NATIONAL BOARD FOR HIGHER MATHEMATICS

MASTER’S AND DOCTORAL SCHOLARSHIP WRITTEN TEST

SATURDAY 29 APRIL 2023, 10:30 A.M. TO 1:30 P.M.

For official use only: ; M-Score “ ; D-Score “

; m1 “ ; m2 “ ; d1 “ ; d2 “

Instructions to Candidates

‚ A PPLICATION NUMBER: ; R OLL NUMBER: ;

‚ N AME in full in BLOCK letters: ;

‚ S CHOLARSHIP T YPE (circle one and only one of the three options): Master’s / Doctoral / Both
‚ This test has 40 questions distributed over four sections. Each question carries 4 marks. A NSWER
AS MANY AS YOU CAN . The questions in each section are arranged rather randomly.

‚ This test booklet must have 6 pages (this cover page with instructions and 5 pages of questions).
Make sure right at the outset that you have all 6 pages and all 40 questions in your booklet.
‚ M ODE OF ANSWERING: Enter only your final answer in the answer box provided. It is neither
necessary nor is there provision of space to indicate the steps taken to reach the final answer.
; Only the final answer, written legibly and unambiguously in the answer box, will be marked.

‚ M ARKING S CHEME: The marking scheme for each section is described at the beginning of that
section. There is negative marking on the T RUE OR FALSE TYPE questions. There is no negative
marking on the S HORT A NSWER T YPE questions.
‚ M-S CORE AND D-S CORE: If m1 , m2 , d1 , and d2 denote your “raw” scores (net of any negative marks)
in the four sections of this test respectively, your M-Score will be m1 `m2 `d1 `d2 ; and your D-Score
will be m1 ` m2 ` 3pd1 ` d2 q{2. The maximum possible M-Score is 160 and the maximum possible
D-Score is 190.
‚ N OTATION AND T ERMINOLOGY: The questions make free use of standard notation and terminol-
?
ogy. You too are allowed the use of standard notation. For example, answers of the form e ` 2 and
2π{19 are acceptable; both 3{4 and 0.75 are acceptable.
‚ D EVICES: Use of plain pencils, pens, and erasers is allowed. Mobile phones and calculators are not
allowed inside the exam hall. More generally, any device (e.g. a smart watch) that can be used for
communication or calculation or storage is prohibited. Invigilators have the right to impound (for
the duration of the test) any device that arouses their suspicion.
‚ R OUGH WORK: For rough work, you may use the sheets separately provided, in addition to the
blank pages in the test booklet. You must:
– Write your name and roll number on each such sheet (or set of sheets if stapled).
– Return all these sheets to the invigilator along with this test booklet at the end of the test.
‚ Do not seek clarification from the invigilator or anyone else about any question. In the unlikely
event that there is a mistake in any question, appropriate allowance will be made while marking.
1
 Part M, Section 1: Q UESTIONS 1 TO 20, Short Answer Type, M AXIMUM R AW S CORE : 80

Marking Scheme: `4 for every complete and correct response; no negative marking: 0 if either the question
is left unanswered or the response is incorrect or the response is incomplete.
(1) There are exactly 2023 elements in a set X. What is the number of ordered 3-tuples pP, Q, Rq, where
P , Q, R are subsets (possibly empty) of X such that no two of them intersect (that is, all three
intersections P X Q, Q X R, and R X P are empty)? ;
(2) A complex number λ is called a period of a function f pzq on the complex plane if f pz ` λq “ f pzq
(for all z P C). The set of periods of any function is a subgroup of the group C under addition. Find
all possible generators of this group when f pzq “ | sin z| ` | cos z|. ;
ş3
(3) Let F be the set of all continuous functions f : r1, 3s Ñ r´1, 1s such that 1 f pxq dx “ 0.
Find: ;
ż3
f pxq
sup dx
f PF 1 x

