Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2013/iii/paper-54/2/c/solution

Let , and . Linearize the barotropic closure of a razor-thin disk and shearing sheet about the given state. Write the radial and azimuthal velocity perturbations as and . Axisymmetry removes advection by the background shear, giving
The softened potential is . Eliminating the velocity components for the compressive branch gives the softened Toomre dispersion relation
The Coriolis/shear combination supplies the radial epicyclic restoring term, pressure supplies the short-wave term, and self-gravity lowers the squared frequency. The full three-variable determinant also has a stationary axisymmetric geostrophic mode, with and azimuthal flow balancing the pressure-plus-gravity gradient. The displayed relation describes the density-wave pair; eliminating by division by must not silently deny that stationary mode.

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