Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 ii Paper 3 39D b ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
The boundary condition gives complex amplitude . Substitution of the internal gravity wave forminto the internal-wave equation givesSince ,For , choose the sign of that gives upward energy propagation; with , this is .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 ii Paper 4 31C a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
The coefficient changes sign where , so the single turning point isPut and . The WKB approximation satisfying the boundary condition at iswhile decay at infinity selects
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 ia Paper 2 6C a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 ib Paper 1 13B b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
The separated axisymmetric solution isSince , regularity at the origin and the boundary condition give
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 ii Paper 1 40A c i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Choose membrane displacement positive into the fluid. The linear boundary conditions at areA wave localized near the membrane has complex formThe wave equation requiresso localization requires . If , the kinematic condition and giveEliminating yieldsOn squaring and writing , we obtain
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 332 1 b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Conservation of energy and Fourier's law giveAt steady state is constant. Since ,The two temperature boundary conditions therefore giveAt the basal phase boundary, the Stefan condition isThe first term removes latent heat released by freezing, while the oceanic flux supplies heat to the interface. A steady shell has , hence andHere must simultaneously satisfy the surface balance from part a with .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 332 1 d Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Treat the warm ice shell as a very viscous layer and estimate its Rayleigh numberThe temperature-dependent ice viscosity should be evaluated carefully, because deformation is concentrated near the warm base; a useful first estimate uses a representative basal or depth-averaged viscosity. The onset time is obtained by inserting and into this expression and finding when first exceeds the critical value for the shell's mechanical boundary conditions, usually of order .
Above onset, mantle convection within the ice transports heat more efficiently than thermal conduction, increases the basal heat loss for a given thickness, and generally limits further thickening. For otherwise similar bodies, a larger planetary radius normally gives larger gravitational acceleration and hence a larger Rayleigh number. Convection is therefore more likely and begins in a thinner or younger shell, although changes in pressure-dependent melting temperature, shell thickness, and viscosity can alter that comparison.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 332 2 b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
The diffusion length suggests the similarity variableThe Neumann solution of the Stefan problem, written using the error function, isThese expressions satisfy all four thermal boundary conditions. At the interface,Since and , the Stefan condition becomesThe second term represents heat supplied from the warm water and therefore reduces the freezing rate.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 ii Paper 2 36E d Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
The correction is odd, obeys the well boundary conditions, and is linear in the field, exactly the parity and order of the first-order wavefunction correction.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 ii Paper 4 14C a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 ii Paper 4 14C b i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Potential-vorticity inversion Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
Potential-vorticity inversion recovers the balanced quasi-geostrophic streamfunction from interior potential vorticity and suitable boundary buoyancy or pressure data by solving an elliptic boundary-value problem. Boundary anomalies can drive nonzero flow even when the interior potential-vorticity anomaly is zero. Boundary conditions and any pressure gauge or compatibility condition are essential to uniqueness.
Residual Lorenz gauge symmetry 2026-10-06
An Abelian gauge transformation changes by . Consequently gauge fixing by a quadratic function of retains transformations satisfying , subject to the same boundary conditions. Eliminating those residual transformations is part of specifying an inverse with a particular Green function prescription.
Rotating Rayleigh-Bénard convection 2026-10-06
A thermally driven fluid layer rotating about the vertical axis experiences a Coriolis force that couples vertical velocity to vertical vorticity. Its onset depends on the Rayleigh number, Prandtl number and Taylor number, as well as thermal and mechanical boundary conditions. The force does no mechanical work, but changes the linear mode balance and nonlinear convection roll competition.
Stress-energy tensor improvement 2026-10-07
Adding with to a stress-energy tensor preserves its divergence identically, since commuting partial derivatives annihilates the antisymmetric pair. The total four-momentum changes only by a spatial boundary term. Improvements can make local densities symmetric or gauge-invariant; equality of integrated charges requires the chosen boundary conditions. Equation-of-motion terms can also relate representatives on shell.
Transplantation theorem 2026-10-06
For two assemblies of congruent Euclidean tiles, let encode the gluing or boundary reflection at each labelled face. An invertible constant matrix satisfying carries tile restrictions of Laplacian eigenfunctions bijectively to those on the second assembly. Boundary values satisfy and outward normal derivatives satisfy , so the intertwining identities preserve matching and boundary conditions. Use diagonal for a Dirichlet boundary condition and for a Neumann boundary condition.
Variation Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Variational symmetry of a Lagrangian density 2026-10-05
A differentiable infinitesimal transformation is a variational symmetry when its change of the Lagrangian density is a divergence, . Under suitable boundary conditions the action is invariant, so exact pointwise invariance is unnecessary. The off-shell variation identity gives the Noether current for a first-derivative scalar field. This definition is for a constant transformation parameter; a spacetime-dependent parameter is a different, gauge-symmetry problem.