GS2024 Exam, School of Mathematics, TIFR

Notation and conventions

• N denotes the set of natural numbers {0, 1, . . . }, Z the set of integers, Q the set of
rational numbers, R the set of real numbers, and C the set of complex numbers. These
sets are assumed to carry the usual algebraic and metric structures.
• Rn denotes the Euclidean space of dimension n. Subsets of Rn are viewed as metric
spaces using the standard Euclidean distance on Rn .
• All rings are associative, with a multiplicative identity.
• For any ring R, Mn (R) denotes the ring of n × n matrices with entries in R. The
identity matrix in Mn (R) will be denoted by Id or by Idn .
• Mn (R) will also be viewed as a real vector space, and Mn (C) as a complex vector
space.
• For a ring R, R[x1 , . . . , xn ] denotes the polynomial ring in n variables x1 , . . . , xn over
R.
• If A is a set, #A stands for the cardinality of A, and equals ∞ if A is infinite.
• If B is a subset of a set A, we write A \ B for the set {a ∈ A | a 6∈ B}.
• Let G be a finite group, and let S ⊂ G. We say that S generates G if no proper
subgroup of G contains S.

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2

Part A — Multiple Choice Questions

(1) What is the number of even positive integers n such that every group of order n is
abelian?
(a) 1
X (b) 2
(c) Greater than 2, but finite
(d) Infinite
(2) Let n be a positive integer, and let
S = {g ∈ R[x] | g is a polynomial of degree at most n}.
For g ∈ S, let Ag = {x ∈ R | ex = g(x)} ⊂ R. Let
m = min{#Ag | g ∈ S}, and M = max{#Ag | g ∈ S}.
Then
(a) m = 0, M = n
X (b) m = 0, M = n + 1
(c) m = 1, M = n
(d) m = 1, M = n + 1
(3) Let V, W be nonzero finite dimensional vector spaces over C. Let m be the dimension
of the space of C-linear transformations V → W , viewed as a real vector space. Let
n be the dimension of the space of R-linear transformations V → W , viewed as a real
vector space. Then
(a) n = m
(b) 2n = m
X (c) n = 2m
(d) 4n = m
(4) Consider the real vector space of infinite sequences of real numbers
S = {(a0 , a1 , a2 , . . .) | ak ∈ R, k = 0, 1, 2, . . .}.
Let W be the subspace of S consisting of all sequences (a0 , a1 , a2 , . . .) which satisfy
the relation
ak+2 = 2ak+1 + ak , k = 0, 1, 2, . . . .
What is the dimension of W ?
(a) 1
X (b) 2
(c) 3
(d) ∞
(5) Let f : [0, ∞) → R be a continuous function. If
Z 1
lim f (x + n) dx = 2,
n→∞ 0

then which of the following statements about the limit

Z 1
lim f (nx) dx
n→∞ 0

is correct?
(a) The limit exists and equals 0
3

(b) The limit exists and equals 12

X (c) The limit exists and equals 2
(d) None of the remaining three options is correct
(6) Let f : R → [0, ∞) be a function such that for any finite set E ⊂ R we have
X
f (x) ≤ 1.
x∈E

Let
Cf = {x ∈ R | f (x) > 0} ⊂ R.
Then
(a) Cf is finite
(b) Cf is a bounded subset of R
(c) Cf has at most one limit point
X (d) Cf is a countable set
(7) Let p be a prime. Which of the following statements is true?
(a) There exists a noncommutative ring with exactly p elements
(b) There exists a noncommutative ring with exactly p2 elements
X (c) There exists a noncommutative ring with exactly p3 elements
(d) None of the remaining three statements is correct
(8) Consider the sequence {an } for n ≥ 1 defined by
N
X 1
an = lim .
N →∞ k2
k=n
Which of the following statements about this sequence is true?
(a) limn→∞ nan does not exist
(b) limn→∞ nan exists and equals 2
X (c) limn→∞ nan exists and equals 1
(d) limn→∞ n2 an exists and equals 1
(9) Let f : R → R be a differentiable function that is a solution to the ordinary differential
equation
f 0 (t) = sin2 (f (t)) (∀ t ∈ R), f (0) = 1.
Which of the following statements is true?
(a) f is neither bounded nor periodic
(b) f is bounded and periodic
X (c) f is bounded, but not periodic
(d) None of the remaining three statements is correct
(10) Let B denote the set of invertible upper triangular 2 × 2 matrices with entries in C,
viewed as a group under matrix multiplication. Which of the following subgroups of
B is the normalizer of itself in B?

