Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2003/iii/paper-71/4/b/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 71 4 b Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Take . Integrating the velocity solution givesThe initial/noise cross term vanishes under the independence assumption. Evaluating the remaining integral yields the general integrated Ornstein-Uhlenbeck displacementUse the thermal initial velocity and the fluctuation-dissipation relation for a Langevin particle. With diffusion coefficient , this simplifies toFor , expansion gives : displacement is initially , so the particle is ballistic. For , , hence the leading behavior is one-dimensional diffusion with .
The ballistic conclusion depends on the initial state. For a particle prepared exactly at rest, , the first expression gives at very short times. A thermal initial velocity, or a nonzero initial velocity variance, is required for the stated mean-square law. It should not be replaced silently by a zero-velocity initial condition.
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