Find the largest interval for which the following series is convergent at
all points x in it.
∞
X 2n (3x − 1)n
.
n=1
n
2.2 Let m and k be fixed positive integers. Evaluate:

(n + 1)m + (n + 2)m + · · · + (n + k)m

 
lim − kn .
n→∞ nm−1

2.3 Which of the following statements are true?

a. If f is twice continuously differentiable in ]a, b[ and if for all x ∈]a, b[,

f 00 (x) + 2f 0 (x) + 3f (x) = 0,

then f is infinitely differentiable in ]a, b[.

b. Let f ∈ C[a, b] be differentiable in ]a, b[. If f (a) = f (b) = 0, then, for any
real number α, there exists x ∈]a, b[ such that

f 0 (x) + αf (x) = 0.

c. The function defined below is not differentiable at x = 0.

x | cos πx |, x 6= 0,
 2
f (x) =
0 x = 0.

2.4 Let f : R → R be continuous. Which of the following statements are

true?
a. If f is bounded, then f is uniformly continuous.
b. If f is differentiable and if f 0 is bounded, then f is uniformly continuous.
c. If lim|x|→∞ f (x) = 0, then f is uniformly continuous.

2.5 In which of the following cases, is the function f of bounded variation

on [0, 1]?
a. The function f : [0, 1] → R such that, for all x, y ∈ [0, 1],

|f (x) − f (y)| ≤ 3|x − y|.

b. The function f is monotonically decreasing on [0, 1].

c. If for some non-negative Riemann integrable function g on [0, 1],
Z x
f (x) = g(t) dt for all x ∈ [0, 1].
0

2.6 Let gn (x) = n[f (x + n1 ) − f (x)], where f : R → R is a continuous

function. Which of the following statements are true?
a. If f (x) = x3 , then gn → f 0 uniformly on R as n → ∞.
b. If f (x) = x2 , then gn → f 0 uniformly on R as n → ∞.
c. If f is differentiable and if f 0 is uniformly continuous on R, then gn → f 0
uniformly on R as n → ∞.

5
2.7 Which of the following statements are true?
a. The series ∞
X x2
n=1
1 + n2 x2
does not converge uniformly on R.
b. The series in (a) above converges uniformly on R.
c. The sum of the series ∞
X sin nx2
n=1
1 + n3
defines a continuously differentiable function on R.

2.8 Find the sum of the series:

∞
X (−1)n+1
.
n=1
n(n + 1)

2.9 Let {fn } be a sequence of bounded real valued functions on [0, 1] con-
verging to f at all points of this interval. Which of the following statements
are true?
a. If fn and f are all continuous, then
Z 1 Z 1
lim fn (t) dt = f (t) dt.
n→∞ 0 0

b. If fn → f uniformly, as n → ∞, on [0, 1], then

Z 1 Z 1
lim fn (t) dt = f (t) dt.
n→∞ 0 0
R1
c. If 0
|fn (t) − f (t)| dt → 0 as n → ∞, then
Z 1 Z 1
lim fn (t) dt = f (t) dt.
n→∞ 0 0

2.10 Let f : [0, π] → R be a continuous function such that f (0) = 0. Which

of the following statements are true?
a. If Z π
f (t) cos nt dt = 0
0

for all n ∈ {0} ∪ N, then f ≡ 0.

b. If Z π
f (t) sin nt dt = 0
0
for all n ∈ N, then f ≡ 0.
c. If Z π
tn f (t) dt = 0
0

for all n ∈ {0} ∪ N, then f ≡ 0.

6
 Section 3: Topology

3.1 Let A and B be subsets of Rn . Define

A + B = {a + b | a ∈ A, b ∈ B}.

Consider the sets

W = {(x, y) ∈ R2 | x > 0, y > 0},
X = {(x, y) ∈ R2 | x ∈ R, y = 0},
Y = {(x, y) ∈ R2 | xy = 1},
Z = {(x, y) ∈ R2 | |x| ≤ 1, |y| ≤ 1}.

Which of the following statements are true?

a. The set W + X is open.
b. The set X + Y is closed.
c. The set Y + Z is closed.

3.2 Let X be a topological space and let A be a subset of X. Which of the

following statements are true?
a. If A is dense in X, then A◦ (the interior of A), is also dense in X.
b. If A is dense in X, then X\A is nowhere dense.
c. If A is nowhere dense, then X\A is dense.

