Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2007/ia/paper-2/1b/solution

The differential operator is , where . Factoring out the forcing's exponential removes this repeated characteristic root of a constant-coefficient differential equation: set . Differentiation gives and , so . Two integrations yield
The initial conditions become and , hence and . Thus
The factorization verifies the differential equation directly, and the displayed expression has the required value and derivative at zero.

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