Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2024/iii/paper-309/1/b/iv/solution

Now , so every mass is again at rest after the pulse and . Put . The final transverse coordinates are
The unit vectors along and are eigenvectors with eigenvalues and , respectively. Consequently an initial circle becomes, to first order, an ellipse compressed along the line and stretched along . This persistent deformation is displacement memory.

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