There will be two tests RMI and RMII of 2 hours duration each in the forenoon

and in the afternoon. Topics to be covered in these tests along with an outline of
the syllabus and sample questions are given below:

1) Topics for RMI (Forenoon examination) : Real Analysis, Measure and Integra-
tion, Complex Analysis, Ordinary Differential Equations and General Topology.

2) Topics for RMII (Afternoon examination) : Algebra, Linear Algebra, Functional

Analysis, Elementary Number Theory and Elementary Discrete Probability

Candidates will be judged based on their performance in both the tests.

OUTLINE OF THE SYLLABUS

1. General Topology : Topological spaces, Continuous functions, Connected-

ness, Compactness, Separation Axioms. Product spaces. Complete metric spaces.
Uniform continuity. Baire category theorem.

2. Functional Analysis : Normed linear spaces, Banach spaces, Hilbert spaces,

Compact operators. Knowledge of some standard examples like C[0;1];Lp[0;1]:
Continuous linear maps (linear operators). Hahn-Banach Theorem, Open mapping
theorem, Closed graph theorem and the uniform boundedness principle.

3. Real analysis : Sequences and series, Continuity and differentiability of real val-
ued functions of one and two real variables and applications, uniform convergence,
Riemann integration.

4. Linear algebra : Vector spaces, linear transformations, characteristic roots and

characteristic vectors, systems of linear equations, inner product spaces, diagonal-
ization of symmetric and Hermitian matrices, quadratic forms.

5. Elementary number theory : Divisibility, congruences,

standard arithmetic functions, Combinatorics permutations and combinations.

6. Elementary Discrete Probability : Combinatorial probability, Conditional probability,

Bayes theorem, Standard discrete distributions (uniform, binomial,Poisson, geometric,
hypergeometric). Expectation, Variance and moments

7. Lebesgue integration : Lebesgue measure on the line, measurable functions,

Lebesgue integral, convergence almost everywhere, monotone and dominated con-
vergence theorems.

8. Complex analysis : Analytic functions, Cauchy's theorem and Cauchy inte-

gral formula, maximum modulus principle, Laurent series, Singularities, Theory of
residues, contour integration.

9. Abstract algebra : Groups, homomorphisms, normal subgroups and quo-

tients, isomorphism theorems, finite groups, symmetric and alternating groups, di-
rect product, structure of finite Abelian groups, Sylow theorems. Rings and ideals,
quotients, homomorphism and isomorphism theorems, maximal ideals, prime ideals,
integral domains, field of fractions; Euclidean rings, principal ideal domains, unique
factoristation domains, polynomial rings. Fields, characteristic of a field, algebraic
extensions, roots of polynomials, separable and normal extensions, finite fields.

10. Ordinary differential equations : First order ODE and their solutions,
singular solutions, initial value problems for first order ODE, general theory of
homogeneous and nonhomogeneous linear differential equations, and Second order
ODE and their solutions.
• C denotes the set of complex numbers.

• R denotes the set of real numbers.

• Rn denotes the n-dimensional Euclidean space.

1. For x ∈ [0, ∞), define

∞
X e−nx
f (x) = .
n=0
1 + n2

(a) Show that f is continuous on [0, ∞).

(b) Show that f is differentiable on (0, ∞).
(c) Does f 0 (0+) exist finitely? Justify your answer.

2. A function f : [a, b] → R is said to be a Lipschitz function if there

exists a constant K > 0 such that

|f (x) − f (y)| ≤ K|x − y| for all x, y ∈ [a, b].

For two Lipschitz functions f and g on [a, b], define

|(f − g)(x) − (f − g)(y)|
d(f, g) = sup |f (x) − g(x)| + sup .
x∈[a,b] x,y∈[a,b] |x − y|
x6=y

Show that the space of Lipschitz functions on [a, b] with the metric d
is a complete metric space.

3. Let E ⊂ Rn be a compact subset of positive Lebesgue measure.

(a) If f : Rn → R is a continuous function, then prove that the

function g : Rn → R, defined by
Z
g(y) = f (x + y) dx,
E

is a continuous function.
(b) If in (a), instead of continuity, we assume that f is Lebesgue
integrable over compact sets, then does the conclusion that g is
continuous still hold? Justify your answer.

1
4. Let f : Rn → [0, ∞) be a nonzero bounded Lebesgue integrable func-
tion satisfying the following:

(a) f (x) = f (y) for all x, y ∈ Rn with kxk = kyk.

(b) f (x) ≤ f (y) for all x, y ∈ Rn with kxk ≥ kyk.

(c) For all s ∈ [0, ∞), the set Bs = {x ∈ Rn : f (x) > s} is open in
Rn .

Prove that for every t ∈ (0, f (0)),

Bt = B(0, g(t))

for some nonnegative measurable function g on (0, f (0)). Here 0 is

the origin of Rn and B(0, g(t)) = {x ∈ Rn : kxk < g(t)}.

5. Let f be an entire function which is not a polynomial. If B is any

bounded subset of C, then prove that the set f (C \ B) is dense in C.

6. (a) Define f (z) = ez − 1 for all z ∈ C. Prove that

sup |f (z)| = f (1).

z∈C

(b) Find the number of solutions of the equation ez = 2z + 1, in the

open unit disc {z ∈ C : |z| < 1}.

7. Let N be a positive integer. Find all real numbers a such that the
differential equation

d2 y dy
2
− 4a + 3y = 0
dx dx

has a nontrivial solution satisfying the conditions y(0) = 0 and

y(2N π) = 0.

