Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2016/iii/paper-330/2/b/solution

Define . The buoyancy frequency definition gives . The powers in a plume similarity in power-law stratification satisfy
Solving gives
A rising positive-buoyancy turbulent plume entrains, so ; its momentum flux increases, so ; its buoyancy flux decreases in the stable ambient, so . With positive coefficients, this requires , and . The strongest restrictions are
In this interval , and .
Coefficient matching makes the positive similarity solution explicit:
so
It is an ideal scaling for , often a far-field description. As , the prescribed ambient stratification and this model's buoyancy flux are singular; a finite physical source would require a regularized near-source region.

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