Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/paper-1/3/a/solution

For each source point , construct the Green function from homogeneous solutions on either side:
The endpoint conditions are then automatic. The equation requires continuity of and a unit jump in its first derivative: a discontinuity in would introduce an unwanted delta derivative, while integrating across the source fixes . Thus
Solving this two-by-two system, with the Wronskian , gives
This derivation also remains valid if one of the solution values at the matching point vanishes: only the Wronskian must be nonzero. For a regular nonsingular two-point problem it supplies the inverse kernel; at a singular endpoint, uniqueness requires separate checking, as part (d) illustrates.

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