2
8. Let (E, k · k) be a normed linear space and φ a linear functional on E
which is not continuous. Let y0 ∈ E be such that φ(y0 ) = 1. Define
S : E → E by
S(x) = x − 2φ(x)y0 .

Define a new norm on E by kxkφ := kSxk.

(a) Show that S 2 = I, the identity operator on E.

(b) Show that there is a linear isomorphism T : E → E such that
kT (x)kφ = kxk for all x ∈ E.
(c) Show that k · kφ cannot be equivalent to k · k.

3
• Z denotes the set of integers.

• Q denotes the set of rational numbers.

• R denotes the set of real numbers.

• C denotes the set of complex numbers.

1. Let V1 , V2 ⊆ V be two subspaces of a vector space V and b1 , b2 ∈ V .

Show that the affine subspaces W1 = V1 + b1 and W2 = V2 + b2
have a nonempty intersection if and only if π(b1 ) = π(b2 ), where
π : V → V /(V1 + V2 ) is the quotient map.

2. (a) Let L1 and L2 be fields and L1 ⊆ L2 . Let A = {x1 , x2 , . . . , xk }

be a set of k many vectors in Ln1 ⊆ Ln2 . Show that the linear
independence of A in Ln1 over L1 implies the linear independence
of A in Ln2 over L2 . (Hint: Consider the case k = n.)
(b) Let α ∈ C be a root of the polynomial X 4 + 1 ∈ Q[X]. Consider
the field extension Q ,→ Q(α).
i. With complete justification determine the degree of this ex-
tension.
ii. Find three fields K1 , K2 , K3 such that Q ⊂ Ki ⊂ Q(α) for
i = 1, 2, 3.

3. Let n be a positive integer and φ : Z → Z ⊕ Zn be the homomorphism

defined by φ(1) = (n, 1̄), where 1̄ denotes the set of integers congruent
to 1 mod n. Prove that (Z ⊕ Zn )/Im(φ) is cyclic and find its order.

4. Let X be a set containing at least two elements and G be a group

with identity element e. Suppose that there is a map α : G × X → X.
Let us write α(g, x) as g · x. Assume that the following properties are
satisfied by α:

• e · x = x for all x ∈ X;
• g1 · (g2 · x) = (g1 g2 ) · x for all g1 , g2 ∈ G and x ∈ X;

1
 • given (x1 , x2 ) ∈ X × X and (y1 , y2 ) ∈ X × X with x1 6= x2 ,
y1 6= y2 , there is a g ∈ G such that g · x1 = y1 and g · x2 = y2 .
(The case xi is same as some yj for i, j = 1, 2 is allowed).

For x ∈ X, define

Gx := {g ∈ G : g · x = x}.

Prove the following:

(a) Given any pair a, b ∈ X, there is a g ∈ G such that g · a = b.

(b) Gx 6= G for any x ∈ X.
(c) Let x ∈ X and g ∈ G \ Gx . Then G = Gx ∪ Gx g Gx .
(d) For any x ∈ X, there is no proper subgroup of G properly con-
taining Gx .

5. Let R be an integral domain. For a, b ∈ R, by “a divides b” we mean

that there is an x ∈ R such that ax = b. We recall the following
definitions.
An element d ∈ R is a gcd of a, b ∈ R if:

• d divides both a and b, and

• if c ∈ R divides both a and b, then c divides d.

An element l ∈ R is an lcm of a, b ∈ R if:

• both a and b divide l, and

• if both a and b divide m ∈ R, then l divides m.

Assuming that any two elements in R have an lcm, prove the following.

(a) Any two elements in R have a gcd.

(b) Any irreducible element in R is prime.

6. Prove that the space [0, 1] is not homeomorphic to a product X × Y

for two subsets X and Y of R, where neither X nor Y is a single point.

2
7. Let L1 be the line y = 1, L−1 be the line y = −1, and for every n ≥ 1,
Rn be the rectangle

Rn = {−n, n} × [−1 + n1 , 1 − n1 ] ∪ [−n, n] × {−1 + n1 , 1 − n1 } .

Define [ 
X = L1 ∪ L−1 ∪ Rn ,
n≥1

which is equipped with the subspace topology from R2 (see the figure
below).

(a) Find the connected components of X.

(b) Find points a, b ∈ X in different connected components of X
such that there is no disconnection of X = A ∪ B with a ∈ A
and b ∈ B. [X = A ∪ B is a disconnection means A and B are
disjoint open sets.]

Justify your answers in (a) and (b).

y
L1

R1 R2 ··· Rn x

L−1

3
8. Let | · |2 : Q → [0, ∞) be the map given by

0, if x = 0,
|x|2 =
2−r , if x = 2r m , m, n, r ∈ Z with m, n odd.
n

(a) Show that |x + y|2 ≤ max{|x|2 , |y|2 } for all x, y ∈ Q and that
equality holds if |x|2 6= |y|2 .
Pn 1
(b) Using this or otherwise show that for n > 1, k=1 k is not an
integer.

4
 MTA

Notations :

Z = Set of integers.

N = Set of natural numbers = {n ∈ Z : n ≥ 1}.

Q = Set of rationals.

R = Set of real numbers.

C = Set of complex numbers.

1. Prove that the following limit exists and find the limit:
 1 1 
lim (1 + + · · · + ) − ln n .
n→∞ 2 n

2. Suppose f : [a, b] → R is continuous. Then for any r1 , r2 , · · · , rn ∈ f [a, b],

prove that there exists x ∈ [a, b] such that f (x) = r1 +r2 +···+r
n
n
.

