Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2014/paper-2/5/iii/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2014 Paper 2 5 iii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-18
The initial profile is , with the absolute value confirmed in the original PDF. Its Fourier transform isUsing in the regular cosine-sine form giveswith the quotient interpreted as when . Put . Inverting, or applying the D'Alembert formula to , whose initial velocity is , givesFor an explicit expression at , let and . The integral is for and for . ThereforeThe branches agree at . At zero time, the integral vanishes and the translated profiles coincide, recovering . Their time derivatives cancel, while the integral contributes , cancelling the derivative of the prefactor, so .
For the limiting answer is . The cusp in means the solution is understood as a weak solution, classically smooth away from the characteristic fronts ; it is not globally twice differentiable. No assumption that is positive is needed for this initial-value solution.
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