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CSIR NET Part C

Counterexample bank

Part C is won by knowing which tempting claims are false. 149 counterexamples; 86 free to read right now. Pick your subject below.

Knowing the claim is false is half of it. The mistakes that cost marks shows the wrong options candidates actually pick, and the reasoning slip behind each one.

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Complex Analysis, Algebra & Topology

“Every subspace of a separable metric space is separable — fails for general topological spaces”
“Converse of Lagrange: d | |G| ⇒ subgroup of order d”

False — A4A_{4} has no subgroup of order 6

“H ⊴ K and K ⊴ G ⇒ H ⊴ G”
“Every group of order p2p^{2} is cyclic”
“Every integral domain is a UFD”

False — Z[√−5]:6=2⋅3=(1+√−5)(1−√−5)\mathbb{Z}[\surd-5]: 6 = 2\cdot3 = (1+\surd-5)(1-\surd-5)

“Every UFD is a PID”
“Every PID is Euclidean”
“Irreducible over Z⇒\mathbb{Z} \Rightarrow irreducible mod every prime”
“Bounded real part ⇒ entire function is constant — fails if only |f| is bounded on a half-plane”
“Zeros of a non-constant analytic function can accumulate inside the domain”
“|f| bounded near an isolated singularity ⇒ pole”

False — f(z) = sin(z)/z at 0

“If d divides |G| then G has a subgroup of order d”

False — A4A_{4} has order 12 but no subgroup of order 6

“o(ab) is finite whenever o(a) and o(b) are”
“H ⊴ K and K ⊴ G imply H ⊴ G”

False — ⟨(12)(34)⟩ ⊴ V4V_{4} ⊴ A4A_{4}

“If every subgroup of G is normal then G is abelian”
“AnA_{n} is simple for every n ≥ 3”

False — A4A_{4} has the normal subgroup V4=V_{4} = {e, (12)(34), (13)(24), (14)(23)}

“A group with trivial centre cannot have order a prime power”
“G/Z(G) can be cyclic and non-trivial”

False — Impossible — if G/Z is cyclic then G is abelian, so G/Z is trivial

“A group of order pq (p < q) is always cyclic”

False — S3S_{3} of order 6 = 2·3

“(Z/2kZ)(\mathbb{Z}/2^k\mathbb{Z})* is cyclic for every k”
“Every prime ideal is maximal”

False — (X) in Z[X]\mathbb{Z}[X], or (0) in any integral domain that is not a field

“In every integral domain, irreducible implies prime”

False — 2 in Z[√−5]\mathbb{Z}[\surd-5]

“R a PID implies R[X] is a PID”
“A polynomial irreducible over Q\mathbb{Q} is irreducible modulo some prime”

False — x4+1x^{4} + 1

“A degree-4 polynomial with no rational roots is irreducible over Q\mathbb{Q}”
“An algebraic extension is a finite extension”

False — The field of all algebraic numbers Q̄ over Q\mathbb{Q}

“Every extension of degree n has a Galois group of order n”

False — Q(23)/Q\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt[3]{2})/\mathbb{Q} has degree 3 but only the identity automorphism

“cl(A ∩ B) = cl(A) ∩ cl(B)”

False — A=Q,B=RA = \mathbb{Q}, B = \mathbb{R}∖Q\mathbb{Q} in R\mathbb{R}

“A product of normal spaces is normal”
“A continuous bijection is a homeomorphism”

False — id : (R(\mathbb{R}, discrete)→(R) \to (\mathbb{R}, usual), or t ↦ (cos t, sin t) from [0,2π)[0, 2\pi) to S1S^{1}

“Countably compact implies compact”
“The closed unit ball of a normed space is compact”

False — The unit ball of ℓ2\ell^{2}

“Connected components are open”

False — Q\mathbb{Q} with the usual topology

“A totally disconnected space is discrete”
“A compact T1T_{1} space is Hausdorff”

False — An infinite set with the cofinite topology

“The Cauchy–Riemann equations at a point imply complex differentiability there”

False — f(z)=(zˉ)2/zf(z) = ({\bar{z}})^{2}/z for z ≠ 0, f(0) = 0

“A harmonic function on any domain has a harmonic conjugate”
“Zeros of a non-constant holomorphic function cannot accumulate”

False — sin(1/z) on C\mathbb{C}∖{0}

“C∞C^\infty implies analytic”
“If f is holomorphic on the domain enclosed by γ\gamma except possibly at isolated points, and ∮γf=0\oint_\gamma f = 0, then f has no singularity inside”
“Cauchy's theorem applies to any domain without singularities of f”

False — f(z) = 1/z on the annulus ½ < |z| < 2

“A bounded holomorphic function on an unbounded domain is constant”

False — f(z) = eᶻ on {Re z < 0}

“An entire function omitting one value is constant”
“|f| attains its minimum on the boundary for holomorphic f”
“If |f| is bounded near an isolated singularity, the singularity is a pole”

False — f(z) = sin z / z at 0

“A function has a unique Laurent expansion about a point”
“∮γf=0\oint_\gamma f = 0 implies f is holomorphic inside γ\gamma”
“A small indentation around a simple pole contributes 2πi⋅2\pi{}i\cdotRes”

False — The indentation at 0 when computing ∫0∞sin⁡x/x\int_{0}^\infty \sin x/x dx

“f′(z) ≠ 0 everywhere implies f is injective”

False — f(z) = eᶻ on C\mathbb{C}

“C\mathbb{C} and the unit disc are biholomorphic (both are simply connected)”

False — Liouville's theorem