3. Suppose y(x) = x2 is a solution of y 00 + P (x)y 0 + Q(x)y = 0 on (0, 1)

where P and Q are continuous functions on (0, 1). Can both P and Q
be bounded functions. Justify your answer.

4. For each α > 0, find all pairs of (x0 , y0 ) ∈ R2 such that the following ini-
tial value problem has a unique solution in the neighbourhood of (x0 , y0 )
-
y 0 = y α ; y(x0 ) = y0 .

5. Let B = {x = (x1 , x2 ) ∈ R2 : kxk ≤ 1}, and let

f (x) = inf{kx − yk : y ∈ B}, ∀ x = (x1 , x2 ) ∈ R2 .

If F (x) = max{1 − f (x), 0}, x = (x1 , x2 ) ∈ R2 , then prove that

Z Z
lim F n (x1 , x2 )dx1 dx2 = π.
n→∞
R2

1
 6. Let f : X → Y be a function from a metric space (X, d1 ) to a com-
pact metric space (Y, d2 ). Let Gf := {(x, y) : y = f (x)} ⊂ X × Y
denote the graph of f . Show that f is continous iff Gf is closed in
X × Y . The metric d onp X × Y is the product metric which is defined
as d((x1 , y1 ), (x2 , y2 )) := d1 (x1 , x2 )2 + d2 (y1 , y2 )2 .

7. Let f : R → [0, ∞) be a Borel measurable function. Show that

∞
X Z ∞
X
m({f ≥ n}) ≤ f dm ≤ m({f > n}),
n=1 n=1

where m denotes the Lebesgue measure.

8. Let (an ) beP

a sequence of real
R numbers and m be the Lebesgue measure.
1 n
Suppose n k=1 f (ak ) → R f dm for all Lebesgue integrable functions
f on R. Prove that (an ) is dense in R.

9. Let f : C → C be an entire function i.e., analytic everywhere in C.

Suppose
f (z)
lim = 0.
|z|→∞ z

Prove that f is a constant function.

10. What are the holomorphic functions f on an open connected subset Ω ⊂

C such that g : Ω → C defined by g(z) = Re(z)f (z) is also holomorphic.

2
 MTB

Notations :

Z = Set of integers.

N = Set of natural numbers = {n ∈ Z : n ≥ 1}.

Q = Set of rationals.

R = Set of real numbers.

C = Set of complex numbers.

1. Let A = Z[ω] be the subring of complex numbers where ω is a non-real

6th root of unity. In the polynomial ring A[x], let I be the ideal generated
by (x2 + x + 1). Prove or disprove that A[x]/I is an integral domain.

2. For a ring R, let R∗ denote the set of units of R. Are the pair of groups
isomorphic?

(a) (C∗ , ·), ((R2 )∗ , ·)

(b) (R, +), (C, +)

Justify your answer.

3. Let R = C[X, Y, Z]/(2X 2 Y − 3XY 3 + Z). Show that R is a unique

factorization domain.

4. Let F be a field of q elements and n a natural number. Compute the

order of SLn (F ). Here SLn (F ) denotes the special linear group of degree
n i.e., n × n matrices over F with determinant 1.

5. Let V be a vector space over C, and let T be an invertible linear operator

on V . Prove that there exists a polynomial p ∈ C[z] such that T −1 =
p(T ).

6. Let V be a finite-dimensional vector space over C or R and let T be a

linear operator on V . Prove that T 2 = T if and only if

rank(T ) + rank(I − T ) = dim V.

1
 7. Let H be a Hilbert space, and let dim H > 1. Let {v1 , v2 } ⊆ H be an
orthogonal set of nonzero vectors. Suppose

T x = hx, v1 iv2 + hx, v2 iv1 (∀x ∈ H).

Prove that T is a bounded linear operator. Also compute the norm of

the operator T .

8. Let F be a finite-dimensional subspace and C a closed subspace of a

Banach space B. Prove that {f + g : f ∈ F, g ∈ C} is a closed subspace
of B.

9. Let Xi , i ≥ 1 be i.i.d. discrete random variables with mean µ and vari-

ance σ 2 . Let k > 1. Define the sequence
X1 X2 . . . Xk + X2 X3 . . . Xk+1 + . . . + Xn−k+1 Xn−k+2 . . . Xn
Yn := .
n

Find limn→∞ E[Yn ] and limn→∞ n3/4 E[(Yn − E[Yn ])2 ] where E denotes
the expectation.

10. Let n and m be integers such that 5 divides 1 + 2n2 + 3m2 . Show that
5 divides n2 − 1.

2
 MTA
2019

Notation

Z = the set of integers

N = {n ∈ Z : n ≥ 1}

R = the set of real numbers

Q = the set of rational numbers

C = the set of complex numbers

� �
(1) (a) Let Δ = (t0 , t1 , t2 ) ∈ R3 : t0 + t1 + t2 = 1 and ti ≥ 0 for i = 0, 1, 2 .
Prove that the function f : [0, 1] × [0, 1] → Δ defined by
�
(x1 , x2 − x1 , 1 − x2 ) if x1 ≤ x2
f (x1 , x2 ) =
(x2 , x1 − x2 , 1 − x1 ) if x2 ≤ x1

is continuous.
(b) Prove that f (A × B) is closed if A and B are closed subsets of [0, 1].

(2) Show that

� ∞√ � ∞
−nx2 √ −nx2
lim ne dx = lim ne dx
n→∞ α α n→∞

for α > 0 but not for α = 0.

