Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/paper-2/1/b/ii/solution

Set and write . Then
so the two first-derivative contributions cancel exactly, leaving
The Dirichlet spectrum of on this interval is , . If , the linear or hyperbolic solutions cannot satisfy both zero endpoints nontrivially, so no additional modes have been omitted. Thus
To verify normalization, use :
This proves weighted orthonormality and also transfers completeness from the ordinary Fourier sine series. The construction is the cubic-coordinate reduction of a singular Sturm-Liouville operator. The positive constant shifts the entire spectrum down; a zero eigenvalue occurs if , so the no-zero-eigenvalue proviso in part (a)(iii) must be imposed separately if that inverse formula is used here.

New to topics? Read the docs here!