Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2024/paper-2/3/a/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2024 Paper 2 3 a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-18
A fundamental solution of the Laplace equation satisfies in the sense of distributions, without a boundary condition. Choose it rotationally symmetric about the source. Away from the source, with , the radial Laplace equation is , giving .
Integrating over a small disc around the source and using the divergence theorem fixes the normalization:ThereforeThe additive constant is arbitrary; adding other entire harmonic functions is also possible if rotational symmetry is not imposed. The positive sign here follows from the convention .
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