(3) Let D = {z ∈ C : |z| < 1} and f : D → D be a holomorphic function such

that f has a zero of order N ≥ 1 at the origin. Show that |f (z)| ≤ |z|N
for all z ∈ D.

(4) Let f : R → R be a C∞ -function such that f (x) = 0 if and only if x ∈ Z.

Suppose the function x : R → R satisfies x′ (t) = f (x(t)) for all t ∈ R.
(a) If Z ∩ {x(t) : t ∈ R} is non-empty, then show that x is constant.
(b) If Z ∩ {x(t) : t ∈ R} is the empty set, then show that lim x(t)
t→∞
exists and is an integer.

1
 (5) (a) Let X be a Banach space, x0 ∈ X and ϕ0 ∈ X ∗ . Define T : X ∗ → X ∗
by T (ψ) = ψ(x0 )ϕ0 for ψ ∈ X ∗ . Prove that T is compact.
(b) Using part (a) or otherwise, prove that given a two-variable polyno-
mial function a, the operator A : L∞ ([0, 1], m) → L∞ ([0, 1], m) (where
m denotes the Lebesgue measure) defined by
� 1
Af (x) = a(x, y)f (y)dy
0
is compact.

(6) Let f : R → [0, 1] be a continuously differentiable function satisfying

f 2 (x) + (f ′ (x))2 ≥ 1 for all x ∈ R and f (0) = 1. Prove that there exists
t > 0 such that f ′ (t) = 0.
Hint: Note that f attains its maximum at 0.

(7) Let {xn }n≥1 be a sequence in R and {an }n≥1 be a sequence of positive
�∞
xn
real numbers satisfying an ↑ ∞ as n → ∞. Further, suppose
a
n=1 n
n
�
1
converges. Then, show that xk −→ 0 as n −→ ∞ .
an
k=1

��
(8) If f is an entire function such that |f (x + iy)| dxdy < ∞, then
R2
prove that f ≡ 0.

(9) Let f : [0, 1] → R be a monotonically increasing function (not necessarily

continuous) with f (0) = 0 and f (1) = 1. Suppose µ denotes the Borel
measure on [0, 1] such that µ ((a, b]) is the cardinality of the set
� � �
�
�
x ∈ [0, 1] � a < lim [f (x + h) − f (x)] ≤ b for all 0 ≤ a < b ≤ 1 .
h→0+
� 1
Prove that tp dµ < ∞ for all p > 1.
0 �
1
Hint: Consider tp−1 µ ([t, 1]) dt.
0

(10) Let H be a Hilbert space and K be a closed subspace of H. Given any

bounded linear functional f : K → C, prove that there exists a unique
extension
� � f� : H → C of f as a bounded linear functional satisfying
� ��
�f � = kf k.

2
 MTB
2019

Notation

Z = the set of integers

N = {n ∈ Z : n ≥ 1}

R = the set of real numbers

Q = the set of rational numbers

C = the set of complex numbers

(1) Let A be a diagonalisable m × m matrix with entries from C. De-

�∞
An
fine exp(A) = assuming A0 is the identity matrix. Prove that
n!
n=0
det (exp(A)) = eTr(A) .

(2) Let H = {1 + 4k : k ∈ Z, k ≥ 0}. An element x ∈ H is called H-prime

if x 6= 1 and x cannot be written as product of two strictly smaller
elements of H.
(i) Show that xy ∈ H for all x, y ∈ H.
(ii) Prove that every x ∈ H greater than 1 can be factored as a product
of H-primes but unique factorisation does not hold.

Z[X] A
(3) Find an ideal I in A = such that is a finite field
(X 4 2
+ X + 1) I
with 25 elements.

(4) (a) Suppose A and B are closed subsets of a topological space such that
A ∩ B and A ∪ B are connected. Prove that A and B are connected.
(b) Demonstrate that the conclusion may not hold if the assumption of
A and B being closed subsets, is dropped.

R[X]
(5) Examine whether there is a polynomial f (X) ∈ R[X] such that
(f (X))
is isomorphic as rings to the product ring C × C.

1
 �
n �
n
(6) Let f (x), g(x) ∈ Z[X] with f (x) = aj xj and b(x) = bj xj . For
j=0 j=0
m ∈ N, we say f ≡ g mod m if aj = bj mod m for 0 ≤ j ≤ n. For an
odd prime p > 0, let

f (x) = xp−1 − 1 and g(x) = (x − 1)(x − 2) · · · (x − p + 1) .

Prove that
(i) the polynomial f (x) − g(x) has degree p − 2, and
(ii) f ≡ g mod p.

(7) Prove that the following two groups are isomorphic:

(a) Z[X], the group of polynomials with integer coefficients under addi-
tion, and
(b) Q>0 , the group of positive rational numbers under multiplication.
Hint: Fundamental theorem of Arithmetic.

(8) Prove that there cannot be any topological space X such that R is
homeomorphic to X × X with the product topology.

C[X, Y ]
(9) Let A = , and x, y denote the images of X, Y in A re-
(X 2 + Y 2 − 1)
spectively. If u = x + iy, then prove that
(a) u is a unit in A, and
(b) u − i generates a maximal ideal of A.

(10) Let A be a real symmetric m × m matrix with m distinct eigenvalues

and v1 , . . . , vm be the corresponding eigenvectors. Let C be an m × m
matrix satisfying hCvj , vj i = 0 for 1 ≤ j ≤ m. Prove that there exists
an m × m matrix X such that AX − XA = C.

