Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2013/paper-1/2/iv/solution

Let be the even Fourier coefficient of the initial displacement, with the normalization . Writing gives
Zero initial velocity requires the real modal time factor
One consistent choice in the question's complex representation is therefore
For real , ; the real-part notation otherwise makes the complex coefficients nonunique. For imaginary , the same formula is interpreted using hyperbolic functions. Its limit at is .
For at fixed mode number,
which can be substituted into above. The profile specified at is actually nonzero at . Thus for finite it cannot be the initial data of a solution continuous at the initial endpoint corners with fixed endpoints. The Fourier series reproduces it in the open interval, with zero endpoint values; it is an L2 space initial-data interpretation. The assumption makes this compatibility error exponentially small, rather than exactly zero.

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