3.3 Consider the space X = C[0, 1] with its usual ‘sup-norm’ topology. Let
 Z 1 
S = f ∈X | f (t) dt 6= 0 .
0

Which of the following statements are true?

a. The set S is open.
b. The set S is dense in X.
c. The set S is connected.

3.4 Consider the space X = C[0, 1] with its usual ‘sup-norm’ topology. Let
 Z 1 
S = f ∈X | f (t) dt = 0 .
0

Which of the following statements are true?

a. The set S is closed.
b. The set S is connected.
c. The set S is compact.

3.5 Let (X, d) be a metric space. Which of the following statements are true?
a. A sequence {xn } converges to x in X if, and only if, the sequence {yn } is
a Cauchy sequence in X, where, for k ≥ 1, y2k−1 = xk and y2k = x.
b. If f : X → X maps Cauchy sequences into Cauchy sequences, then f is
continuous.
c. If f : X → X is continuous, then it maps Cauchy sequences into Cauchy
sequences.

7
3.6 Which of the following spaces are separable?
a. The space C[a, b] with its usual ‘sup-norm’ topology.
b. The space C[0, 1] with the metric defined by
Z 1
d(f, g) = |f (t) − g(t)| dt.
0

c. The space `∞ consisting of all bounded real sequences with the metric

d({xn }, {yn }) = sup |xn − yn |.

n∈N

3.7 Consider the space M2 (R) with its usual topology. Which of the follow-
ing sets are dense?
a. The set of all invertible matrices.
b. The set of all matrices with both eigenvalues real.
c. The set of all matrices A such that tr(A) = 0.

3.8 Which of the following statements are true?

a. If f : R → R is injective and continuous, then it is strictly monotonic.
b. If f ∈ C[0, 2] is such that f (0) = f (2), then there exist x1 and x2 in [0, 2]
such that x1 − x2 = 1 and f (x1 ) = f (x2 ).
c. Let f and g be continuous real valued functions on R such that for
all x ∈ R, we have f (g(x)) = g(f (x)). If there exists x0 ∈ R such that
f (f (x0 )) = g(g(x0 )), then there exists x1 ∈ R such that f (x1 ) = g(x1 ).

3.9 Which of the following statements are true?

a. Let V = Cc (R), the space of continuous functions on R with compact
support (i.e. each function vanishes outside a compact set) endowed with
the metric Z ∞  21
d(f, g) = |f (t) − g(t)|2 dt .
−∞

Let f : R → R be a continuous function which vanishes outside the interval

[0, 1]. Define fn (x) = f (x − n) for n ∈ N. Then {fn } has a convergent
subsequence in V .
b. Let ϕ, ψ be continuous functions on [0, 1]. Let {fn } be a sequence in C[0, 1]
with its usual ‘sup-norm’ topology such that, for all n ∈ N, the functions fn
are continuously differentiable and for all x ∈ [0, 1], and for all n ∈ N we
have |fn (x)| ≤ ϕ(x) and |fn0 (x)| ≤ ψ(x). Then there exists a subsequence of
{fn } which converges in C[0, 1].
c. Let {An } be a sequence of orthogonal matrices in M2 (R). Then it has a
convergent subsequence.

3.10 Which of the following pairs of sets are homeomorphic?

a. The sets Q and Z with their usual topologies inherited from R.
b. The sets ]0, 1[ and ]0, ∞[ with their usual topologies inherited from R.
c. The sets S 1 = {z ∈ C | z = eiθ , 0 ≤ θ < 2π} and A = {z ∈ C | z =
reiθ , 1 ≤ r ≤ 2, 0 ≤ θ < 2π} with their usual topologies inherited from
C∼ = R2 .

8
 Section 4: Calculus and Differential Equations

4.1 Let

S = {x = (x1 , x2 , · · · , xn ) ∈ Rn | 0 ≤ x1 ≤ x2 ≤ · · · ≤ xn ≤ 1}.

Find the volume of the set S.

4.2 Let F :]0, ∞[→ R be defined by:

Z x
1 − e−xy
F (x) = dy.
−x y

Compute F 0 (x).

4.3 Let f (x, y) = x2 + 5y 2 − 6x + 10y + 6. Where are the maxima/minima

of f (if any) located?

