Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2024/ia/paper-3/9b/a/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 ia Paper 3 9B a Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Suppose solve the Dirichlet problem and put . Then in and on . The divergence theorem applied to gives Green's identityThus , so is constant; its zero boundary value makes it zero. The Dirichlet solution is therefore unique.
For homogeneous Neumann data the same calculation again shows that is constant, but the boundary condition does not determine that constant. Hence, whenever a Neumann solution exists, adding any constant produces another solution. This is the standard uniqueness of Poisson equation distinction.
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