Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2020/paper-1/2/b/ii/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2020 Paper 1 2 b ii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-18
The far field is proportional to , since . After matching the growing terms, write the exterior solution asAn added constant has here been excluded by interpreting the far-field condition as . Differentiate and impose the radial Neumann boundary condition:The Orthogonality of Legendre polynomials makes each coefficient vanish separately. Thus for , and . ConsequentlyIndeed , which vanishes at the boundary, while the correction decays at infinity. If the far-field condition is intended to specify only the leading growing term, an arbitrary additive constant is also allowed; its gradient has no effect on the Neumann boundary condition.
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