MATH GRE PREP: WEEK 5

UCHICAGO REU 2019

(1) Consider the following multiplication table.

· a b c d e
a d c e a b
b e d a b c
c b e d c a
d a b c d e
e c a b e d
Which of the following properties are true?

(I) The binary operation · is associative.

(II) The binary operation · is both left and right cancellative (e.g., for all x, y, there exist
unique p, q such that x · p = y and q · x = y).

(III) The binary operation · has an identity element.

(A) None of the above are true (the object is a magma).

(B) II only (the object is a quasigroup).

(C) I and III (the object is a monoid).

(D) II and III (the object is a loop).

(E) I, II, and III (the object is a group).

Date: August 6, 2019.

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(2) Let X = Z>0 . Define the Hjalmar Ekdal topology T on X by Y ∈ T if the successor of
every odd integer in Y is also in Y . Which of the following are properties of this topology?

I. It is compact.

II. It is locally path connected. Namely, for every x ∈ X and every neighborhood N of
x, there is a subneighborhood that is path connected.

III. It is totally disconnected, i.e. all connected components are points.

(A) None

(B) I and II only

(C) I and III only

(D) II only

(E) III only

(3) Given the following system of equations, what is x?

x+y+z = 10
w+y+z =7
w+x+z = −3
w+x+y =4

(A) −2

(B) −1

(C) 0

(D) 1

(E) 2
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(4) Let A, B, C be sets with |A| = 15, |B| = 10, which of the following ensure that |C| ≥ 25?

I. There are surjections C → A and C → B and A and B are disjoint.

II. A ∪ B ⊆ C.

III. C \ B ⊆ A.

IV. P(A \ B) \ C = ∅.

(A) I only

(B) II only

(C) IV only

(D) II and III

(E) III and IV

(5) Let A ⊂ R be a set that contains the rationals.

I. If A has positive measure (e.g., length), then A = R.

II. If A is open, then A = R.

III. If A is connected, then A = R.

Which of the above must be true?

(A) All of these are true.

(B) II only

(C) I and III only

(D) III only

(E) I and II only

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(6) What is
1 1 1
+ + + · · ·?
1·2 3·4 5·6
(A) log 3

(B) log 2

(C) 2 log 2

(D) e

(E) − 12 + log 2

(7) Let α, β ∈ R be such that

x2 sin(βx)
lim = 1.
x→0 αx − sin x
What is 6(α + β)?

(A) 5

(B) 6

(C) 7

(D) 8

(E) 9
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(8) Consider the following graph of f 00 (x), for f a function defined on [−3, 3].

2
y

−2
−3 −2 −1 0 1 2 3
x
Which of the following is incorrect? (For ease of interpretation, note that every point
given as an x-coordinate is a zero of f 00 (x), e.g., the point x = 0.1 corresponds to the point
(0.1, 0) on the graph.)

(A) It is possible that f is continuously differentiable.

(B) The function f 0 achieves local maxima at x = −5/3, x = 1.2, x = 1.8, and x = 2.1.

(C) The function f 000 has a local maximum at x = 0.1.

Rx
(D) If f 0 (x) = 0 f 00 (x)dx, then f achieves its minimum in the range [0, 0.25].

(E) The function f 00 is differentiable wherever it is defined.

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(9) Which of the following is the smallest value of n for which the following limit exists for all
r ≥ n?
xr
lim
(x,y)→(0,0) |x|2 + |y|2

(A) 1

(B) 1.5

(C) 2

(D) 2.5

(E) 3

(10) What is the length of the curve ht, t · sin t, t · cos ti, 0 ≤ t ≤ π?
√ √
(A) π4 2 + π 2 + 21 arcsinh(π/ 2)
π
√ √
(B) 2 2 + π 2 + arcsinh(π/ 2)
√ √
(C) π 2 + π 2 + arcsinh(π/ 2)
√ √
(D) π 2 + π 2 + 2 arcsinh(π/ 2)
√ √
(E) 2π 2 + π 2 + 4 arcsinh(π/ 2)

(11) Solve the following differential equation.

y 0 = cos(x − y)

(A) y − tan x−y

2 =C

(B) x + tan x−y

2 =C

(C) x + cot(x − y) = C

(D) y + sin(x − y) = C

(E) x + cot x−y

2 =C
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(12) For r ∈ R, consider the limit:

z − eiπ/2r
lim .
z→eiπ/2r z 2r + 1
What is the largest set (ordered by containment) where the above limit exists and is non-
zero for all r in the set?

(A) ∅

(B) r > 0, and r is an integer

(C) r ≥ 1/2

(D) r > 0

(E) r 6= 0

(13) Consider the matrix

 
1 2 x
3 4 5  .
6 7 8
For which value of x is this matrix not invertible?