a 0
X (a) a, b ∈ C \ {0}
0 b

a 0
(b) a ∈ C \ {0}
0 a

1 c
(c) c∈C
0 1
4

a c
(d) a ∈ C \ {0}, c ∈ C
0 a
(11) What is the least positive integer n > 1 such that xn and x are conjugate, for every
x ∈ S11 ? Here, S11 denotes the symmetric group on 11 letters.
(a) 10
(b) 11
(c) 12
X (d) 13
(12) Consider the following statements:
(A) Let G be a group and let H ⊂ G be a subgroup of index 2. Then [G, G] ⊆ H.
(B) Let G be a group and let H ⊂ G be a subgroup that contains the commutator
subgroup [G, G] of G. Then H is a normal subgroup of G.
Which of the following statements is correct?
X (a) (A) and (B) are both true
(b) (A) and (B) are both false
(c) (A) is true and (B) is false
(d) (A) is false and (B) is true
(13) For any symmetric real matrix A, let λ(A) denote the largest eigenvalue of A. Let S
be the set of positive definite symmetric 3 × 3 real matrices. Which of the following
assertions is correct?
(a) There exist A, B ∈ S such that λ(A + B) < max(λ(A), λ(B))
X (b) For all A, B ∈ S, λ(A + B) > max(λ(A), λ(B))
(c) There exist A, B ∈ S such that λ(A + B) = max(λ(A), λ(B))
(d) None of the remaining three assertions is correct
(14) Let θ ∈ (0, π/2). Let T : R2 → R2 be the linear map which sends a vector v to its
reflection with respect to the line through (0, 0) and (cos θ, sin θ). Then the matrix of
T with respect to the standard basis of R2 is given by

cos 2θ sin 2θ
X (a)
sin 2θ − cos 2θ

cos 2θ sin 2θ
(b)
− sin 2θ cos 2θ

cos θ sin θ
(c)
sin θ − cos θ

cos θ sin θ
(d)
− sin θ cos θ
(15) For a polynomial f (x, y) ∈ R[x, y], let Xf = {(a, b) ∈ R2 | f (a, b) = 1} ⊂ R2 . Which
of the following statements is correct?
(a) If f (x, y) = x2 + 4xy + 3y 2 , then Xf is compact
X (b) If f (x, y) = x2 − 3xy + 3y 2 , then Xf is compact
(c) If f (x, y) = x2 − 4xy − y 2 , then Xf is compact
(d) None of the remaining three statements is correct √
(16) What is the number of distinct subfields of C isomorphic to Q[ 3 2]?
(a) 1
(b) 2
X (c) 3
(d) Infinite
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(17) Let F3 denote the finite field with 3 elements. What is the number of one dimensional
vector subspaces of the vector space F53 over F3 ?
(a) 5
X (b) 121
(c) 81
(d) None of the remaining three options
(18) For a positive integer n, let an , bn , cn , dn be the real numbers such that
n
1 1 an bn
= .
1 0 cn dn
Which of the following numbers equals limn→∞ an /bn ?
(a) 1
(b) e
(c) 3/2
X (d) None of the remaining three options
(19) Consider the complex vector space
V = {f ∈ C[x] | f has degree at most 50, and f (ix) = −f (x) for all x ∈ C}.
Then the dimension of V equals
(a) 50
(b) 25
X (c) 13
(d) 47
(20) Let S denote the set of sequences a = (a1 , a2 , . . . ) of real numbers such that ak equals
0 or 1 for each k. Then the function f : S → R defined by
a1 a2
f ((a1 , a2 , . . . )) = + 2 + ...
10 10
is
X (a) injective but not surjective
(b) surjective but not injective
(c) bijective
(d) neither injective nor surjective

