Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-algebra-analysis-and-differential-equations-1-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2008/8/solution

Write the principal part as . The characteristic curves satisfy
or . Integration gives and . Thus take , . Their Jacobian determinant is , and their image is .
For , the chain rule gives
The first-derivative terms cancel exactly. The canonical form of a second-order partial differential equation is
On , . Differentiating this condition in and using gives
Hence and . Substitution into the value condition fixes their combined constant and yields
Direct substitution verifies the PDE and both initial data. The cancellation illustrates a hyperbolic equation reduced by an exponential characteristic coordinate.

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