(4) A finite set of positive integers is called selfish if it contains its own cardinality as a member. For
example, t2, 5u is selfish but t1, 2, 5u is not. A selfish set is called simple selfish if none of its proper
subsets is selfish. For example, t2, 5u is simple selfish; and t1, 3, 7u is selfish but not simple selfish.
How many simple selfish subsets does t1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9u have? ;
(5) A sequence txn u of real numbers converges to a real number x: lim xn “ x. What is the maximum
X \ nÑ8
possible number of limit points that the sequence t x2n ` txn uu can have, where tyu denotes the
greatest integer less than or equal to the real number y. ;
(6) A tractor is moving with a (non-zero) constant velocity (with its wheels turning normally, without
slipping). Its back wheels have twice the radius of its front wheels. Let f be a point on the rim of a
front wheel and b a point on the rim of a back wheel. Let af and ab be respectively the magnitudes
of the accelerations of the points f and b at some instant of time. If af : ab “ 1 : k, what is k? (All
displacements, velocities, and accelerations are with respect to the ground.) ;
(7) Consider planes passing through the centre of a regular octahedron. With respect to how many of
these is the octahedron symmetric? ;
(To say that the octahedron is symmetric with respect to a plane means that the mirror reflection in
the plane acts as a bijection on the points of the octahedron.)
(8) Let A be a 4 ˆ 4 complex matrix with four distinct eigenvalues. Suppose that 0 is one of the eigen-
values. How many distinct square roots does A have? (A square root of A is any 4 ˆ 4 complex
matrix B such that B 2 “ A.) ;
(9) Let G be a group of order 100. Let n be the order of the normalizer (in G) of a Sylow-2 subgroup
of G. What values can n take? ;
(10) Consider the unit circle tz P C | |z| “ 1u in the complex plane oriented in the anti-clockwise direc-
tion. Let C be the portion of this oriented curve that lies in the lower half plane. Note that C starts
at z “ ´1 and ends at z “ 1. Evaluate the following line integral: ;
ż
π
p1 ` zq cos p zq dz
2
C
2
(11) Find the volume of the space in R3 bounded by the six planes x ` y ` z “ ˘1, x ´ y ` z “ ˘1, and
x ` y ´ z “ ˘1. ;

(12) Compute the following limit: ;

? ? ? ? ? ?
p 1 ` 2 ` ¨ ¨ ¨ ` nq ¨ p 3 1 ` 3 2 ` ¨ ¨ ¨ ` 3 nq
lim ? ? ? ? ? ?
nÑ8 p 6 1 ` 6 2 ` ¨ ¨ ¨ ` 6 nq ¨ p 3 12 ` 3 22 ` ¨ ¨ ¨ ` 3 n2 q

(13) Find all integers m, 2 ď m ď 999, such that m2 ” m mod 1000. ;

(14) Let A be a real nˆn matrix such that A10 “ I, where I denotes the nˆn identity matrix. Suppose that
A has no real eigenvalues. Specify all values that n could possibly take. ;
(15) Let C9 denote the cyclic group of order 9. What is the number of subgroups of the Cartesian product
C9 ˆ C9 that are isomorphic to C9 ? ;
(16) Let A be a real matrix of size 3 ˆ n and rank r. Given that the equation on the left below has no
solution and that on the right below has exactly one solution (as x varies over all nˆ1 real matrices),
specify all values that n ` r can take. ;
¨ ˛ ¨ ˛
1 0
Ax “ ˝ 0 ‚ Ax “ ˝ 1 ‚
˚ ‹ ˚ ‹

1 0

(17) Let A, b, and x be the following matrices:

¨ ˛ ¨ ˛
1 1 1 ˜ ¸
˚ ´1 1 ‹ ˚ 3 ‹ x
A :“ ˚ b“˚ x“
˚ ‹ ˚ ‹
‹ ‹
˝ 1 0 ‚ ˝ 0 ‚ y
0 ´1 0
Let C be the region of R2 defined as follows: C :“ tx P R2 | Ax ď bu. (Ax ď b means that the
entries of Ax are component-wise less than or equal to those of b.) Find the minimum value of the
function f pxq “ ´3x ´ 4y as x varies over the region C. ;

(18) For x “ px1 , x2 , x3 q P R3 , let }x}8 :“ maxt|x1 |, |x2 |, |x3 |u and }x}1 :“ |x1 | ` |x2 | ` |x3 |. What is the
largest positive λ such that λ}x}1 ď }x}8 for all x P R3 . ;

(19) Let f : R Ñ R be the function f pyq :“ py 2 ` yq{2. Given a real number x, we take it to be the zeroth
term x0 of a sequence txn uně0 where, for every n ě 1, the number xn is defined by induction as
f pxn´1 q. We define gpxq to be limnÑ8 xn provided that the limit exists as a real number (˘8 are not
considered real numbers for the present purpose), and say that gpxq is undefined otherwise. What
is the domain of definition of the function gpxq? ;
(20) Let C be a n ˆ n real matrix of rank r and consider the real vector space:

VC :“ tA is a real n ˆ n matrix | CAC “ 0u

What is the dimension (as a real vector space) of VC ? ;

If this dimension is only a function of n and r, then determine that function (in terms of n and r);
otherwise write “varies” in the answer box.