2
 Notation
Z = the set of integers
N = {n ∈ Z : n ≥ 1}
R = the set of real numbers
Q = the set of rational numbers
C = the set of complex numbers

(1) Let X be a compact topological space. Suppose that for any x, y ∈ X with
x 6= y, there exist open sets Ux and Uy containing x and y, respectively,
such that
Ux ∪ Uy = X and Ux ∩ Uy = Ø.
Let V ⊆ X be an open set. Let x ∈ V . Show that there exists a set U
which is both open and closed and x ∈ U ⊆ V .

(2) Let C[0, 1] denote the set of all real-valued continuous functions on [0, 1].
Consider the normed linear space
1
X = {f ∈ C[0, 1] : f ( ) = 0},
2
with the sup-norm, kf k = sup{|f (t)| : t ∈ [0, 1]}. Show that the set
P = {f ∈ X : f is a polynomial }
is dense in X.

(3) Let g : [0, 21 ] → R be a continuous function. Define gn : [0, 12 ] → R by g1 = g

and Z t
gn+1 (t) = gn (s) ds,
0
for all n ≥ 1. Show that
lim n!gn (t) = 0,
n→∞

for all t ∈ [0, 21 ].

P
(4) Let an be an absolutely convergent series of complex numbers. Let
n≥1
(
an if 1 ≤ n < 100
bn = n+1 2
n2 an if n ≥ 100.
P
Prove that n≥1 bn is an absolutely convergent series.

(5) Let f : [0, 1] × [0, 1] → [0, ∞) be a continuous function. Suppose that

Z 1Z 1 
f (x, y) dy dx = 0.
0 0
Prove that f is the identically zero function.
1
 (6) Let m denote the Lebesgue measure on [0, 1]. Give an example of a sequence
of continuous functions {fn }n≥1 ⊆ L1 [0, 1] such that
sup |fn (t)| = 1,
t∈[0,1]

for all n and Z 1

|fn | dm → 0,
0
as n → ∞.

(7) Let Γ denote the positively oriented circle of radius 2 with center at the
origin. Let f be an analytic function on {z ∈ C : |z| > 1}, and let
lim f (z) = 0.
z→∞
Prove that Z
1 f (ζ)
f (z) = dζ,
2πi Γ z−ζ
for all z ∈ C with |z| > 2.

(8) Prove that there is no sequence of complex polynomials that converges to

1
z 2 uniformly on the annulus A = {z ∈ C : 1 < |z| < 2}.

(9) Consider the differential equation

1
ẋ = x(1 − x) − ,
4
where ẋ = dx
dt . For any solution x(t), find the limit of x(t) as t → ∞.

(10) Consider the system

 
λ 1
Ẋ = X
0 λ
x(t) dX ẋ(t)



where X(t) = y(t)
, Ẋ := dt = ẏ(t) and λ is a fixed real number. Show
0


that if λ < 0 then X(t) → 0 and X(t) is asymptotic to the line y = 0 in
the xy-plane, as t → ∞.

2
 Notation
Z = the set of integers
N = {n ∈ Z : n ≥ 1}
R = the set of real numbers
Q = the set of rational numbers
C = the set of complex numbers

(1) Let H be a Hilbert space and S be a subspace of H. Let x ∈ H and kxk = 1.

Prove that
inf kx − zk = sup{|hx, yi| : y ∈ S, kyk ≤ 1}.
z∈S ⊥

(2) Let A be an n × n complex matrix, and suppose that

An 6= 0.
Prove that
Ak 6= 0,
for all k ∈ N.

(3) Find two non-singular matrices B and C such that

BC + CB = 0.

(4) Let l1 = {{αn }n≥1 : n≥1 |αn | < ∞} and l2 = {{αn }n≥1 : n≥1 |αn |2 <
P P

∞} be equipped with the usual norms. Let T : l1 → l2 be defined by

T ({αn }n≥1 ) = {αn }n≥1 .
Show that T is a continuous operator which is not a compact operator.

(5) Let R be a commutative ring with 1 and P be a prime ideal of R. Consider

the polynomial ring R[x] and let P [x] be the ideal of R[x] consisting of
polynomials whose coefficients all belong to P . Show that the ideal
P [x] + hxi := {f (x) + xg(x) : f (x) ∈ P [x], g(x) ∈ R[x]},
is a prime ideal of R[x].

(6) Fix n ∈ N. Count the number of functions h : {1, 2, 3, . . . , 2n} → {1, −1}
such that
2n
X
h(j) > 0.
j=1

1
 (7) Let q, q 0 ∈ N and suppose that q 0 divides q. Let U (m) denote the multi-
plicative group of residue classes coprime to m, that is
 ∗
U (m) = Z/mZ .
Let π : U (q) → U (q 0 ) be such that if a ∈ U (q), π(a) is the unique element
in U (q 0 ) such that
a ≡ π(a) (mod q 0 ).
Show that π is onto.

(8) Let G be a group of order 12. Prove that G has a normal subgroup of order
3 or 4.

(9) Define φ : N → N by φ(m) equals the number of elements in

{k : 1 ≤ k ≤ m, g.c.d(k, m) = 1}.
Let n ∈ N, n ≥ 2. Show that φ(2n − 1) is divisible by n.

(10) Prove that (Q, +) and (Q × Q, +) are not isomorphic as groups.

2
2

• C denotes the set of complex numbers.

• R denotes the set of real numbers.

• Q denotes the set of rational numbers.

• Z denotes the set of integers.

• N denotes the set of positive integers.

