Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2014/iii/paper-7/1/a/solution

The characteristic equations for a transport equation are and , so . For an initial point their solution is
This is the hyperbolic characteristic flow for an inverted oscillator. The addition formulas give and . In particular, the backward characteristic flow map from the point at time to time is
Along this characteristic curve, the chain rule changes the transport equation into . Integrating from zero to gives
The assumed regularity makes this a classical solution: on every compact set, the integrand and its needed derivatives are continuous, so differentiation under the finite-time integral is justified. At it has the required initial value, and the characteristic calculation verifies the equation. Conversely every classical solution must satisfy the same integrated identity, proving uniqueness. This is the Duhamel formula for Hamiltonian transport, with Hamiltonian .

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