Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/iii/paper-333/1/ii/solution

Now let the basic buoyancy be
Thermal-wind balance requires the basic along-front velocity to have vertical shear , so
The basic absolute vorticity and buoyancy gradient are
and hence
For the prescribed disturbance the buoyancy perturbation vanishes, so the linearized buoyancy equation and incompressibility give
The wavevector must therefore satisfy
the disturbance velocity lies along a basic isopycnal. The along-front momentum equation becomes
Projecting the remaining momentum equations onto the divergence-free direction eliminates the pressure and yields
Thus this isopycnal disturbance grows if and only if . Geometrically, is the component of the absolute vorticity along the buoyancy gradient, multiplied by ; the horizontal buoyancy gradient reduces that component through the term . When , the result reduces to the most unstable, nearly horizontal-wavevector limit of part i.

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