Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2024/iii/paper-345/1/b/ii/solution

Set
where . Applying first-order perturbation of a simple eigenvalue to the flux Jacobian, or expanding its quadratic formula directly, separates the characteristic that changes total concentration from the characteristic that changes composition:
At , both species move with the common hindered velocity . Summing their conservation laws gives
so the total concentration is a nonlinear kinematic wave:
Taking the ratio instead gives the composition wave in a bidisperse suspension
and hence
These are the requested leading-order ordinary differential equations along the two characteristic families.

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