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
MATH GRE PREP: WEEK 5 3
(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
MATH GRE PREP: WEEK 5 5
(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
MATH GRE PREP: WEEK 5 7
(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
MATH GRE PREP: WEEK 5 9
(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.
