Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2020/ii/paper-2/39b/c/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 2 39B c Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Take a linear combination of the P- and SV-fields from part (b). The rigid boundary condition at givesThe conditions at are the same because the horizontal displacement is even and the vertical displacement is odd. A nonzero pair exists exactly when the determinant vanishes:Therefore the rigid elastic waveguide mode dispersion relation is
Dispersion relation branches in an elastic waveguide
. As increases, both and increase without bound. The two sides consequently have infinitely many alternating tangent branches and poles. On successive continuity intervals their relative ordering reverses, so the intermediate value theorem gives infinitely many intersections, corresponding to infinitely many propagating waveguide modes.
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