4.4 Evaluate: Z ∞ Z ∞
2 +2xy+2y 2 )
e−(2x dxdy.
−∞ −∞

4.5 Write down the Taylor series expansion about the origin, up to the term
involving x7 , for the function
1 √
f (x) = [x 1 − x2 + sin−1 x].
2
4.6 Solve: 2
− ddru2 − 1r du
dr
= 1, in 0 < r < 1,
0
u (0) = 0 = u(1).
4.7 Which of the following two-point boundary value problems admit a
unique solution?
a. −u00 (x) = 2x in 0 < x < 1 and u(0) = u(1) = 0.
b. −u00 (x) = 2x in 0 < x < 1 and u(0) = u0 (1) = 0.
c. −u00 (x) = 2x in 0 < x < 1 and u0 (0) = u0 (1) = 0.

4.8 Which of the following statements are true?

a. Let ψ be a non-negative and continuously differentiable function on ]0, ∞[
such that ψ 0 (x) ≤ ψ(x) for all x ∈]0, ∞[. Then

lim ψ(x) = 0.
x→∞

b. Let ψ be a non-negative function continuous on [0, ∞[ and differentiable

on ]0, ∞[ such that ψ(0) = 0 and such that ψ 0 (x) ≤ ψ(x) for all x ∈]0, ∞[.
Then ψ ≡ 0.
c. Let ϕ be a non-negative and continuous function on [0, ∞[ and such that
Z x
ϕ(x) ≤ ϕ(t) dt
0

for all x ∈ [0, ∞[. Then ϕ ≡ 0.

9
4.9 Write down the expression for the Laplace transform F (s) of the function
f (x) = xn , where n ∈ N.

4.10 Amongst all smooth curves y(x) passing through the points (x1 , 0) and
(x2 , 0) in the plane, we wish to find that whose surface of revolution about
the x-axis has the least surface area. Write down the functional that must
be minimised to find this curve.

10
 Section 5: Miscellaneous

5.1 Let A = (aij ) ∈ Mn (R) be defined by


i, if i + j = n + 1,
aij =
0, otherwise.

Compute det(A).

5.2 Let n ∈ N be fixed. For 0 ≤ k ≤ n, let Ck denote the usual binomial
n
coefficient of choosing k objects from a set of n objects. Evaluate:
k

C02 + C12 + · · · + Cn2 .

5.3 Which of the following numbers are prime?

a. 179.
b. 197.
c. 199.

5.4 Given f : R → R, define f 2 (x) = f (f (x)). Which of the following state-

ments are true?
a. If f is strictly monotonic, then f 2 is strictly increasing.
b. If f 2 (x) = −x for all x ∈ R, then f is injective.
c. There does not exist a continuous function f : R → R such that f 2 (x) =
−x for all x ∈ R.

5.5 Let a be a fixed positive real number. Evaluate:

max x1 x2 · · · x n .
≥ 0, 1 ≤ i ≤ n
xi P
n
i=1 xi = a

5.6 A real number is said to be algebraic if it is the root of a non-zero poly-

nomial of degree at least one with integer coefficients. Otherwise the number
is said to be transcendental. Which of the following statements are true?
a. Algebraic numbers are dense in R.
b. Transcendental numbers are dense in R.
π
c. The number cos( 13 ) is algebraic.

5.7 Let f :]a, b[→ R be a given function. Which of the following statements
are true?
a. If f is convex in ]a, b[, then the set

Γ = {(x, y) ∈ R2 | x ∈]a, b[, y ≥ f (x)}

is a convex set.
b. If f is convex in ]a, b[, then the set

Γ = {(x, y) ∈ R2 | x ∈]a, b[, y ≤ f (x)}

is a convex set.
c. If f is convex in ]a, b[, then |f | is also convex in ]a, b[.

11
5.8 Two fair dice are rolled. What is the probability that the sum of the
numbers on the top faces is 8?

5.9 Let {fn }∞

n=1 and f be real valued functions defined on R. For ε > 0 and
for m ∈ N, define

Em (ε) = {x ∈ R | |fm (x) − f (x)| ≥ ε}.

Let

S = {x ∈ R | the sequence {fn (x)} does not converge to f (x)}.

Express S in terms of the sets {Em (ε)}m∈N,ε>0 (using the set theoretic oper-
ations of unions and intersections).

5.10 Consider the Fibonacci sequence {an }∞

n=0 defined by

a0 = a1 = 1 and an = an−1 + an−2 , n ≥ 2.

Let F (z) = ∞ n
P
n=0 an z be the generating function. Express F in closed form
as a function of z.

12