Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-differential-equations-and-applications-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2009/a/3/d/solution
Past exam of the differential equations and applications course of the University of Oxford 2009 A 3 d Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
Mass preservation of a nonnegative finite-mass profile requires . Balancing and requires . ThereforeThe similarity ODE isFor a source-type profile adjoining vacuum, the integration constant is zero. The positive branch is for positive , terminated by a shock into zero. Normalize the mass:Thus a unit-mass similarity solution isAt the moving right edge, equals , so the Rankine-Hugoniot condition is satisfied. The characteristic speeds satisfy , making it an entropy shock. The left edge meets vacuum continuously. As the mass concentrates at the origin; this is a source solution, not a claim that every finite-mass initial profile equals it at finite time.
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