Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2005/ii/paper-2/30c/solution

A fundamental solution of a linear differential operator is a distribution satisfying . The locally integrable function defines a distribution by integration against compactly supported smooth test functions. Away from zero it satisfies . It is continuous at zero, while and . Consequently its distributional second derivative is its ordinary derivative on the two sides plus the derivative jump times :
This derivative-jump formula follows by integration by parts on each half-line; the boundary terms equal in .
Convolution with the indicator forcing gives
The two values and their first derivatives agree at , so no delta terms arise there. This is a decaying weak solution, with the equation holding classically away from the forcing jumps.
For real Schwartz , expand the energy:
The mixed term is zero by the weak equation , or integration by parts using the continuous first derivative and decay. The remaining integral is strictly positive whenever is not identically zero. Hence
The real-valued function space is implicit in the stated ordered quadratic functional; for complex functions one instead uses absolute squares and the corresponding real part of the forcing term.

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