Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 88 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let , and . Convolving the source terms in the Lighthill acoustic analogy with the retarded acoustic Green function, and moving their spatial derivatives outside the integral, givesThe integrals have compact spatial support. For an acoustically compact source, its size satisfies , so the source-dependent retardation is negligible at leading order. Also take . Define and . In the radiation terms the spatial derivatives act on , with . Derivatives of produce smaller near-field terms. Thus the far-field acoustic force and stress moments giveUsing gives the equivalent powers of requested. The force term is an acoustic dipole; the Lighthill stress tensor produces an acoustic quadrupole.
For a small body in low-speed flow, put . A typical unsteady force has size and time scale , whereas . ThereforeThese are the acoustic dipole Mach-number scaling and compact acoustic quadrupole Mach-number scaling. Since and outgoing acoustic intensity is of order , their sound powers scale asThus an unsteady force on the body can produce the dominant low-Mach number sound. If the integrated force or its time derivative vanishes, that dipole contribution is absent. Force on the body and force on the fluid have opposite signs.