Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2007/ib/paper-2/5d/solution

Use the mixed Dirichlet-Neumann modes on an interval. To justify their Fourier series, extend evenly across to , then oddly across , and repeat with period four. The condition makes the odd extension continuous, and makes the even reflection continuously differentiable. The resulting periodic function has a convergent Fourier sine series. Reflection about eliminates the even sine harmonics, leaving
Alternatively these values follow directly from and . Fourier orthogonality gives
The extension argument also supplies completeness, not merely orthogonality, of this Fourier sine basis.
Expand the forcing as . Product-to-sum and integration by parts give
Each mode of the differential operator has eigenvalue . Hence, for real , the solution is
The coefficients are , so the series and its first two differentiated series converge uniformly. Therefore it solves the equation and the boundary conditions term by term. Uniqueness follows by multiplying the homogeneous equation by its real solution and integrating: the boundary terms vanish and , forcing .

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