Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2008/paper-2/14/a/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2008 Paper 2 14 a Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
Put and . For , differentiation gives and therefore . The Korteweg-De Vries equation reduces toSince is nonconstant, both coefficients must vanish. Thus the nonzero solitary wave isThere is also the trivial solution , for which has no effect. The negative amplitude follows from the minus sign of the nonlinear term; it agrees with the sech-squared solitary wave of the KdV equation.
A negative solitary wave translates to the right without changing its profile
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