Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2009/iii/paper-12/2/iv/solution

Take , , , and . The coefficients are bounded and the operator is uniformly elliptic. If a weak solution existed, testing its weak formulation with would give
By integration by parts for functions, the first integral on the left is , so the left side is zero. The right side equals , a contradiction. Thus
The forcing is not orthogonal to the homogeneous zero-boundary eigenfunction . This is the obstruction described by the Fredholm alternative for an elliptic Dirichlet problem, proved here directly without assuming that theorem.

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