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CSIR NET June 2024Part B

All 40 Part B questions we have transcribed from this paper, of the 117 on the site for this sitting — every option and the answer key, with the reasoning for each one.

Part B

One correct option. 3 marks, −0.75 for a wrong answer.

Q1Boundary and endpointCompleteness, sup/inf, Archimedean property

Consider the set A = {} as a subset of . Which of the following statements is true?

  1. A.
  2. B.
  3. C.
  4. D.

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q2Standard counterexampleCompleteness, sup/inf, Archimedean property

Let S = { and }. Which of the following is true about S?

  1. A.S is empty.
  2. B.There is a bijection between S and
  3. C.There is a bijection between S and
  4. D.There is a bijection between S and a non-empty finite set

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q3Standard counterexampleCompleteness, sup/inf, Archimedean property

Let C be the collection of all sets S such that the power set of S is countably infinite. Which of the following statements is true?

  1. A.There exists a non-empty finite set in C
  2. B.There exists a countably infinite set in C
  3. C.There exists an uncountable set in C
  4. D.C is empty

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q4Limit assumed to existSequences: convergence, monotone, Bolzano–Weierstrass, Cauchy

Let be a bounded sequence in . Which of the following statements is FALSE?

  1. A.if , then is convergent
  2. B.if inf{ | n ≥ 1} , then is convergent
  3. C.if sup{ | n ≥ 1} , then is constant
  4. D.if sup{ | n ≥ 1} = inf{ | n ≥ 1}, then is constant

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q5Existence vs uniquenessContinuity, uniform continuity, Lipschitz

What is the cardinality of the set of real solutions of eˣ + x = 1?

  1. A.0
  2. B.1
  3. C.Countably infinite
  4. D.Uncountable

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q6Property not inheritedContinuity, uniform continuity, Lipschitz

Let S be a dense subset of and given function. Define by g(x) = f(x). Which of the following statements is necessarily true?

  1. A.If f is continuous on the set S, then f is continuous on the set \ S
  2. B.If g is continuous, then f is continuous on the set S
  3. C.If g is identically 0 and f is continuous on the set \ S, then f is identically 0
  4. D.If g is identically 0 and f is continuous on the set S, then f is identically 0

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q7Standard counterexamplePointwise vs uniform convergence, M-test, Dini

For each n ≥ 1 define by , where denotes the non-negative square root. Wherever exists, denote it by f(x). Which of the following statements is true?

  1. A.There exists such that f(x) is not defined
  2. B.f(x) = 0 for all
  3. C.f(x) = x for all
  4. D.f(x) = |x| for all

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q8Converse assumedBases, dimension, rank–nullity

Let be a non-zero linear transformation. Which of the following statements is true?

  1. A.If A is one-to-one but not onto, then m > n
  2. B.If A is onto but not one-to-one, then m < n
  3. C.If A is bijective, then m = n
  4. D.If A is one-to-one, then m = n

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q9What the inference meansBases, dimension, rank–nullity

Let A be a 10 × 10 real matrix. Assume that the rank of A is 7. Which of the following statements is necessarily true?

  1. A.There exists a vector such that Av ≠ 0 and
  2. B.There exists a vector such that
  3. C.A must have a non-zero eigenvalue
  4. D.

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q10Execution slipEigenvalues, characteristic & minimal polynomials, Cayley–Hamilton

Let ((2, a), (b, c)) be a 2 × 2 real matrix for which 6 is an eigenvalue. Which of the following statements is necessarily true?

  1. A.24 − ab = 4c
  2. B.a + b = 8
  3. C.c = 6
  4. D.ab = 0

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q11Finite-dimensional intuitionLinear transformations, matrix representation, change of basis

Let V be the real vector space of 2 × 2 matrices with entries in . Let T : V → V denote the linear transformation defined by T(B) = AB for all B ∈ V, where A = ((2, 0), (0, 1)). What is the characteristic polynomial of T?

  1. A.(x − 2)(x − 1)
  2. B.
  3. C.
  4. D.

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q12Hypothesis droppedQuadratic forms, positive definiteness, Sylvester's law

Let A = ((0, 1, 0, 0), (1, 0, 0, 0), (0, 0, 1, 1), (0, 0, 1, 1)), and consider the symmetric bilinear form on given by ⟨v, w⟩ = vᵗAw, for . Which of the following statements is true?

  1. A.A is invertible
  2. B.There exist non-zero vectors v, w such that ⟨v, w⟩ = 0
  3. C.⟨u, v⟩ ≠ ⟨u, w⟩ for all non-zero vectors u, v, w with v ≠ w
  4. D.Every eigenvalue of is positive

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q13Standard counterexampleQuadratic forms, positive definiteness, Sylvester's law

For a quadratic form , we say that is a zero of f if f(a, b, c) = 0. Which of the following quadratic forms has at least one zero different from (0, 0, 0)?

  1. A.
  2. B.xy
  3. C.xy − 2yz
  4. D.

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q14Hypothesis droppedLiouville, Morera, maximum modulus principle

Let f be an entire function. Which of the following statements is FALSE?

