Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2007/paper-2/2/grounded-hemisphere/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2007 Paper 2 2 Grounded hemisphere Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-20
Reflect the source across the equatorial plane and subtract the two ball kernels. This gives the Dirichlet Green function inside a hemisphere . It is zero on the spherical boundary because each ball kernel is zero there, and on the plane because reflection makes their values equal.
For a point charge , Poisson's equation in SI units is , so . Writing for the reflected inverse point givesThe construction uses the real charge, its negative reflected image, a negative inversion image of magnitude , and its positive reflected image. Reflection and inversion commute. All three images lie outside the open upper half-ball, and the prescribed zero boundary values determine the electrostatic potential uniquely.
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