Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-short-options-paper-shared-by-prelims-and-parts-a-and-b-of-the-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2015/s7/1/2/solution

Write and assume . The derivative of the potential is . Its equilibrium positions are zero and for positive integers . At a nonzero equilibrium,
Thus the stable equilibria and their small-oscillation normal mode frequencies are
Even positive give unstable maxima. At zero the quadratic term vanishes but , so the equilibrium is still unstable; a zero linearized frequency does not prove stability. If the unspecified sign of were chosen negative, even- positions would be stable instead, together with a degenerate quartic minimum at zero whose frequency tends to zero with oscillation amplitude.
Figure 1.
Stable minima of the cosine-of-square potential and their small-oscillation frequencies
. Details.

New to topics? Read the docs here!