 Removing a variable scalar reaction rate by an integrating factor

For $u_t=u_{xx}-a(t)u$, the displayed substitution converts the equation exactly into the heat equation $v_t=v_{xx}$. The scalar prefactor preserves homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions. Consequently each spatial eigenfunction $X_n$ with $X_n^{\prime \prime }=-{\lambda }_n{X}_n$ acquires temporal factor $\exp [-{\lambda }_{n}t-{\int }_0^{t}a(s)ds]$. The same algebra works with an evolution variable named $y$; calling that variable spatial does not alter the separation of variables. For $a(t)=1+\sin t$, the prefactor normalized to one at zero is $e^{-t+\cos t-1}$.