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
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 by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
Let be the -periodic ramp represented by on . The Fourier series of a periodic sawtooth givesBoth 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 yieldsEquivalently, two-boundary annular harmonic interpolation expresses the same solution asEvery 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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