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Past exam of the solid mechanics course of the University of Oxford 2023 3 b iii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
For a twice continuously differentiable scalar potential, mixed second partial derivatives commute. Taking the spatial curl of the equation from part (i) givesFor example, its first component is . The curl acts on the spatial representation of the material acceleration, not directly on its expression in reference coordinates.
This is a necessary local condition. It is sufficient locally, and sufficient globally on a simply connected domain under the usual smoothness assumptions. On a domain with holes, a global scalar potential additionally requires every closed-loop line integral of the material acceleration to vanish. The homogeneous motion in part (c) admits an explicit global scalar potential, so this topological qualification causes no obstruction there.
Past exam of the solid mechanics course of the University of Oxford 2023 3 b ii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
The pressure adjustment from part (i) can be writtenIndeed, since , the difference of the two Cauchy momentum equations isThus is constant in space on each connected component. The function is fixed by any prescribed pressure or surface traction datum. In terms of the usual compressive pressure multiplier, . The plus sign in therefore does not identify with the compressive multiplier itself.
Past exam of the solid mechanics course of the University of Oxford 2023 3 b i Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Restore the particle label suppressed in the question, writing the static family as . At each fixed , its Cauchy stress tensor satisfiesThis dynamic continuation of a static incompressible elastic deformation sets to form a motion. At every time its deformation gradient is the same as that of the corresponding static member. For an elastic material the elastic part of the Cauchy stress tensor depends on that deformation gradient, while incompressibility leaves an arbitrary scalar constraint reaction in hyperelastic stress. Therefore writeHere is the identity matrix. Subtracting static balance of linear momentum from dynamic balance of linear momentum givesSince the homogeneous incompressible material has constant mass density, define . NecessarilyConversely, suppose this acceleration potential exists. Choose . ThenThe added isotropic stress is symmetric, so angular momentum conservation remains satisfied. This proves both directions for the field equations and the elastic constitutive equation. The surface tractions for the motion are those of the adjusted stress; identical prescribed static tractions would impose an additional boundary restriction on .
Past exam of the solid mechanics course of the University of Oxford 2023 2 d ii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
For general , put . The reduced strain energy density and its derivative areThe same factorization as in part (i) yieldsThis form removes the apparent singularity at : its limit is , finite for every fixed . Thus only the upper endpoint can obstruct convergence of the improper integral.
As , , givingFor , the comparison test with a power integral implies convergence exactly when . Thereforeis precisely the range with finite critical pressure, the cavitation criterion for power-law strain energy. At the divergence is logarithmic; for larger it is a power divergence. These materials require an unbounded tensile loading magnitude in this ideal model. The qualification excludes the degenerate zero-energy material.
Past exam of the solid mechanics course of the University of Oxford 2023 2 d i Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
The neo-Hookean solid corresponds to , with positive shear modulus . Substitution of the principal stretches givesThe identity simplifies the integrand:The two improper integrals are elementary:Thus the critical tensile stress magnitude is . As a check on the finite-sphere limit, part (c) giveswhich tends to as the cavity radius tends to zero.
Past exam of the solid mechanics course of the University of Oxford 2023 2 b iii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Take the inner surface to be free of traction, as appropriate to an empty cavity with no surface tension. At the outer surface the imposed pressure is compressive when positive. The outward normal vectors are at and at , givingIntegrating the ordinary differential equation from part (ii) between the two surfaces givesThe outer stretch follows from incompressibility:Hence an expression entirely in terms of the inner stretch and the reference radii isEquivalently . For an expanding shell, ; when on this range, , correctly describing an outward tensile loading. If an inner pressure were present, the same derivation would give on the left. Thus the empty-cavity condition specifies the pressure reference needed for the requested answer.
Past exam of the solid mechanics course of the University of Oxford 2023 2 b ii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Let denote derivatives of the strain energy density with respect to its three principal stretches. The principal stress formula for incompressible hyperelasticity isIt follows by applying in principal axes. Equal tangential principal stretches and material isotropy give at . Differentiating the reduced strain energy density by the chain rule givesThe unknown pressure cancels in this difference. Substituting in part (i), and then using the supplied derivative of , givesConsequently the desired ordinary differential equation isFor completeness, the supplied derivative follows from : , and differentiating gives . At the undeformed value the division must be interpreted by a limit; the spherically symmetric deformation with has and should be handled directly by the radial equilibrium equation.
Past exam of the solid mechanics course of the University of Oxford 2023 2 b i Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
The Cauchy momentum equation in static elastic equilibrium, with zero body force, is . The Cauchy stress tensor is symmetric. Material isotropy and the equal tangential principal stretches imply , so its radial equation isAll stresses and spatial derivatives in this equation are measured in the current configuration.
