Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2013/iii/paper-65/1/b/i/solution

Use the nonrotating linear Boussinesq approximation with reference density and :
Let , and . The horizontal momentum equations give and . Continuity requires . Thus the internal-wave polarization is
Physical perturbations are the real parts. The density is in temporal quadrature with the vertical velocity, because buoyancy responds to the vertical fluid displacement. Substitution into the vertical momentum equation determines the internal gravity wave dispersion relation,
A nontrivial propagating wave requires a nonzero horizontal wave vector and a nonzero frequency. The formulas are not to be divided by : incompressibility excludes a nonzero oscillatory vertical velocity for a purely vertical wave vector.

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