3
 Part M, Section 2: Q UESTIONS 21 TO 25, True or False TYPE , M AXIMUM R AW S CORE : 20

This section has 5 questions. Each question has a pair of assertions. For each assertion, you are required to
determine its truth value and write either “True” or “False” in the corresponding answer box, as the case
may be. Marking scheme: `2 for each correct response, but there is negative marking: ´2 for each incorrect
response; 0 if the answer box is left empty.

(21) Let f be a real valued function on the interval r0, 1s such that:

f pλx ` p1 ´ λqyq ě λf pxq ` p1 ´ λqf pyq for all x, y, λ in r0, 1s

Then:
(a) The set tu P r0, 1s | f puq ď αu is closed for all real α. ;
(b) The set tu P r0, 1s | f puq ě αu is closed for all real α. ;

(22) Let tαn u be a strictly increasing sequence of positive integers. For k a positive integer, set:
#
1 if k belongs to the sequence tαn u
βk :“
0 otherwise

In each of the following cases, determine whether the series kě1 p´1qβk {k converges.
ř

(a) The above series converges when αn :“ n2 . ;

(b) The above series converges when αn :“ 2n ´ 1. ;

(23) Let ta1 , . . . , an u Ď G be a conjugacy class in a finite group G, with n ě 2. Let H1 , . . . , Hn be the
centralisers of a1 , . . . , an respectively: Hi :“ tg P G | gai “ ai gu. Then:
(a) The union of H1 , . . . , Hn can never equal G. ;
(b) No two Hi can ever be equal. ;
ş8
(24) Let f : r0, 8q Ñ R be continuous and such that 0 f pxq dx ă 8. Then:
(a) If f is uniformly continuous, then limtÑ8 f ptq exists. ;
(b) The function f is uniformly continuous. ;

(25) Let V be a real 3-dimensional vector space and let T : V Ñ V be a linear transformation of V . Recall
that a subspace W of V is called invariant (for T ) if T pwq P W for every w P W .
(a) Every T as above admits an invariant one-dimensional subspace. ;
(b) Every T as above admits an invariant two-dimensional subspace. ;

4
 Part D, Section 1: Q UESTIONS 26 TO 35, Short Answer Type, M AXIMUM R AW S CORE : 40
Y OUR RAW SCORE ON THIS SECTION COUNTS 1.5 TIMES TOWARDS YOUR D-S CORE .

Marking Scheme: `4 for every complete and correct response; no negative marking: 0 if either the question
is left unanswered or the response is incorrect or the response is incomplete.

(26) Let A be a real matrix of size 7 ˆ 6 and rank 4. Let n be the number of real (strictly) positive
eigenvalues of At A, counted with multiplicity, where At denotes the transpose of A. Specify all
possibilities for n. ;
(27) There are precisely seven open sets in a topological space on a finite set X. What is the minimum
possible cardinality of X? ;
(28) Let C :“ tz P C | |z| “ 2023u be the circle in the complex plane with centre at the origin and
π π
radius 2023, oriented in the anti-clockwise direction. Let f pzq “ e 2 z ´ e´ 2 z . Evaluate the contour
integral: ;
‰
1 f 1 pzq
dz
2πi C f pzq

(29) How many different (non-isomorphic) structures of a ring with identity (not necessarily commuta-
tive) can a set with four elements carry? ;
(30) Find the set of real values of y0 such that there exists a bounded function yptq : r0, 8q Ñ R that
solves the following initial value problem: ;

y 1 ptq “ p1 ´ y 2 ptqq cosh yptq for t ą 0; yp0q “ y0 .

