Qualifying Examination: ⊂ X a closed sub-/ Y) of the complement / Y) = χ (X) + (−1) χ (Y)

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QUALIFYING EXAMINATION Harvard University Department of Mathematics Tuesday, March 12 (Day 1)

1. Let X be a compact n-dimensional dierentiable manifold, and Y X a closed submanifold of dimension m. Show that the Euler characteristic (X \ Y ) of the complement of Y in X is given by (X \ Y ) = (X) + (1)nm1 (Y ). Does the same result hold if we do not assume that X is compact, but only that the Euler characteristics of X and Y are nite?

2. Prove that the innite sum 1 1 1 1 = + + + ... p 2 3 5

p prime

diverges. 3. Let h(x) be a C function on the real line subset of R2 containing the x-axis such that

R.

Find a C function u(x, y) on an open

u u +2 = u2 x y and u(x, 0) = h(x).

4. a) Let K be a eld, and let L = K() be a nite Galois extension of K. Assume that the Galois group of L over K is cyclic, generated by an automorphism sending to + 1. Prove that K has characteristic p > 0 and that p K. b) Conversely, prove that if K is of characteristic p, then every Galois extension L/K of degree p arises in this way. (Hint: show that there exists L with trace 1, and construct out of the various conjugates of .)

5. For small positive , compute


0

x dx . x2 + x + 1

For what values of R does the integral actually converge? 6. Let M Mn (C) be a complex n n matrix such that M is similar to its complex conjugate M ; i.e., there exists g GLn (C) such that M = gM g 1 . Prove that M is similar to a real matrix M0 Mn (R).

QUALIFYING EXAMINATION Harvard University Department of Mathematics Wednesday, March 13 (Day 2)

1. Prove the Brouwer xed point theorem: that any continuous map from the closed n-disc Dn Rn to itself has a xed point. 2. Find a harmonic function f on the right half-plane {z C | Re z > 0} satisfying lim f (x + iy) = 1 1 if y > 0 . if y < 0

x0+

3. Let n be any integer. Show that any odd prime p dividing n2 + 1 is congruent to 1 (mod 4).

4. Let V be a vector space of dimension n over a nite eld with q elements. a) Find the number of one-dimensional subspaces of V . b) For any k : 1 k n 1, nd the number of k-dimensional subspaces of V . 5. Let K be a eld of characteristic 0. Let PN be the projective space of homogeneous polynomials F (X, Y, Z) of degree d modulo scalars (N = d(d + 3)/2). Let W PN be the subset of polynomials F of the form
d

F (X, Y, Z) =
i=1

Li (X, Y, Z)

for some collection of linear forms L1 , . . . , Ld . a. Show that W is a closed subvariety of PN . b. What is the dimension of W ? c. Find the degree of W in case d = 2 and in case d = 3.

6. a. Suppose that M Rn+1 is an embedding of an n-dimensional Riemannian manifold (i.e., M is a hypersurface). Dene the second fundamental form of M . b. Show that if M Rn+1 is a compact hypersurface, its second fundamental form is positive denite (or negative denite, depending on your choice of normal vector) at at least one point of M .

QUALIFYING EXAMINATION Harvard University Department of Mathematics Thursday, March 14 (Day 3)

1. In

R3 , let S, L and M

be the circle and lines S = {(x, y, z) : x2 + y 2 = 1; z = 0} L = {(x, y, z) : x = y = 0} 1 M = {(x, y, z) : x = ; y = 0} 2

respectively. a. Compute the homology groups of the complement b.

R3 \ (S L). Compute the homology groups of the complement R3 \ (S L M ).

2. Let L, M, N P3 be any three pairwise disjoint lines in complex projective threespace. C Show that there is a unique quadric surface Q P3 containing all three. C 3. Let G be a compact Lie group, and let : G GL(V ) be a representation of G on a nite-dimensional R-vector space V . a) Dene the dual representation : G GL(V ) of V . b) Show that the two representations V and V of G are isomorphic. c) Consider the action of SO(n) on the unit sphere S n1 Rn , and the corresponding representation of SO(n) on the vector space V of C R-valued functions on S n1 . Show that each nonzero irreducible SO(n)-subrepresentation W V of V has a nonzero vector xed by SO(n 1), where we view SO(n 1) as the subgroup of SO(n) xing the vector (0, . . . , 0, 1). 4. Show that if K is a nite extension eld of Q, and A is the integral closure of Z in K, then A is a free Z-module of rank [K : Q] (the degree of the eld extension). (Hint: sandwich A between two free Z-modules of the same rank.)

5. Let n be a nonnegative integer. Show that 1 l = 1 (1)l k 0kl 0 k+l=n (Hint: Use a generating function.)

if n 0 (mod 3) if n 1 (mod 3) . if n 2 (mod 3)

6. Suppose K is integrable on

Rn and for
K (x) =

> 0 dene
n

x K( ).

Suppose that Rn K = 1. a. Show that Rn K = 1 and that |x|> |K | 0 as 0. b. Suppose f Lp (Rn ) and for > 0 let f Lp (Rn ) be the convolution f (x) = Show that for 1 p < we have f f
p yRn

f (y)K (x y)dy .

0 as

0.

c. Conclude that for 1 p < the space of smooth compactly supported functions on Rn is dense in Lp (Rn ).

Extra problems: Let me know if you think these should replace any of the ones above, either for balance or just by preference. 1. Suppose that M RN is an embedding of an n-dimensional manifold into N dimensional Euclidean space. Endow M with the induced Riemannian metric. Let : (1, 1) M be a curve in M and : (1, 1) RN be given by composition with the embedding. Assume that d 1. Prove that is a geodesic i dt d2 dt2 is normal to M at (t) for all t. 2. Let A be a commutative Noetherian ring. Prove the following statements and explain their geometric meaning (even if you do not prove all the statements below, you may use any statement in proving a subsequent one): a) A has only nitely many minimal prime ideals {pk | k = 1, . . . , n}, and every prime ideal of A contains one of the pk . n b) k=1 pk is the set of nilpotent elements of A. n c) If A is reduced (i.e., its only nilpotent element is 0), then k=1 pk is the set of zero-divisors of A. 4. Let A be the n n matrix 0 0 . . . 0 1/n 1 0 . . . 0 1/n 0 1 . . . 0 1/n 0 0 . . . . ... 1 . . . 1/n ... ... .. .

Prove that as k , Ak tends to a projection operator P onto a one-dimensional subspace. Find the kernel and image of P .

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