  1. A.If Re(f), Im(f) are bounded then f is constant
  2. B.If e^(|Re(f)| + |Im(f)|) is bounded, then f is constant
  3. C.If the sum Re(f) + Im(f) and the product Re(f)Im(f) are bounded, then f is constant
  4. D.If sin(Re(f) + Im(f)) is bounded, then f is constant

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q15Execution slipCauchy's theorem and integral formula

Consider the contour given by for for for . Then what is the value of dz / (z(z − 2))?

  1. A.0
  2. B.
  3. C.
  4. D.

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q16Execution slipResidue theorem and standard contour integrals

Let a, b be two real numbers such that a < 0 < b. For a positive real number r, define re^(it) (where and dz. Which of the following statements is necessarily true?

  1. A.I_r ≠ 0 if r > max{|a|, b}
  2. B.I_r ≠ 0 if r < max{|a|, b}
  3. C.I_r = 0 if r > max{|a|, b} and |a| = b
  4. D.I_r = 0 if |a| < r < b

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q17Execution slipConformal maps, Möbius transformations, Schwarz lemma

For a complex number a such that 0 < |a| < 1, which of the following statements is true?

  1. A.If |z| < 1, then |1 − āz| < |z − a|
  2. B.If |z − a| = |1 − āz|, then |z| = 1
  3. C.If |z| = 1, then |z − a| < |1 − āz|
  4. D.If |1 − āz| < |z − a|, then |z| < 1

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q18Execution slipPermutation groups: cycles, sign, conjugacy in S_n and A_n

How many arrangements of the digits of the number 1234567 are there, such that exactly three of them occur in their original position? (E.g., in the arrangement 5214763, exactly the digits 2, 4 and 6 are in their original positions. In the arrangement 1243576, exactly the digits 1, 2 and 5 are in their original positions.)

  1. A.525
  2. B.35
  3. C.840
  4. D.315

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q19Standard counterexampleSubgroups, cosets, Lagrange, cyclic groups

The number of group homomorphisms from to is

  1. A.30
  2. B.60
  3. C.45
  4. D.10

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q20Standard counterexampleIdeals, quotient rings, prime & maximal ideals, CRT

Consider the ring R = { | , and only for finitely many }, with the usual addition and multiplication of such sums. Which of the following statements is true?

  1. A.R is not commutative
  2. B.The ideal (X − 1) is a maximal ideal in R
  3. C.The ideal (X − 1, 2) is a prime ideal in R
  4. D.The ideal (X, 5) is a maximal ideal in R

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q21Existence vs uniquenessExistence–uniqueness, Picard, Lipschitz

Consider the initial value problem (IVP||, . Consider the following statements: S1: There is an such that for all , the IVP has more than one solution. S2: There is such that for all , the IVP has more than one solution. Then

  1. A.both and are true
  2. B. is true but is false
  3. C. is false but is true
  4. D.both and are false

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q22Execution slipLinear ODE, Wronskian, variation of parameters, systems

Let denote the solution to the boundary value problem (BVP) (xy′)′ − 2y′ + y/x = 1 for , with y(1) = 0 and . Then the value of is

  1. A.−e/2
  2. B.−e/3
  3. C.e/3
  4. D.e

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q23Execution slipFirst-order PDE: Lagrange, Charpit, characteristics

Let u = u(x, t) be the solution of the following initial value problem: for , and for , where is an arbitrary function. Consider the following statements: : If {} and || denotes the Lebesgue measure of for every t ≥ 0, then || = ||, : If is Lebesgue integrable, then for every t > 0, the function x ↦ u(x, t) is Lebesgue integrable. Then

  1. A.both and are true
  2. B. is true but is false
  3. C. is true but is false
  4. D.both and are false

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q24Standard counterexampleLaplace, heat and wave equations: separation of variables

If u = u(x, t) is the solution of the initial value problem for , with u(x, 0) = sin(4x) + x + 1 for , satisfying |u(x, t)| for all and t > 0, then

  1. A.
  2. B.
  3. C.
  4. D.

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q25Numerical convergenceNumerical ODE: Euler, Runge–Kutta

If the value of the approximate solution of the initial value problem at x = 0.2 using the forward Euler method with step size 0.1 is 1.02, then the value of is

  1. A.0
  2. B.−1
  3. C.2
  4. D.1

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q26Boundary and endpointEuler–Lagrange equation and standard functionals

Let B(0,1) = { | } be the open unit disc in denote the boundary of B(0,1), and denote the unit outward normal to . Let be a given continuous function. The Euler–Lagrange equation of the minimization problem min { ½∬_B(0,1) || dxdy + ½∬ dxdy ds } subject to closure of B(0,1)) is

  1. A.ue in on
  2. B. ue in B(0,1), u = 0 on
  3. C. ue in on
  4. D. ue in on

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q27Standard counterexampleFredholm and Volterra equations

Let u be the solution of the Volterra integral equation ᵗ [½ . Then the value of u(1) is

  1. A.0
  2. B.1
  3. C.2
  4. D.2e⁻

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q28Execution slipLagrangian formalism and generalised coordinates

Consider a solid circular cylinder of radius 2 meters and height 3 meters of uniform density. If the density of the cylinder is kg/meter, then the moment of inertia (in kg meter of the cylinder about a diameter of its base is

  1. A.
  2. B.
  3. C.
  4. D.

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q29Dependence misreadAxioms, conditional probability, independence, Bayes

Let be events satisfying for i = 1, 2, 3. Which of the following statements is true?

