NATIONAL BOARD FOR HIGHER MATHEMATICS

Research Scholarships Screening Test

Saturday, January 28, 2012
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 Algebra, Analysis, Topology, Applied Mathematics and Miscellaneous.
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 statement(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.

Notation
N denotes the set of natural numbers, 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 Zn will denote the ring of integers modulo n.
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 leftopen-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 symbol C will denote the corresponding
space of infinitely differentiable functions.
The derivative of a function f is denoted by f 0 and the second derivative
by f 00 .
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).
GLn (R) (respectively, GLn (C)) will denote the group of invertible nn
matrices with entries from R (respectively, C) with the group operation
being matrix multiplication.

Section 1: Algebra
1.1 Which of the following are subgroups of GL3 (C)?
a.
H = {A M3 (C) | det(A) = 2l , l Z}.
b.

c.

0 1
H =
| , , C .

0 0 1

1 0

0 1 0 |C .
H =

0 0 1

1.2 Let S7 denote the symmetric group of all permutations of the symbols
{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}. Pick out the true statements:
a. S7 has an element of order 10;
b. S7 has an element of order 15;
c. the order of any element of S7 is at most 12.

1.3 Let C(R) denote the ring of all continuous real-valued functions on
R, with the operations of pointwise addition and pointwise multiplication.
Which of the following form an ideal in this ring?
a. The set of all C functions with compact support.
b. The set of all continuous functions with compact support.
c. The set of all continuous functions which vanish at infinity, i.e. functions
f such that lim|x| f (x) = 0.

1.4 Find the number of non-zero elements in the field Zp , where p is an odd
prime number, which are squares, i.e. of the form m2 , m Zp , m 6= 0.

1.5 Find the inverse in Z5 of the following matrix:

1 2 0
0 2 4 .
0 0 3

1.6 Let P3 denote the (real) vector space of all polynomials (in one variable),
with real coefficients and of degree less than, or equal to, 3, equipped with
the standard basis {1, x, x2 , x3 }. Write down the matrix (with respect to this
basis) of the linear transformation
L(p) = p00 2p0 + p, p P3 .

1.7 Find the unique polynomial p P3 (see Question 1.6 above) such that
p00 2p0 + p = x3 .
1.8 Let A = (aij ) Mn (R), n 3. Let B = (bij ) be the matrix of its cofactors, i.e. bij is the cofactor of the entry aij in A. What is the rank of B
when
a. the rank of A is n?
b. the rank of A is less than, or equal to, n 2?
1.9 Let A M3 (R) which is not a diagonal matrix. Pick out the cases when
A is diagonalizable over R:
a. when A2 = A;
b. when (A 3I)2 = 0;
c. when A2 + I = 0.
1.10 Let A M3 (R) which is not a diagonal matrix. Let p be a polynomial
(in one variable), with real coefficients and of degree 3 such that p(A) = 0.
Pick out the true statements:
a. p = cpA where c R and pA is the characteristic polynomial of A;
b. if p has a complex root (i.e. a root with non-zero imaginary part), then
p = cpA , with c and pA as above;
c. if p has a complex root, then A is diagonalizable over C.

Section 2: Analysis
2.1 Which of the following statements are true?
a. Let {amn }, m, n N, be an arbitrary double sequence of real numbers.
Then
X

X
X
3
amn =
a3mn .
m=1 n=1

n=1 m=1

b. Let {amn }, m, n N, be an arbitrary double sequence of real numbers.

Then
X

X
X
2
amn =
a2mn .
m=1 n=1

n=1 m=1

c. Let {a
pmn }, m, n N, be a double sequence of real numbers such that
|amn | m/n for all m, n N. Then
X

X
X
amn
amn
=
.
2
mn
m2 n
m=1 n=1
n=1 m=1

2.2 Let f C[1, 1]. Evaluate:

Z

1
lim
h0 h

f (t) dt.
h

2.3 Let f C 1 [1, 1]. Evaluate:

n

1X 0
lim
f
n n
k=1
2.4 Let f C[, ]. Evaluate:
a.
Z
lim
n

b.

k
3n


.

f (t) cos nt dt;

f (t) cos2 nt dt;

lim

2.5 In each of the following cases, examine whether the given sequence (or
series) of functions converges uniformly over the given domain:
a.
nx
, x ]0, [;
fn (x) =
1 + nx
b.

