Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2004/iii/paper-76/1/b/ii/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 76 1 b ii Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The locally integrable function defines a tempered distribution. Its distributional derivative is : perform integration by parts outside , and observe that the boundary contribution tends to zero. By the Fourier transform of a derivative and the preceding result,Division by needs a finite-part inverse-absolute-value distribution, since is not locally integrable at zero. One possible normalization isIt satisfies . The general solution of is a multiple of the Dirac delta distribution: a test function vanishing at zero can be written , so depends only on its value at zero. Consequently the Fourier transform of the absolute logarithm isChanging the finite-part normalization changes . The printed reciprocal expression is meaningful with this interpretation, not as an ordinary function at .
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