Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematical-methods-ii-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2021-resit/10/a/solution

Put and , with . The chain rule gives
For a nonzero pulse the wave equation on a string therefore requires
It is not a solution for arbitrary ; the zero pulse is the trivial exception. Here is linear mass density, and is tension. With , the maximum lies at , so the Gaussian function translates towards decreasing by between the two times. Its amplitude and width stay constant.
Figure 1.
Original sketch of the Gaussian pulse translating to the left at constant speed
. Details.

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