Part B — True/False Questions

T (1) If G is a group of order 361, then G has a normal subgroup H such that H ∼ = G/H.
F (2) There exists a metric space X such that the number of open subsets of X is exactly
2024.
F (3) The function d : R × R → R given by d(x, y) = |ex − ey | defines a metric on R, and
(R, d) is a complete metric space.
F (4) Let n be a positive integer, and A an n × n matrix over R such that A3 = Id. Then
A is diagonalizable in Mn (R), i.e., there exists P ∈ Mn (R) such that P is invertible
and P AP −1 is a diagonal matrix.
T (5) If A ∈ Mn (Q) is such that the characteristic polynomial of A is irreducible over Q, then
A is diagonalizable in Mn (C), i.e., there exists P ∈ Mn (C) such that P is invertible
and P AP −1 is a diagonal matrix.
T (6) The complement of any countable union of lines in R3 is path connected.
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T (7) The subsets {(x, y) ∈ R2 | (y 2 − x)(y 2 − x − 1) = 0} and {(x, y) ∈ R2 | y 2 − x2 = 1}

of R2 (with the induced metric) are homeomorphic.
F (8) Q ∩ [0, 1] is a compact subset of Q.
T (9) Suppose f : X → Y is a function between metric spaces, such that whenever a
sequence {xn } converges to x in X, the sequence {f (xn )} converges in Y (but it is
not given that the limit of {f (xn )} is f (x)). Then f is continuous.
T (10) Let f : R → R be differentiable, and assume that |f 0 (x)| ≥ 1 for all x ∈ R. Then for
each compact set C ⊂ R, the set f −1 (C) is compact.
F (11) There exists a function f : [0, 1] → R, which is not Riemann integrable and satisfies
n
X
|f (ti ) − f (ti−1 )|2 < 1,
i=1
for every choice of a positive integer n and of 0 ≤ t0 < t1 < t2 < · · · < tn ≤ 1.
F (12) Let E ⊂ [0, 1] be the subset consisting of numbers that have a decimal expansion
which does not contain the digit 8. Then E is dense in [0, 1].
T (13) Let G be a proper subgroup of (R, +) which is closed as a subset of R. Then G is
generated by a single element.
T (14) There exists a unique function f : R → R such that f is continuous at x = 0, and
such that for all x ∈ R x
f (x) + f = x.
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F (15) A map f : V → W between finite dimensional vector spaces over Q is a linear
transformation if and only if f (x) = f (x − a) + f (x − b) − f (x − a − b), for all
x, a, b ∈ V .
F (16) Let R be the ring C[x]/(x2 ) obtained as the quotient of the polynomial ring C[x] by
its ideal generated by x2 . Let R× be the multiplicative group of units of this ring.
Then there is an injective group homomorphism from (Z/2Z) × (Z/2Z) into R× .
T (17) Let A ∈ M2 (Z) be such that |Aij (n)| ≤ 50 for all 1 ≤ n ≤ 1050 and all 1 ≤ i, j ≤ 2,
where Aij (n) denotes the (i, j)-th entry of the 2 × 2 matrix An . Then |Aij (n)| ≤ 50
for all positive integers n.
F (18) Let A, B be subsets of {0, . . . , 9}. It is given that, on choosing elements a ∈ A and
b ∈ B at random, a + b takes each of the values 0, . . . , 9 with equal probability. Then
one of A or B is singleton.
T (19) If f : R → R is uniformly continuous, then there exists M > 0 such that for all
x ∈ R \ [−M, M ], we have f (x) < x100 .
T (20) If a sequence {fn } of continuous functions from [0, 1] to R converges uniformly on
(0, 1) to a continuous function f : [0, 1] → R, then {fn } converges uniformly on [0, 1]
to f .