Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2013/iii/paper-6/5/e/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 6 5 e Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
A local Maxwellian can be written as , with and coefficients depending on . Its logarithm is a linear combination of collision invariants, so and at each spatial point.
Comparing powers of in givesHere is the symmetric part of a matrix formed by the coefficients of the quadratic polynomial. For constants , choose , and . All four coefficient equations hold. The resulting expanding Gaussian solution of the Boltzmann equation isDirect verification is particularly simple: and are constant along free characteristic curves, so the transport derivative is zero. At fixed its logarithm is the displayed Maxwellian quadratic, so the collision term is also zero. Its spatial dependence is nonconstant, it is positive and rapidly decaying, and its Gaussian velocity integral is finite because . It is not a compactly supported example, nor does this final part require one.
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