  1. A. | | |
  2. B. | | |
  3. C. | | |
  4. D. | | |

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q30Boundary and endpointRandom variables, distributions, moments, MGF

Let X be a random variable with cumulative distribution function given by F(x) = 0 if x < 0; F(x) = (x + 1)/3 if 0 ≤ x < 1; F(x) = 1 if x ≥ 1. Then the value of P(1/3 < X < 3/4) + P(X = 0) is equal to

  1. A.7/36
  2. B.11/36
  3. C.13/36
  4. D.17/36

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q31Execution slipMarkov chains: classification of states, stationary distributions

Let { | n ≥ 0} be a homogeneous Markov chain with state space S = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4} and transition probability matrix

01234
01/4003/40
101000
21/32/3000
33/4001/40
41/81/81/21/81/8

Let denote the probability that starting with state 4 the chain will eventually get absorbed in closed class {0, 3}. Then the value of is

  1. A.6/21
  2. B.11/21
  3. C.8/21
  4. D.10/21

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q32Execution slipMarkov chains: classification of states, stationary distributions

Consider a petrol pump which has a single petrol dispensing unit. Customers arrive there in accordance with a Poisson process having rate minutes. An arriving customer enters the petrol pump only if there are two or less customers in the petrol pump, otherwise he/she leaves the petrol pump without taking the petrol (at any point of time a maximum of three customers are present in the petrol pump). Successive service times of the petrol dispensing unit are independent exponential random variables having mean 1/2 minutes. Let X denote the average number of customers in the petrol pump in the long run. Then E(X) is equal to

  1. A.7/15
  2. B.3/5
  3. C.11/15
  4. D.13/15

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q33Dependence misreadJoint distributions, transformations, order statistics

Let a point P be chosen at random on the line segment AB of length . Let and denote the lengths of line segments AP and BP respectively. Then the value of E(||) is

  1. A.
  2. B.
  3. C.
  4. D.

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q34What the inference meansMLE and method of moments

Consider a distribution with probability mass function f(x | if x = 0; 1/2 if if x = 2; and 0 otherwise, where is an unknown parameter. In a random sample of size 100 from the above distribution, the observed counts of 0, 1 and 2 are 20, 30 and 50 respectively. Then, the maximum likelihood estimate of based on the observed data is

  1. A.1
  2. B.5/7
  3. C.1/2
  4. D.2/7

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q35Execution slipMLE and method of moments

Let be a random sample from a distribution with the probability density function f(x| if 0 < x < 1, and 0 otherwise, where is an unknown parameter. The prior distribution of is given by if , and 0 otherwise. The Bayes estimator of under squared error loss is

  1. A.
  2. B.
  3. C.
  4. D.

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q36Standard counterexampleStandard discrete and continuous distributions

Let be a random sample from distribution, where and denotes a normal distribution with mean and variance . Suppose, for some constant is a confidence interval for variance with confidence coefficient 0.95. Then the value of c is equal to

  1. A.−2 ln(0.05)
  2. B.−2 ln(0.95)
  3. C.−1/(2 ln(0.05))
  4. D.−1/(2 ln(0.95))

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q37Boundary and endpointNeyman–Pearson lemma and UMP tests

Let be a random sample from a population having probability density function f ∈ {} where if 0 ≤ x ≤ 2 and 0 otherwise, and if 0 ≤ x ≤ 4 and 0 otherwise. For testing the null hypothesis against the alternate hypothesis , the power of a most powerful test of size is equal to

  1. A.0.4625
  2. B.0.5425
  3. C.0.7625
  4. D.0.6225

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q38Execution slipGauss–Markov, regression, ANOVA basics

An analyst considers standardized values of observations on three variables, consumption (C), saving (S) and total income (TI) so that they have zero means and unit variances. She further considers disposable income (DI) where DI = C + S. In the simple linear regressions of DI on TI, DI on C and S on TI, the regression coefficients are 0.8, 0.5 and 0.4, respectively. There are 21 sample observations. Sample covariances and variances are calculated with divisor 20. Then, the value of sum of squared residuals in the regression of DI on S is

  1. A.5
  2. B.10
  3. C.15
  4. D.20

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.

Q39Execution slipMultivariate normal distribution

Let be independent and identically distributed random variables with mean 0 and variance 1. Suppose . The first principal component based on the covariance matrix of is

  1. A.
  2. B.
  3. C.
  4. D.

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Q40Execution slipSRS, stratified and systematic sampling

The expected number of distinct units in a simple random sample of 3 units drawn with replacement from a population of 100 units is

  1. A.
  2. B.
  3. C.
  4. D.

Trap Analysis has the working, and why each of the other options was written to tempt you.