Q 1. Let f : R × [0, 1] → R be a continuous function and {xn } a sequence

of real numbers converging to x. Define
gn (y) = f (xn , y), 0 ≤ y ≤ 1,
g(y) = f (x, y), 0 ≤ y ≤ 1.
Show that gn converges to g uniformly on [0, 1].

Q 2. Let f be a real valued continuous function on [−1, 1] such that f (x) =

f (−x) for all x ∈ [−1, 1]. Show that for every  > 0 there is a
polynomial p(x) with rational coefficients such that for every x ∈
[−1, 1],
|f (x) − p(x2 )| < .

Q 3. Show that every bijection f : R → [0, ∞) has infinitely many points

of discontinuity.

Q 4. (a) Let f be an entire function such that lim |f (z)| = ∞. Prove

|z|→∞
that f is a polynomial.

(b) Let f be an entire function which is not a polynomial. Then

prove that the image of the set {z ∈ C : |z| > 1} under f is
dense in C.

Q 5. Let P (z) be a monic polynomial with complex coefficients with all

roots distinct and in {z ∈ C : Im(z) < 0}.

P0
(a) Prove that the sum of all the residues of is the degree of the
P
polynomial P .

(b) Prove that P 0 has no real root.

Q 6. Let A be a Lebesgue measurable subset of R and λ(A) = 1, where

λ is the Lebesgue measure on R. Prove that there exists a Lebesgue
measurable subset B of A such that λ(B) = 1/2.
 3

Q 7. RLet p ≥ 1 and f be a Lebesgue measurable function on R such that

p
R |f (x)| dx < ∞. Show that,
Z Z ∞
|f (x)|p dx = ptp−1 λ({x : |f (x)| > t})dt,
R 0
where λ denotes the Lebesgue measure.

Q 8. Let Ω ⊂ Rn be an open set and K ⊂ Ω compact. Prove that there

exists an r > 0 such that the set
{y ∈ Rn : ky − xk ≤ r for some x ∈ K}
is a compact subset of Ω.

Q 9. Let ∼ be an equivalence relation on a topological space X such that

each equivalence class is connected and the quotient space X/ ∼ is
connected. Show that X is connected.

Q 10. Let C be a curve in R2 passing through (3, 5) and L(x, y) denote the
segment of the tangent line to C at (x, y) lying in the first quadrant.
Assuming that each point (x, y) of C in the first quadrant is the
midpoint of L(x, y), find the curve.
2

• C denotes the set of complex numbers.

• R denotes the set of real numbers.

• Q denotes the set of rational numbers.

• Z denotes the set of integers.

• N denotes the set of positive integers.

n
Q 1. Let G be a group of order n, H a subgroup of G of order m, k =
m
and Sk the symmetric group on k symbols.

(a) Show that there is a nontrivial group homomorphism φ : G →

Sk .
k!
(b) Assuming < n, show that G has a nontrivial proper normal
2
subgroup.

Q 2. Let G be the multiplicative group of complex numbers of modulus

1 and Gn (n a positive integer) the subgroup consisting of the n-th
roots of unity. For positive integers m and n, show that G/Gm and
G/Gn are isomorphic groups.

Q 3. Let A = Q[X]/(X 3 − 1).

(a) Prove that A is a direct product of two integral domains.

(b) Is the ring A isomorphic to Q[X]/(X 3 +1)? Justify your answer.

Q 4. Let X be an n × n complex matrix of rank 1 and I the n × n identity

matrix. Show that

det(I + X) = 1 + tr(X),

where tr(X) denotes the trace of X and det(X) denotes the deter-
minant of X.

Q 5. Let A and X be invertible complex matrices such that XAX −1 = A2 .

Prove that there exists a natural number m such that each eigenvalue
of A is an m-th root of unity.
 3
 
2 1  
3 3 a
Q 6. For A = and ~v = , we define a sequence of vectors
1 2 b
3 3
~v1 = ~v , ~vn+1 = A~vn for n ∈ N. Show that lim ~vn exists and is equal
  n→∞
a+b
2 
to  .
a+b
2

Q 7. Let pk be the k-th prime number. Show that there are infinitely
many k such that
pk+1 − pk > 2.

Q 8. Let {en }n∈N be an orthonormal basis of a Hilbert space H and Pn the

orthogonal projection onto span{e1 , e2 , . . . , en }, n ≥ 1. Prove that
for all bounded linear operator T : H → H and h ∈ H, Pn T Pn h →
T h as n → ∞.

Q 9. Let S be a linear subspace of C([0, 1]) which is closed in L2 ([0, 1]).

(a) Show that S is closed in (C([0, 1]), k · k∞ ).
(b) Show that there exists M > 0 such that for all f ∈ S,
kf k2 ≤ kf k∞ ≤ M kf k2 .

N
Q 10. Let `p (Z) = |xn |p < ∞ for
 P
{xn }n∈Z : xn ∈ C and lim
N →∞ n=−N
p ∈ [1, ∞). Let {xn }n∈Z and {yn }n∈Z be any two elements of `1 (Z).
N
P
(a) Prove that lim xn−m ym exists for every n ∈ Z.
N →∞ m=−N
N
xn−m ym , then prove that {zn }n∈Z ∈ `1 (Z).
P
(b) If zn = lim
N →∞ m=−N
(c) Conclude that {zn }n∈Z ∈ `p (Z) for all p ∈ (1, ∞).
 JRF Mathematics Examination
RM I

Solve any six questions.

1. Suppose that X is a Hausdorff space and α : [0, 1] → X is a continuous

function. If α is one-one, then prove that the image of α is homeomor-
phic to [0, 1]. Give an example where α is not one-one but the image
of α is homeomorphic to [0, 1].

