Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2018/ia/paper-3/4c/solution

For a scalar , the displayed basis identities give
Taking the divergence and differentiating the basis vectors yields the Laplacian in polar coordinates
Consequently,
The regular harmonic mode with angular dependence is . Its radial derivative at is , so . A constant is invisible to the Neumann boundary condition, giving
If two solutions existed, their difference would satisfy and . Green's first identity gives , so and is constant. Thus these are all the solutions.

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