Past exam of the solid mechanics course of the University of Oxford 2023 1 d ii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Only the term of the polynomial contributes to the limit:Thus the requested torsional stiffness per unit twist isThe small-strain shear modulus is . Therefore , consistently with the usual circular-shaft torque relation after restoring the factor. If the prescribed end rotation is the angle , the physical torsional stiffness is at zero twist. This also explains why does not enter the requested .
Past exam of the solid mechanics course of the University of Oxford 2023 1 d i Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Using and the end-face shear stress from part (c), the printed torque normalization givesThe binomial theorem expands the remaining integral into powers of :Integrating each term gives an expression valid also at :For example, gives . The torque is an odd polynomial in the twist per unit reference length, as expected when reversing the twist reverses the end-face shear stress.
For a physical end-face torque , integration over the azimuth normally givesThe original PDF explicitly defines without this , so the boxed answer retains its convention. Since is the Cauchy stress tensor, its shear component here is spatial ; the printed capital in does not require a change to a nominal stress tensor.
Past exam of the simulation and statistical programming course of the University of Oxford 2023 3 c iv Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Choose distinct coordinates uniformly for the starting ones; each element of then has starting probability . At each iteration choose one current one and one current zero uniformly and swap them. This implements the normalized proposal distribution from (c)(i), remains in , and needs just one precomputed matrix inverse.
mymcmc <- function(x, k, sigma) {
n <- length(x)
stopifnot(length(k) == 1L, is.finite(k), k == floor(k),
k > 0L, k < n, is.matrix(sigma),
all(dim(sigma) == c(n, n)))
sigma_inv <- invsigma(sigma)
u <- integer(n)
u[sample.int(n, k, replace = FALSE)] <- 1L
draws <- matrix(0, 100L, n)
for (iteration in seq_len(100L)) {
ones <- which(u == 1L)
zeros <- which(u == 0L)
i <- ones[sample.int(length(ones), 1L)]
j <- zeros[sample.int(length(zeros), 1L)]
v <- u
v[i] <- 0L
v[j] <- 1L
alpha <- mylogapp(x, u, v, sigma_inv)
if (runif(1L) < alpha) u <- v
draws[iteration, ] <- u
}
colMeans(draws)
}Sampling positions with
sample.int and then indexing into ones or zeros also works when or . In R, a call such as sample(ones, 1) would incorrectly sample from 1:ones when ones is a single numeric value greater than one.The code records the state after each of exactly transitions, including repetitions after rejection. Its answer is the vector Monte Carlo estimatorThis estimates the posterior mean coordinate by coordinate; because each coordinate is binary, its entries estimate the posterior probabilities of inclusion. Every stored state has coordinate sum , so the estimated means lie in and sum to .
For neighbouring states, the symmetry of the proposal and the Metropolis–Hastings acceptance probability give detailed balance:Thus the posterior distribution is a stationary distribution. Any two states in can be connected by moving the ones that occupy the wrong positions, and the multivariate normal distribution gives strictly positive target masses. The resulting Markov chain is therefore an irreducible Markov chain, and its long-run state averages estimate the posterior mean.
The requested iterations are a finite approximation, without a convergence guarantee or discarded burn-in. A randomly chosen starting subset has the prior distribution, rather than generally the posterior distribution. No aperiodicity assumption is needed for the finite-state Markov chain ergodic theorem for averages; indeed a uniform two-state target with gives a period-two alternating chain. This does not invalidate either the code or the state-average estimator.
Past exam of the simulation and statistical programming course of the University of Oxford 2023 3 c iii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
The Cholesky decomposition gives . If , reversal of factors in a matrix inverse givesHence the required R implementation is
invsigma <- function(sigma) {
L <- mychol(sigma)
B <- ltinv(L)
crossprod(B)
} Past exam of the simulation and statistical programming course of the University of Oxford 2023 3 c ii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
The source's function name suggests a log return value, and (c)(i) asks for , while the wording here and in (c)(iv) asks for the acceptance probability. We use the literal probability-returning convention and explicitly exponentiate the result of (c)(i):
mylogapp <- function(x, u, v, sigma_inv) {
d <- v - u
log_ratio <- as.numeric(crossprod(d, sigma_inv %*% (x - (u + v) / 2)))
log_alpha <- min(0, log_ratio)
exp(log_alpha)
}Thus
mylogapp returns , and (c)(iv) compares it directly with a uniform distribution draw. Taking the minimum before exponentiating prevents overflow. The arguments are assumed to be valid neighbouring states. A log-returning convention would instead return log_alpha and compare log(runif(1)) with it; the two conventions implement the same Metropolis–Hastings algorithm, provided the caller uses the matching comparison. Past exam of the simulation and statistical programming course of the University of Oxford 2023 3 c i Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Each state has exactly neighbours: choose one occupied coordinate and one unoccupied coordinate to swap. The normalized proposal distribution is thereforeThe swap relation is symmetric and the number of neighbours is constant, so . The discrete uniform distribution used as the prior distribution is also constant on , with mass . Both factors cancel in the Metropolis–Hastings acceptance probability.
