Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2022/ii/paper-3/7e/solution

Taking the Laplace transform in and using the zero initial condition gives
The solution bounded as is
The transformed boundary condition is
so this is the sinusoidally forced heat equation on a half-line. Integrating in gives
Use the principal square root, with a branch cut along the negative real axis. The Bromwich contour is a vertical line to the right of and the branch point . For , close it in the left half-plane, indent around the cut, and let the large semicircle recede. The simple poles at contribute
Hence
On the upper and lower sides of the cut, put ; the two values of are and . Their jump and the opposite contour orientations combine to give
This is precisely Bromwich inversion with a square-root branch cut: the residues produce the permanent periodic response, while the cut integral is the transient that decays with time.

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