Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2016/paper-2/17/b/vi/solution

Substitution of into the general solution gives
Thus for . Choosing this same formula everywhere gives the polynomial solution
It directly satisfies the differential equation and .
The boundary condition does not determine a unique solution on the entire plane. Every characteristic ellipse misses the data line . More generally, is arbitrary for , subject to matching the chosen regularity at and at the origin. The displayed polynomial is one global extension; it is forced on . A smooth function supported strictly inside may be added to without changing the boundary data.

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