2. Prove that the following collection of subsets defines a topology on the

set of natural numbers N :

∅, N, Un = {1, . . . , n}, n ∈ N.

Is N compact in this topology? What are the continuous functions from

this space to the space R of real numbers with standard topology?

3. Let {an } be a sequence of non-zero real numbers. Show that it has a

an
subsequence {ank } such that lim ak+1
n
exists and belongs to {0, 1, ∞}.
k

4. Let D denote the open ball of unit radius about origin in the complex
plane C. Let f be a continuous complex-valued function on its closure
π
D which is analytic on D. If f (eit ) = 0 for 0 < t < , show that
2
f (z) = 0 for all z.

5. Let U be an open connected set in C and f : U → C be a continuous

map such that z 7→ f (z)n is analytic for some positive integer n. Prove
that f is analytic.

1
 6. Let C be a closed convex set in R2 . For any x ∈ C, define

Cx = {y ∈ R2 | x + ty ∈ C, ∀ t ≥ 0}.

Prove that for any two points x, x0 ∈ C, we have Cx = Cx0 .

7. Let U = B(c, R) denote the open ball of radius R around c ∈ C. Let

f be an analytic function on U such that there exists M > 0 with
|f 0 (z)| ≤ M for all z ∈ U . Prove that

|f (z1 ) − f (z2 )| ≤ M |z1 − z2 | ∀z1 , z2 ∈ U.

8. Let a, b be two real numbers. If the function x(t) is a solution of

d2 x dx
2
− 2a + bx = 0
dt dt
with x(0) = x(1) = 0, then show that x(n) = 0 for all n ∈ N.
(Hint: Show that there exists a constant c such that x(t + 1) = cx(t)
for all t.)

9. Let µ be a measure on the Borel σ-field of R such that µ(R) = 1.

Recall that the support of µ is the largest closed set C such that for
all open sets U with U ∩ C 6= ∅, we have µ(U ) > 0. Assume that every
continuous real-valued function on R is integrable with respect to µ.
Prove that the support of µ is compact.

10. Find all pairs (x0 , y0 ) ∈ R2 such that the following initial value problem
has a unique solution in a neighbourhood of (x0 , y0 ):
1
y 0 = y 3 + x; y(x0 ) = y0 .

11. Let (X, d) be a complete metric space. Let f : X → X be a function

such that for all distinct x, y ∈ X,

d(f k (x), f k (y)) < c · d(x, y),

for some real number c < 1 and an integer k > 1. Show that f has a
unique fixed point.
(Here f r denotes the r-fold composition of f with itself.)

2
 JRF Mathematics Examination
RM II

Solve any six questions.

1. Let n ≥ 3 be a natural number. Prove that the three cycle (1, 2, 3) is

not a cube of any element in the symmetric group Sn .
2. Prove that any group of order 35 is cyclic.
3. (a) Let F be a field of odd characteristic and let K be a field extension
of F of √degree 2. Prove that there exists an a ∈ F such that
K∼ = F ( a).
(b) Give an example of a degree 2 extension K of a field F of char-
acteristic two which is not obtained by attaching a square root of
an element of F .
4. Let r ≤ n be natural numbers and let {v1 , . . . , vr } and {w1 , . . . , wr } be
two linearly independent subsets of Rn such that
hvi , vj i = hwi , wj i ∀ 1 ≤ i, j ≤ r,
where h , i denotes the standard inner product on Rn . Prove that
there exists an orthogonal operator T on Rn such that T (vi ) = wi for
all 1 ≤ i ≤ r.
5. Show that the space C[0, 1] of real-valued continuous functions on the
unit interval [0, 1] with the sup norm
||f || = sup |f (x)|
x∈[0,1]

1
 is not a Hilbert space with respect to any inner product.

6. Let H be a Hilbert space with complete orthonormal basis {en |n ∈ N}.

Let R be the shift operator on H defined by R(en ) = en+1 , and extended
by linearity and continuity. Show that there is no x ∈ H, such that
Span{R2n (x)|n ≥ 0} is dense in H.
 
3 1
7. Let A = . Find the eigenvalues of A and identify the set
2 4

E = {a ∈ R : lim an An exists and is different from zero}.

n→∞

Note that convergence of a sequence of matrices is taken entrywise.

8. Let T be a bounded operator on a normed linear space X such that

T 2 = T . Compute the inverse of λI − T , for any complex number
λ 6= 0, 1.

9. Prove that for any natural number n, there exist n consecutive integers
each of which is divisible by a perfect square greater than one.

10. Let {a1 , . . . , an2 +1 } be a permutation of the set {1, 2, . . . , n2 +1}. Prove
that the sequence {ai } contains a monotone subsequence of length n+1.

11. Let p > 3 be a prime number and Fp denote the finite field of order p.
Prove that the polynomial X 2 + X + 1 is reducible in Fp [X] if and only
if p ≡ 1(mod 3).

2
• R denotes the set of real numbers.

• C denotes the set of complex numbers.

• N denotes the set of positive integers.

Q 1. Find the sum of the series

∞
X n2
.
2n
n=0

Q 2. Let A be an m × n real matrix.

(a) Show that N(A) ∩ Im(AT ) = {0}, where AT is the transpose of

A, Im(A) is the image of A and N(A) = {v ∈ Rn : Av = 0}.

(b) If for two suitable matrices B and C, AAT B = AAT C then

show that AT B = AT C.