(31) Consider the subgroup V of Q2 (under addition) generated by v1 “ p 21 , 13 q and v2 “ p 41 , 15 q: in other

words, V consists of integer linear combinations of v1 and v2 :

V :“ tav1 ` bv2 | a, b P Zu

Let U be the subgroup Z2 of Q2 . What is the index of U in V , or, in other words, what is the
cardinality of the quotient group V {U ? ;
(32) Consider the complex equation ez “ 3z ` 1. How many roots does this equation admit in the region
|z| ă 1? ;
(33) Let G be the group of invertible 2 ˆ 2 matrices with entries in the field Z{5Z of 5 elements, with
respect to the usual matrix multiplication. Let S be the subset of those elements of G that can be
written in the form LU where L is a lower triangular matrix in G and U an upper triangular matrix
in G. How many elements does S have? (A 2 ˆ 2 matrix is lower triangular if its entry in position
p1, 2q is zero; it is upper triangular if its entry in position p2, 1q is zero.) ;
(34) Let A, B, and C be matrices with real entries of sizes 40 ˆ 20, 20 ˆ 30, and 30 ˆ 40 respectively. Given
that the ranks of the matrices AB, BC, and B are respectively 11, 12, and 15, what is the minimum
possible rank of the matrix ABC? ;

(35) Find upπ{2, 7π{4q, where u is the solution of: ;

utt px, tq “ uxx px, tq for x P p0, πq, t ą 0; upx, 0q “ sin10 x, for x P p0, πq,
ut px, 0q “ 0 for x P p0, πq, up0, tq “ upπ, tq “ 0, for t ą 0.
5
 Part D, Section 2: Q UESTIONS 36 TO 40, True or False TYPE , M AXIMUM R AW S CORE : 20
Y OUR RAW SCORE ON THIS SECTION COUNTS 1.5 TIMES TOWARDS YOUR D-S CORE .

This section has 5 questions. Each question has a pair of assertions. For each assertion, you are required
to determine its truth value and respond by writing either “True” or “False” in the corresponding answer
box, as the case may be. Marking scheme: `2 for each correct response, but there is negative marking: ´2
for each incorrect response; 0 if the answer box is left empty.

(36) Let v1 , v2 , v3 , v4 , v5 , and v6 be six distinct vectors in a vector space. There are 64 “ 15 distinct subsets
`˘

consisting precisely of four of these vectors. Suppose that, out of these 15 subsets, only tv1 , v2 , v3 , v4 u
and tv1 , v2 , v3 , v5 u are linearly independent, and the remaining 13 are linearly dependent. Then:
(a) v6 is the zero vector. ;
(b) v4 and v5 are non-zero scalar multiples of each other. ;

(37) Let f pzq be an arbitrary non-constant entire function on the complex plane.
(a) It is possible for f pzq not to take any real value; in other words, the image of f pzq could possibly
be contained in CzR. ;
(b) A complex number z0 is called a local minimum of f pzq if |f pz0 q| ď |f pzq| for all z in some open
set U around z0 . If z0 is a local minimum of f pzq then f pz0 q “ 0. ;

(38) Let k be the field Z{pZ of integers modulo a prime p. Any polynomial f pxq with coefficients in k can
be considered a k-valued function on k: by α ÞÑ f pαq for all α P k. Such a polynomial of degree d is
called monic if its leading coefficient (the coefficient of xd ) is 1.
(a) For any function ϕ : k Ñ k, and any integer d such that d ě p, there exists a monic polynomial
f pxq of degree d such that ϕpαq “ f pαq for all α in k. ;
(b) For any integer d ě 1, and any monic polynomial f pxq of degree d, the number of polynomials
gpxq (not necessarily monic) of degree exactly d such that f pαq “ gpαq for all α P k is indepen-
dent of f pxq (that is, the same for all monic f pxq of degree d). ;

(39) Let ppxq “ x3 ` ax2 ` bx ` c be a cubic polynomial with real coefficients a, b, c, and define:

D :“ tpa, b, cq P R3 | the polynomial ppxq factors into linear factors over Ru

Then:
(a) D is connected (as a subset of the topological space R3 ). ;
2
(b) For any pa, b, cq P D, we have a ě 3b. ;

(40) Let Qrxs be the ring of polynomials in the variable x with rational coefficients. Let S be the sub-ring
of Qrxs consisting of all those polynomials f pxq with the property that f pαq is an integer whenever
α is an integer. Then:
(a) Given a positive integer n, distinct integers a1 , . . . , an and any integers b1 , . . . , bn , there exists a
polynomial f pxq in S such that f pai q “ bi for all 1 ď i ď n. ;
(b) The ring S is finitely generated as a ring over the ring Z of integers. ;