Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2008/ii/paper-3/37b/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 ii Paper 3 37B Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Substitution of in the Klein-Gordon equation gives . On the positive-frequency branch, the phase velocity is for , and the group velocity is . The group speed is less than one, although the phase speed exceeds one in magnitude.
With Fourier transform convention , the initial velocity has transform . Each Fourier mode solves a harmonic-oscillator equation, givingFor , symmetry makes this the imaginary part of . When , the phase has a unique stationary point , with phase value and positive second derivative . The stationary phase method givesFor there is no real stationary point. More precisely, finite propagation speed makes the solution at depend only on the initial data on . On that half-line the initial velocity is , and exactly solves the equation with zero initial displacement. Uniqueness on the domain of dependence therefore givesThis exponential initial-velocity tail for the Klein-Gordon equation is exponentially small, rather than identically zero: the initial data already have a nonzero tail outside the origin.
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