Q 3. Let V be a finite dimensional vector space over R. Suppose that

a subset A ⊂ V has the following property: For any finite set of
n
P
scalars a1 , a2 , . . . , an ∈ R which satisfies ai = 1 and any vectors
i=1
v1 , v2 , . . . , vn ∈ A, a1 v1 + a2 v2 + · · · + an vn ∈ A.

Show that A = x0 + W for some x0 ∈ V and some subspace W of

V , where x0 + W = {x0 + v : v ∈ W }.

Q 4. Let Xn = number of heads obtained from n independent coin tosses

with probability of head p. Let pn be the probability that Xn is an
even number.

(a) Show that pn+1 = (1 − 2p)pn + p.

(b) Show that lim pn exists and find the limit.

n→∞

Q 5. Let C be a closed subset of Rn and r be a positive real number. Show

that the set

D = {y ∈ Rn : there exists x ∈ C with kx − yk = r}

is closed in Rn , where kxk = (x21 + · · · + x2n )1/2 for x = (x1 , . . . , xn ) ∈

Rn .
 3

Q 6. Let f : C → C be an entire function.

R 2π
(a) Compute 0 f (reiθ ) dθ, r > 0.

(b) If Z
|f (x + iy)| dxdy < ∞,
R2
then prove that f (z) = 0 for all z ∈ C.
2
Q 7. Let φ(t) = √12π e−t /2 , t ∈ R, be the standard normal density func-
Rx
tion and Φ(x) = −∞ φ(t) dt be the standard normal distribution
function. Let
fα (t) = 2φ(t)Φ(αt), t ∈ R,
where α ∈ R. Show that fα is a probability density function for any
α ∈ R.

Q 8. Consider the equivalence relation ‘∼’ on R × [0, 1] defined by

(x, t) ∼ (x + 1, t), x ∈ R and t ∈ [0, 1].


Let X = R × [0, 1] / ∼ be the quotient space. Prove that X is
Hausdorff and compact.

Q 9. For k ∈ N, let
 1 + cos t k
Pk (t) = ck , t ∈ [−π, π],
2
where ck ∈ R is chosen in such a way that
Z π
1
Pk (t) dt = 1.
2π −π
(a) Prove that ck ≤ π2 (k + 1) for all k ∈ N.
(b) Using (a) or otherwise prove that for every δ with 0 < δ < π,
 
lim sup Pk (t) = 0.
k→∞ δ≤|t|≤π

Q 10. Let Ω = {z ∈ C : |z| < 2} and f be a function on Ω which is

holomorphic at every point of Ω except z = 1 and at z = 1 it has a
simple pole. Suppose that
∞
X
f (z) = an z n , |z| < 1.
n=0
Prove that lim an = −c, where c is the residue of f at z = 1.
n→∞
• R denotes the set of real numbers.

• Q denotes the set of rational numbers.

• Z denotes the set of integers.

R
Q 1. Let f be a measurable function on R such that I f dλ = 0 for all
bounded intervals I ⊂ R, where λ is the Lebesgue measure on R.
Show that
λ({x ∈ R : f (x) 6= 0}) = 0.

Q 2. Let CR [0, 1] denote the Banach space of all continuous real-valued

functions on [0, 1] with norm
kf k∞ = sup{|f (x)| : x ∈ [0, 1]}.
Show that there is no inner product on CR [0, 1] that induces the
norm k · k∞ .

Q 3. Find the smallest positive integer n such that

(Z/2Z) × (Z/2Z) × (Z/2Z)
is isomorphic to a subgroup of Sn , where Sn is the group of all
permutations of {1, 2, . . . , n}.

Q 4. Let p = 1 + 4n be a prime in Z.

(a) Show that (2n)! is a solution to the congruence

x2 ≡ −1 (mod p).
(b) Use (a) to show that p is not a prime element in Z[i].

(c) Use (b) to show that p = a2 + b2 for some a, b ∈ Z.

Q 5. Fix a p ∈ [1, ∞]. Let {an }∞ n=1 be a sequence of complex numbers

such that {an xn }∞
n=1 ∈ ` p for all sequences {x }∞ ∈ `p . Show that
n n=1
{an }∞ ∞
n=1 ∈ ` .

Q 6. Let {Bα : α ∈ A} be a family of piecewise disjoint Lebesgue measur-

able subsets of [0, 1] each of positive measure. Show that the family
is countable.
 3

Q 7. Let C[0, 1] denote the Banach space of all continuous complex-valued

functions on [0, 1] with norm
kf k∞ = sup{|f (x)| : x ∈ [0, 1]}.
Let g : [0, 1] → [0, 1] be a non-constant continuous function. Con-
sider the operator T : C[0, 1] → C[0, 1] defined by T f = f ◦ g, that
is, T f (x) = f (g(x)), f ∈ C[0, 1], x ∈ [0, 1].

Show that the image of the unit ball in C[0, 1] under T is not
compact in C[0, 1].

Q 8. Let p be a prime and K = Q(α), where α3 = p. Find the minimal

polynomial of α + α2 over Q. Justify your answer completely.

Q 9. Let n > 1 be an odd integer. Show that n does not divide 3n + 1.

Q 10. (a) Let R be a commutative ring with unity. Let a, b, c ∈ R be such

that there exist x, y, z ∈ R with
xa + yb + zc = 1.
Show that there exist α, β, γ ∈ R such that
αa15 + βb16 + γc17 = 1.
(b) Let R be a commutative ring with unity such that for each
a ∈ R there exists an integer n(a) > 1 such that an(a) = a.
Prove that every prime ideal of R is maximal.