Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2024/paper-1/3/ii/solution

For the zero-data initial value problem, choose a causal Green function satisfying and for . Continuity at prevents a derivative of the Dirac delta distribution, while integration across the source gives
For , part (i) gives the shifted homogeneous solutions. The zero value at the join removes the cosine term, and the unit derivative jump fixes the sine coefficient. Therefore the causal Green function of a damped oscillator is
Equivalently, multiply the first expression by the Heaviside step function . The required solution is
Its initial value and first derivative vanish: the interval has zero length at and the kernel vanishes at its upper limit. Differentiating twice shows that the upper-limit contribution to is precisely , while the remaining homogeneous kernel terms cancel in .

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