X
n sin nx
, x [0, ];
en
n=1
c.

xn
, x [0, 2].
1 + xn

fn (x) =
2.6 Compute F 0 (x) where
Z

F (x) =
x

1 exy
dy, x > 0.
y
5

2.7 Let a > 0 and let k N. Evaluate:

lim a

nk

kj=1

j
a+
n

n
.

2.8 Write down the power series expansion of the function f (z) = 1/z 2 about
the point z = 2.
2.9 Let C be the circle |z + 2| = 3 described in the anti-clockwise (i.e.
positive) sense in the complex plane. Evaluate:
Z
dz
.
3
C z (z + 4)
2.10 Which of the following statements are true?
a. There exists an entire function f : C C which takes only real values
and is such that f(0) = 0 and f (1) = 1.
b. There exists an entire function f : C C such that f (n + n1 ) = 0 for all
n N.
c. There exists an entire function f : C C which is onto and which is such
that f (1/n) = 0 for all n N.

Section 3: Topology
3.1 Let A and B be subsets of Rn . Define
A + B = {x + y | x A, y B}.
Pick out the true statements:
a. if A and B are closed sets, then A + B is a closed set;
b. if A is an open set and if B is a closed set, then A + B is an open set;
c. if A and B are compact sets, then so is A + B.
3.2 Let X and Y be metric spaces and let f : X Y be a mapping. Pick
out the true statements:
a. if f is uniformly continuous, then the image of every Cauchy sequence in
X is a Cauchy sequence in Y ;
b. if X is complete and if f is continuous, then the image of every Cauchy
sequence in X is a Cauchy sequence in Y ;
c. if Y is complete and if f is continuous, then the image of every Cauchy
sequence in X is a Cauchy sequence in Y ;
3.3 Which of the following statements are true?
a. If A is a dense subset of a topological space X, then X\A is nowhere
dense in X.
b. If A is a nowhere dense subset of a topological space X, then X\A is
dense in X.
c. The set R, identified with the x-axis in R2 , is nowhere dense in R2 .
3.4 Which of the following metric spaces are separable?
a. The space C[0, 1], with the usual sup-norm metric.
b. The space `1 of all absolutely convergent real sequences, with the metric
d1 ({ai }, {bi }) =

|ai bi |.

i=1

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

d ({ai }, {bi }) =

sup |ai bi |.
1i<

3.5 Which of the following sets are compact?

a. The closed unit ball centred at 0 and of radius 1 of `1 (see Question 3.4(b)
above).
b. The set of all unitary matrices in M2 (C).
c. The set of all matrices in M2 (C) with determinant equal to unity.
3.6 Which of the following sets are connected?
a. The set {(x, y) R2 | xy = 1} in R2 .
b. The set of all symmetric matrices in Mn (R).
c. The set of all orthogonal matrices in Mn (R).

3.7 Which of the following metric spaces are complete?

a. The space of all continuous real-valued functions on R with compact
support, with the usual sup-norm metric.
b. The space C[0, 1] with the metric
Z 1
|f (t) g(t)| dt.
d1 (f, g) =
0

c. The space C 1 [0, 1] with the metric

d(f, g) = max |f (t) g(t)|.
t[0,1]

3.8 Let Xj = C[0, 1] with the metric d1 (see Question 3.7(b) above) when
j = 1, the metric
Z
d2 (f, g) =

 21
|f (t) g(t)| dt
2

when j = 2 and the usual sup-norm metric when j = 3. Let id : C[0, 1]

C[0, 1] be the identity map. Pick out the true statements:
a. id : X2 X1 is continuous;
b. id : X1 X3 is continuous;
c. id : X3 X2 is continuous.
3.9 Which of the following statements are true?
a. Consider the subspace S 1 = {(x, y) R2 | x2 + y 2 = 1} of R2 . Then,
there exists a continuous function f : S 1 R which is onto.
b. There exists a continuous function f : S 1 R which is one-one.
c. Let
X = {A = (aij ) M2 (R) | tr(A) = 0 and |aij | 2 for all 1 i, j 2}.
Let Y = {det(A) | A X} R. Then, there exist < 0 and > 0 such
that Y = [, ].
3.10 Let S 1 R2 be as in Question 3.9(a) above. Let
D = {(x, y) R2 | x2 + y 2 1} and E = {(x, y) R2 | 2x2 + 3y 2 1}
be also considered as subspaces of R2 . Which of the following statements are
true?
a. If f : D S 1 is a continuous mapping, then there exists x S 1 such that
f (x) = x.
b. If f : S 1 S 1 is a continuous mapping, then there exists x S 1 such
that f (x) = x.
c. If f : E E is a continuous mapping, then there exists x E such that
f (x) = x.

