Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2004/iii/paper-76/4/a/ii/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 76 4 a ii Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Again put . To leading order the oscillator has form , while the second variable has a slow part . Averaging its equation over the fast period givesThe oscillatory forcing of the second variable produces only an order- correction: its leading fast derivative is , whose bounded primitive is . Thus it creates no secular term.
The oscillator solvability condition is the same as in part (i), with replaced by :Introduce accumulated slow timeThe shifted Van der Pol amplitude evolution therefore gives, for ,ConsequentlyAs before, uniformity for means a fixed bounded slow-time interval on which the envelope stays bounded. For it fails when reaches , with limiting value at . There is no bounded leading approximation covering all such slow times for arbitrary positive .
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