Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2006/ia/paper-2/6b/ii/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ia Paper 2 6B ii Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
For , the Heaviside function vanishes, so . For , , giving . Continuity of and at zero requires and . Consequently the general continuously differentiable profile isIts second derivative jumps from zero to minus one. The equation is satisfied classically away from zero and in the weak, or distributional, sense across it; no globally twice-differentiable function can have the prescribed step as its second derivative. There is no Dirac delta contribution because is continuous. The value assigned to the Heaviside function at a single point does not change this weak solution.
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