Section 4: Applied Mathematics

4.1 Find the family of orthogonal trajectories of the family of curves y = cx2 .
4.2 Let f C[0, 1] be given. Consider the problem: find a curve u such that
u(0) = u(1) = 0 which minimizes the functional
Z 1
Z
1 1 0
2
J(v) =
f (x)v(x) dx
(v (x)) dx
2 0
0
over all admissible curves v. Write down the boundary value problem (EulerLagrange equation) satisfied by the solution u.
4.3 Let R be a constant. Solve:
dx(t)
dt
dy(t)
dt

= x(t) y(t), t > 0

= x(t) + y(t), t > 0
x(0) = y(0) = 1.
4.4 Let b R be a constant. Solve:
u
(x, t)
t

+ b u
(x, t) = 0, x R, t > 0
x
u(x, 0) = x2 .
P
4.5 Let v be a smooth harmonic function on Rn . If r2 = ni=1 |xi |2 , where
x = (x1 , , xn ) Rn , and if v is a radial function, i.e. v(x) = v(r), write
down the ordinary differential equation satisfied by v.
4.6 Let a and b be positive constants. Let y satisfy
y 00 (t) + ay 0 (t) + by(t) = 0, t > 0,
y(0) = 1 and y 0 (0) = 1.
Write down the Laplace transform of y.

4.7 Write down the Newton-Raphson iteration scheme to find 1/ a, where

a > 0, by solving the equation x2 a = 0.
4.8 Let B Mn (R) and let b Rn be a given fixed vector. Consider the
iteration scheme
xn+1 = Bxn + b, x0 given.
Pick out the true statements:
a. the scheme is always convergent for any initial vector x0 .
b. if the scheme is always convergent for any initial vector x0 , then I B is
invertible.
c. if the scheme is always convergent for any initial vector x0 , then every
eigenvalue of B satisfies || < 1.

4.9 Let

1 2 3 2
1
1 0
3
.
A =
1
1 1 1
0 3 1
1

Pick out the smallest disc in the complex plane containing all the eigenvalues
of A from amongst the following:
a. |z 1| 7;
b. |z 1| 6;
c. |z 1| 4.
4.10 Solve: maximize z = 7x + 5y such that x 0, y 0 and
x + 2y 6
4x + 3y 12.

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Section 5: Miscellaneous
5.1 Which of the following sets are countable?
a. The set of all sequences of non-negative integers.
b. The set of all sequences of non-negative integers with only a finite number
of non-zero terms.
c. The set of all roots of all monic polynomials in one variable with rational
coefficients.
5.2 A magic square of order N is an N N matrix with positive integral
entries such that the elements of every row, every column and the two diagonals all add up to the same number. If a magic square is filled with numbers
in arithmetic progression starting with a N and common difference d N,
what is the value of this common sum?
5.3 A committee consists of n members and a group photograph is to be
taken by seating them in a row. If two particular members do not get along
with each other, in how many ways can the committee members be seated
so that these two are never adjacent to each other?
5.4 Let n 2 and let Dn be the number of permutations of {1, 2, , n}
which leave no symbol fixed. (For example: D2 = 1). Write down an expression for Dn in terms of Dk , 2 k n 1.
5.5 Five letters are addressed to five different persons and the corresponding
envelopes are prepared. The letters are put into the envelopes at random.
What is the probability that no letter is in its proper envelope?
5.6 Which of the following statements are true?
a. The 9-th power of any positive integer is of the form 19m or 19m 1.
b. For any positive integer n, the number n13 n is divisible by 2730.
c. The number 18! + 1 is divisible by 437.
5.7 Let ai , 1 i n be non-negative real numbers. Let S denote their sum.
Pick out the true statements:
a.
nk=1 (1 + ak ) 1 + S;
b.
nk=1 (1 + ak ) 1 +
c.
nk=1 (1 + ak )

S2
Sn
S
+
+ +
;
1!
2!
n!
1
, if S < 1
1S

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5.8 Consider the Fibonacci sequence {an } defined by

a0 = 0, a1 = 1, an+1 = an + an1 , n 1.
Write down its enumerating
function, i.e. the function with the formal power
P
n
series expansion n=0 an x .
5.9 Find the lengths of the semi-axes of the ellipse whose equation is given
by
5x2 8xy + 5y 2 = 1.
5.10 Let x0 = a and x1 = b. Define


1
1
xn + xn1 , n 1.
xn+1 = 1
2n
2n
Find limn xn .

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