Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematical-methods-ii-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2014/7/solution

Apply the product-to-sum identity directly to the stated modulation:
The carrier has angular frequency and the two modulation sidebands have angular frequencies , each with amplitude .
Propagation qualification. In the literal formula, all three terms have the same spatial wavenumber. That identity is correct, but a time-only amplitude applied everywhere is not generally a freely propagating wave at speed . For , applying to the stated field gives , which at equals when the modulation is nontrivial.
A physical modulation launched at a boundary and travelling without dispersion has envelope . The same expansion then has sideband wavenumbers , while its value at agrees with the given time-modulated signal. This distinguishes the requested frequency decomposition from an unsupported fixed-wavenumber propagation claim.

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