Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 6 1 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
For this force, , hence and . Invert the characteristic flow map: the initial velocity for an endpoint is , and the initial position is . Constancy along each characteristic curve givesThere is no amplitude factor here: this is scalar advection, not the conservative continuity equation for a compressible density.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 6 1 e Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Let along one characteristic curve. Differentiating the characteristic equation gives , , with . The Liouville formula for a fundamental matrix then gives the phase-space flow JacobianIndeed , since is independent of . Differentiation proves . If that divergence vanishes, gives and the flow preserves Lebesgue measure on phase space.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 6 2 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The damped free-transport evolution is . Substituting it into the Duhamel principle givesThe spatial shifts all follow the same backward characteristic curve ending at at time ; the velocity is constant.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 6 5 e Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
A local Maxwellian can be written as , with and coefficients depending on . Its logarithm is a linear combination of collision invariants, so and at each spatial point.
Comparing powers of in givesHere is the symmetric part of a matrix formed by the coefficients of the quadratic polynomial. For constants , choose , and . All four coefficient equations hold. The resulting expanding Gaussian solution of the Boltzmann equation isDirect verification is particularly simple: and are constant along free characteristic curves, so the transport derivative is zero. At fixed its logarithm is the displayed Maxwellian quadratic, so the collision term is also zero. Its spatial dependence is nonconstant, it is positive and rapidly decaying, and its Gaussian velocity integral is finite because . It is not a compactly supported example, nor does this final part require one.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 70 3 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For the negative-flux Inviscid Burgers equation, the method of characteristics givesThe characteristic curve starting at therefore has , and henceFor smooth data this describes a single-valued classical solution as long as the characteristic flow map is invertible. Its Jacobian is ; after characteristic crossing, one must instead select a weak solution with the appropriate entropy solution condition.
The conservation form is , with conservation law flux . Integrating this scalar conservation law across a moving discontinuity, or differentiating its Heaviside representation as a distribution, yields the Rankine-Hugoniot conditionFor distinct one-sided limits it simplifies toThis jump-speed relation is exact for the Burgers conservation law; an additional entropy condition is needed to distinguish a physical compressive shock wave from an expansion discontinuity.
The step gives the Burgers Riemann problem with negative flux. If , characteristic curves from the left have speed zero, while those from the right have speed : they converge. The entropy shock wave has speed and thusCharacteristics enter this shock from both sides, since .
If , the right-hand speed is positive and the two families separate. A smooth steep approximation to the initial step spreads into a rarefaction wave. In the fan, the self-similar characteristic curve relation is , givingThe endpoint values match continuously. The discontinuity moving at would satisfy the jump condition even for , but its characteristic curves leave the discontinuity and it fails entropy admissibility. For the solution is identically zero.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 5 4 b iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Fix and the Rankine-Hugoniot condition speed from the preceding part. The new hypothesis is a uniformly convex scalar flux, ; it replaces the globally bounded- hypothesis of part (a). Choose . Thensince a strictly convex function lies below the chord between its two endpoint values. Also andThe zeros at the endpoints are simple, so the separated integral diverges logarithmically there. Thus the travelling wave is a decreasing connection defined for all , unique up to translation.
To specify a limit, fix a number independently of and normalize . If and , uniqueness gives . ConsequentlyAt the normalized profile equals for every . This single-line value is immaterial to the weak solution. Convergence holds pointwise off the line and in by bounded convergence; it cannot be uniform across a nonzero jump. The transition has thickness of order .
This is the vanishing viscosity approximation to a compressive entropy shock. The Rankine-Hugoniot condition makes the step a weak solution of the inviscid scalar conservation law, while means characteristic curves enter the shock from both sides. For every smooth convex function used as an entropy, with entropy flux for a scalar conservation law , the viscous equation givesAgainst compactly supported tests the right side tends to zero, since stays in . Passing to the limit yields the entropy inequality, explaining the direction selected by positive viscosity.
