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Let $p(D)$ be a constant-coefficient differential operator, $D=d/dt$, with distinct characteristic roots ${\lambda }_j$ having nonzero real parts. The solution of $p(D)K=\delta$ decaying at both temporal infinities iswhere $H$ is the Heaviside step function. This follows by partial fraction decomposition of $1/p(z)$ and the first-order kernels $e^{\lambda t}H(t)$ for $\mathrm{Re}\lambda <0$, or $-e^{\lambda t}H(-t)$ for $\mathrm{Re}\lambda >0$. Both first-order kernels jump by one and solve $(D-\lambda )K_{\lambda }=\delta$ as distributions.

For example, $p(D)=(D+1)(D-2)(D+2)$ givesIt is continuous together with its first derivative; its second derivative jumps by one, as required by the jump conditions for a third-order Green function. A solution of $p(D)y=f$ is the convolution $K\ast f$ when it exists. If positive-real-part roots occur, decay at both ends generally requires a nonzero negative-time branch: this is the distinction captured by causality versus stability of a Green function. A causal kernel would retain growing positive-time terms and need not have a real-axis Fourier transform.

Factor the cubic denominator as $(\omega -i)({\omega }^2+4)$. Substitution givesThere is a double pole at $i$ and simple poles at $2i,-2i$. For $t>0$, close the inverse-transform contour counterclockwise in the upper half-plane. The residue at the double pole isand the residue at $2i$ is $-i{e}^{-2t}/2$. Multiplication by $i$ from the residue theorem therefore gives $y(t)=(t/3-5/9)e^{-t}+e^{-2t}/2$.

For $t<0$, the clockwise lower closure encloses only $-2i$, with residue $-i{e}^{2t}/18$. The orientation supplies $-i$, giving $y(t)=-e^{2t}/18$. Hence the continuous solution isThe large inverse-transform arcs vanish: the rational factor is $O({\omega }^{-3})$, while the exponential is bounded on the appropriate closure.

The graph tends to zero from below as $t\to -\infty$, passes through $y(0)=-1/18$ with slope $-1/9$, reaches a small negative minimum after zero, then crosses the axis, reaches a positive maximum and tends to zero from above. The positive-time stationary points solve $8/9-t/3=e^{-t}$, and the crossing solves $t/3-5/9+e^{-t}/2=0$; these equations determine the sketch without guessing signs.

For a distributional check, $y$ and $y^{\prime }$ are continuous, while $y^{\prime \prime }(0^{+})-y^{\prime \prime }(0^{-})=1$. The jump conditions for a third-order Green function therefore produce the delta in $f^{\prime }=\delta -e^{-t}H(t)$, and each smooth branch satisfies the remaining equation. The nonzero solution for $t<0$ is consistent with the stipulated decay at both temporal infinities. Those are two-sided conditions, not a causality assumption: this is the setting of a decaying two-sided Green function of a constant-coefficient ordinary differential equation and causality versus stability of a Green function.

A retarded Green function obeys $G(\tau )=0$ for $\tau <0$ andFor a bounded or suitably tempered response represented by the real-axis Fourier integral, analyticity in the upper frequency half-plane is required, with suitable behaviour at infinity. For negative $\tau$, $e^{-i\omega \tau }$ decays on a large upper semicircle. If that half-plane has no singularities, contour closure gives zero response before the source. Lower-half-plane poles give factors decaying for positive time. Real poles are approached from below for a retarded prescription; at $\epsilon =0$, for example, $G_R(\tau )=\Theta (\tau )\sin \tau$.

The causality versus stability of a Green function distinction matters: an unstable initial-value problem can still have a strictly causal response that grows exponentially. Such a response has no ordinary real-axis Fourier transform. Its inverse Laplace transform must run on a frequency contour above its growth poles. Thus “upper poles violate causality” is correct only with the stable/tempered real-axis Fourier assumptions, not as an unconditional theorem about differential equations.