Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2024/iii/paper-345/2/c/ii/solution

If , each period contains two critical points satisfying , with supercritical intervals around the steepest parts. Internal-wave ray tracing sends neighbouring reflected rays towards caustics attached to those critical points; rays can reverse horizontal direction in the supercritical intervals and intersect rays reflected elsewhere on the sinusoid. At equality the inviscid reflected wavelength collapses locally. The physical pattern is therefore a set of intense finite-width beams and mixing regions once viscosity, scalar diffusion, and wave breaking regularize the ray caustics.

New to topics? Read the docs here!