Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2016/paper-2/3/b/ii/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2016 Paper 2 3 b ii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-18
Translation and rotation invariance allow a radial Green function , with . Outside the source, , so . Decay at infinity gives .
Integrate the defining equation over a small ball centred on the source. The divergence theorem fixes its flux:ConsequentlyThis is the Green function of the Laplacian with the stated negative-delta sign. A homogeneous addition would change the delta normalization, so the singular coefficient is fixed, not an arbitrary integration constant.
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