Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2013/iii/paper-54/3/b/solution

A strip at passes the satellite at relative speed , so its encounter mass flux is . Each unit mass gains specific angular momentum . Therefore the one-sided impulse torque on a disk is
Putting gives exactly the requested expression. Inner strips have the opposite signed impulse but the same positive encounter flux. The net disc torque is consequently
An even surface density makes the integrand vanish pointwise, so the total torque is zero although each one-sided torque can be nonzero. The cutoff must keep the encounters in the weak-deflection regime; an appropriate physical value is at least of order the thickness or the relevant strong-scattering radius. The infinite-sheet integral also assumes convergence or a specified outer truncation.

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