Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2015/paper-2/1/b/ii/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2015 Paper 2 1 b ii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-18
Let for . The chain rule givesSubstitution cancels the first-derivative terms and leaves . The endpoint conditions become . For , the first condition selects , and the second requires . Thus a nonzero solution requires an integer . The case gives and both conditions force it to vanish. Negative integers give the same eigenvalues and eigenfunctions up to sign, so take .
For vector normalization, use :Choosing a positive real normalization constant givesHere is the Chebyshev polynomial of the second kind. The factors make both endpoint values zero. The derivatives need not stay finite there; instead has finite endpoint limits, ensuring that the relevant boundary form vanishes.
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