Let and . The displayed multivariate normal distribution presupposes that the covariance matrix is a positive-definite matrix, so is a symmetric matrix. Expanding the difference of quadratic forms givesConsequentlyThe truncation at zero is essential: a log acceptance ratio can be positive, but the logarithm of an acceptance probability cannot.
For the particular proposed swap, let be the coordinate changing from zero to one and the coordinate changing from one to zero. Then , and the untruncated scalar simplifies further toOnly two rows and four entries of are needed for this evaluation. This is Metropolis sampling on fixed-cardinality subsets.
Past exam of the simulation and statistical programming course of the University of Oxford 2023 2 b iv Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
The proposal's normalization of a probability distribution isThis is the Laplace distribution with location zero and scale one. For example, generate its magnitude from the exponential distribution with rate one and give it an independent fair sign. The target is the standard normal distribution, with .
To obtain the tight envelope, let . By completing the square,Equality occurs at , so is the smallest valid envelope constant. It maximizes the acceptance probability for this fixed proposal. The supplied lower bound must be clipped at zero to satisfy the algorithm's nonnegativity requirement:This is valid because for , while is everywhere positive. Its support is .
Here is the fully specified squeeze rejection sampling procedure. Draw with probability density function , independently draw , and compute and . If , return immediately. Otherwise evaluate , independently draw , and return if . On rejection restart with fresh draws. In this example everywhere, so the residual denominator is positive.
Avoiding a target evaluation means accepting at the first test. Its unconditional probability for one proposal isFor comparison, the overall acceptance probability is . The first-stage saving is the fraction of proposals requiring no target evaluation, including both eventual accepted and rejected proposals in the denominator; it is not conditional on acceptance.
Past exam of the simulation and statistical programming course of the University of Oxford 2023 2 b iii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
For a measurable set , (i) gives the joint acceptance probabilityDivide by from (ii). The resulting conditional probability isThus every accepted value has target probability density function . Repeating rejected trials with fresh independent random variables does not change this law: the contribution from acceptance on trial is multiplied by , and summing that geometric series gives the same conditional law. Independent repetitions produce independent target draws.
Past exam of the simulation and statistical programming course of the University of Oxford 2023 2 b ii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Average the conditional probability in (i) over :This is exactly the acceptance mass for an unnormalized rejection envelope. In normalized form the envelope is , giving the same acceptance probability. Here bounds the ratio of the unnormalized functions, so its value need not equal the envelope constant for the normalized probability density functions.
The squeeze changes the number of expensive target evaluations, while preserving the per-proposal acceptance probability. The expected number of proposals per accepted draw is .
Past exam of the simulation and statistical programming course of the University of Oxford 2023 2 b i Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Fix a proposal with , and abbreviate , and . The envelope says . Assuming fresh independent uniform distribution draws at both stages, the law of total probability givesThe second term includes both reaching the residual test and passing it. If , the envelope forces and the first test accepts with probability one; the second-stage ratio is never evaluated. This is squeeze rejection sampling.
Past exam of the simulation and statistical programming course of the University of Oxford 2023 2 a iv Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Use the same acceptance indicator functions and set , . The rejection sampling estimator based on these proposals is the mean over the accepted observations:For , any fixed convention, such as zero, is harmless asymptotically. The are independent and identically distributed random variables with Bernoulli distribution and success probability , so the strong law of large numbers gives almost surely. In particular eventually almost surely. The exact identitythen holds whenever . Wherever , it follows thatA qualification is missing from the printed claim: the quotient must be defined eventually. A convenient sufficient assumption is and . Indeed, another application of the strong law of large numbers gives , ensuring that is eventually nonzero. This proves the stated quotient limit under that assumption.
As printed, the assertion is false as a universally defined quotient. For example, makes both estimates zero for every . Even excluding that example is insufficient: take to be the uniform distribution on , , and for and otherwise. Then is a simple symmetric random walk, which returns to zero infinitely often almost surely, leaving the quotient undefined infinitely often.
With integrability but no assumption , the exact multiplicative identity remains valid, and both estimates converge to almost surely. In particular almost surely. One may alternatively define the quotient's removable cases as ; that explicitly extended quantity always converges to one. These are valid repairs of the source's unrestricted statement.
Past exam of the simulation and statistical programming course of the University of Oxford 2023 2 a iii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
For the proposed joint probability density , define the acceptance indicator functionOn the proposal's support the importance weight is . Therefore the requested augmented-space importance sampling estimator isIts expected value is , provided . This is not the ordinary estimator from question 1. Taking the conditional expectation of this augmented estimator given all produces that ordinary estimator, because . This is the Rao-Blackwell identity for a fixed-denominator rejection estimator.
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