Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-perturbation-methods-and-applied-complex-variables-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2010/a/3/iii/solution

Write . The modulation equation gives and . Matching the leading initial conditions gives , . Therefore
The leading amplitude remains two and has no slow growth or decay. The frequency changes from one to ; expanding this shifted cosine recovers the second-order secular term from part (i).
There are bounded first-order waveform changes as well. If they are retained while matching , one may write , where . Thus the first harmonic's coefficient is , with a mean shift and a second harmonic. These bounded shape corrections are distinct from the constant leading amplitude in the zeroth-order multiple-scales solution.

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