Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2008/paper-2/2/solution

Let be the -periodic ramp represented by on . The Fourier series of a periodic sawtooth gives
Both boundary data are multiples of this odd function, so their angular means and cosine coefficients vanish. Consequently . Put . Matching the sine coefficients at the two radii gives and . Solving this two-by-two linear system yields
Equivalently, two-boundary annular harmonic interpolation expresses the same solution as
Every term is a harmonic function, and the radial factors enforce the specified boundary values. For a radius strictly between and , their geometric decay makes the series smooth. At the boundary discontinuity , the limiting Fourier value is the mean of the two one-sided values, zero. The boundary data are imposed away from that exceptional point, as stated.

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