(A) −1

(B) 0

(C) 2

(D) 3

(E) 5

(14) Let A be the unit 2-sphere in R3 . Let F = (x3 − y 2 z 4 , 2y 3 , z 3 − 3zy 2 ) be a vector field. Let
→
−
n be the outward-pointing normal. Evaluate:
ZZ
F ·→
−n dS.
A

(A) 3π

(B) π
12π
(C)
5
−3π
(D)
2
(E) 0
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(15) A function f is called Hölder continuous of exponent α if:

∃c ∈ R : ∀x, y, |f (x) − f (y)| ≤ c|x − y|α .
Which of the following is incorrect?

(A) If f : [0, 1] → R is Hölder continuous of exponent 3/2, then f is constant.

(B) If f : [0, 1] → R is C 1 , then f is Hölder continuous of exponent α, for all 0 ≤ α ≤ 1.

(C) If f is Hölder continuous of exponent α > 0, then f is uniformly continuous.

(D) If f : R → R is Lipschitz continuous, then f is Hölder continuous of exponent α for

all 0 < α ≤ 1.
√
(E) The function f (x) = x is Hölder continuous of exponent 1/2.

(16) Suppose that A is a real matrix with non-negative eigenvalues, and B is a real matrix with
eigenvalues of absolute value less than one.

I. I + A is invertible

II. I + B is invertible

III. I − A is inverible

IV. I − B is invertible

Which of the above are true?

(A) II only

(B) II and IV only

(C) I and III only

(D) I, II, and IV only

(E) All of the above are true.

(17) What is the length of the curve x2/3 + y 2/3 = 4?

(A) 48

(B) 52

(C) 56

(D) 60

(E) 64
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(18) Suppose A is a 3 × 3 matrix wtih entries in R. Assume that det(A) = 6, tr(A) = 6, and
that 3 is an eigenvalue of A. Compute tr(A2 ).

(A) −7

(B) 7

(C) 14

(D) 36

(E) 40

(19) Let Mn be the vector space of n × n matrices over R. For a matrix A ∈ Mn , define
LA : Mn → Mn by
LA (B) = AB.
Let U be the subset of Mn comprising of upper triangular matrices with diagonal entries
1 endowed with the obvious linear structure. Which of the following is false?

(A) The map LA : Mn → Mn is linear.

(B) If A ∈ U then the restriction LA |U is a linear isomorphism of U .

n(n−1)
(C) dim Mn = n2 and dim U = 2
2
(D) If A = λI, then det LA = λn .

(E) LA is invertible if and only if A is invertible.

(20) Consider the polynomial

x3 − 3x + a.
Which is the largest range of a for which this polynomial has three distinct real roots?

(A) a > 0

(B) |a| < 2

(C) |a| ≤ 2

(D) |a| < 1/2

(E) |a| ≤ 3
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(21) Find the maximum of x2 y on the curve x2 + 2y 2 = 6.

(A) 3

(B) 4

(C) 5

(D) 6

(E) 7

(22) Suppose that N is a nonzero 2 by 2 matrix over C2 such that N 2019 = 0. Then which
matrix need N be similar to, over C, of course.

I.  
0 0
1 0

II.  
0 1
0 0

III.  
1 −1
1 −1

(A) I only

(B) II only

(C) I and II only

(D) I and III only

(E) I, II, and III

 MATH GRE PREP: WEEK 5 11

Answers
(1) (D): Checking associativity is a pain: note it is not Z/5Z the only group of order 5.

(2) (D): Obviously non-compact, and {1, 2} is a connected component. Note f (x) = bxc is a
path from 0 → 1.

(3) (B): Solve it (note: fastest to sum all of the equations).

(4) (C): Consider disjointness in the other cases.

(5) (D): Enumerate the rationals, and take exponentially decreasing open sets containing each
one. Consider the union.

(6) (B): Recognize the Taylor series for log.

(7) (C): Use Taylor series to evaluate, should get α = 1 and β = 1/6.

(8) (E): It is not differentiable at about x = 2.8.

(9) (D): You can take two different paths when r = 2; else, just let y = 0 to bound it from
above.

(10) (B): Compute the integral (hyperbolic substitution).

(11) (E): Substitute u = x − y, solve separable differential equation.

(12) (C): There is an issue with choice of branch, e.g., let r = 1/4 and note (eiπ/2r )2r = 1.

(13) (D): Set determinant equal to zero.

(14) (C): Use Stokes theorem (after converting to spherical coordinates).

(15) (D): This is only true locally. Note the identity function is Lipschitz, but not Hölder.

(16) (D): Use Jordan blocks. Or recall that det(A + B) ≥ det(A) + det(B).

(17) (A): This is an astroid; you could parameterize, to make the integral easier.
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(18) (C): Eigenvalues are 1, 2, 3; note eigenvalues of square is square of eigenvalues.

(19) (B): U is not a linear subspace.

(20) (B): Differentiate to determine where local maximum/minimum is.

(21) (B): Use Lagrange multiplers.

(22) (E): Use Jordan Canonical form, and deduce.