Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2015/paper-2/5/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 5 b ii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-18
The result of part (i) vanishes identically on the open interval , so its first and second derivatives also vanish there. Substituting into the equation of motion immediately givesThus the force has no negative-time prehistory, consistent with the causal Green function of a damped oscillator. In fact, direct inversion or the positive-time substitution above identifies ; the given numerator corresponds to a negative exponential force with this Fourier convention. Here is the Heaviside step function; its value exactly at the jump does not affect the transform.
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