Rectangular pulse splitting under the wave equation
ID: rectangular-pulse-splitting-under-the-wave-equation
Rectangular pulse splitting under the wave equation by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-18
A rectangular initial displacement with zero initial velocity splits into two equal half-height copies moving in opposite directions. The D'Alembert formula reads . Overlap adds the heights; separated copies each retain the original width. For discontinuous fronts the formula defines a weak solution of the wave equation.
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