A translation must be fixed to obtain this particular limit. An -dependent translate can converge to a shock at a different location, to a constant if its center escapes, or fail to converge if the centers oscillate. Thus existence of profiles alone does not specify a single vanishing-viscosity limit without a phase normalization.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 7 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The characteristic equations for a transport equation are and , so . For an initial point their solution isThis is the hyperbolic characteristic flow for an inverted oscillator. The addition formulas give and . In particular, the backward characteristic flow map from the point at time to time isAlong this characteristic curve, the chain rule changes the transport equation into . Integrating from zero to givesThe assumed regularity makes this a classical solution: on every compact set, the integrand and its needed derivatives are continuous, so differentiation under the finite-time integral is justified. At it has the required initial value, and the characteristic calculation verifies the equation. Conversely every classical solution must satisfy the same integrated identity, proving uniqueness. This is the Duhamel formula for Hamiltonian transport, with Hamiltonian .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 7 1 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Choose and . The initial Gaussian function is smooth and belongs to every finite Lp space, and is also bounded. The source is smooth and nonzero. The accumulated source along the backward characteristic curve isIts quadratic-form eigenvalues are and . Both are positive for , soConsequently for every and every finite ; it is unbounded, so its norm is infinite as well. This spatially nonintegrable forcing in transport example avoids any ambiguity about whether the last endpoint is included in “all ”.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 75 3 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Write the negative-flux Inviscid Burgers equation as , with . Along a characteristic curve,so a characteristic starting at has andThis formula is a classical solution only while the method of characteristics is one-to-one; after characteristic crossing one must select an entropy solution.
For a discontinuity with left and right values and , the Rankine-Hugoniot condition follows by integrating conservation across a moving small interval:For a nonzero jump, factor the difference of squares to obtainThe negative flux makes increasing jumps compressive. Decreasing jumps spread into rarefaction waves; they cannot be retained as nonphysical expansion shock waves.
In the central ramp of each period, , so its method of characteristics is . For , the retained ramp therefore occupies . At the odd boundary , the initial limiting values are on the left and on the right. Their characteristic speeds are and , giving the fan on . Together these give the periodic backward-sawtooth Burgers solutionThese intervals tile the real line up to their matching endpoints, where both formulas agree at . The increasing ramp steepens, but the wave's maximum magnitude remains one before breaking. A steep continuous regularization of the original downward jump produces exactly the limiting fan, as suggested by the characteristic construction.
At , each increasing ramp collapses at . The fans on either side meet there with values and , producing a compressive stationary shock wave. For all the fan between successive shock waves remains centered at the odd point, givingAt a shock wave the limiting values are and . Their average is zero, so the Rankine-Hugoniot condition keeps the shock wave fixed. Their characteristic speeds satisfy , confirming compression into the shock wave. The arbitrary pointwise value at a shock wave does not affect the weak solution. The post-breaking amplitude decays as , despite the lack of explicit viscosity, because shock wave dissipate the wave.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 78 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Saturation equation. Introduce intrinsic permeability of a porous medium and porosity . The relative porous permeabilities depend on the wetting fluid saturation. Define the phase mobilities and fractional flowUse the conventional capillary pressure , generally decreasing as wetting saturation increases. Neglect gravity in this horizontal model. The two Darcy fluxes are and . Eliminate the common pressure gradient using to obtainThe wetting-phase mass conservation law is consequentlyFor , and the capillary pressure provides nonlinear diffusion. The initially uniform saturation is . Pure wetting-fluid injection prescribes and ; in the zero-capillarity, zero-residual-nonwetting idealization this corresponds to inlet saturation one. With residual nonwetting fluid, replace one by the appropriate maximum accessible saturation.
Shock formation and its speed. Neglect capillarity first. Smooth saturation values travel along characteristic curves at speed . When the trailing values have larger characteristic speeds than the values ahead, the curves intersect, and the Buckley-Leverett equation requires a shock selected as an entropy solution. This is typical for the increasing-convex part of a physical fractional-flow curve; shocks are not inevitable for every possible .
Integrating mass conservation across a shock from upstream to downstream gives the Rankine-Hugoniot conditionIf an upstream rarefaction wave joins the shock smoothly in similarity coordinates, its terminal characteristic speed equals . Therefore the saturation at that join obeys the fractional-flow tangent constructionThis is the printed equality. It is a tangent-selection condition, not the dimensional speed by itself; the speed includes . An arbitrary shock between prescribed constant states satisfies the jump condition but need not satisfy this additional tangency relation.
Positive capillary diffusion spreads a jump into a transition layer. For a travelling profile , integration givesThe endpoint states still satisfy the same Rankine-Hugoniot condition. Thus small capillarity primarily gives the front a finite thickness rather than changing the selected limiting speed; vanishing phase mobility at an endpoint can make the regularization degenerate.
The specified reciprocal fractional flow. On its stated branch, and . If extends continuously to the initial saturation and the inlet is at one, the decreasing saturation from behind to ahead makes characteristic speeds increase forwards: there is a rarefaction wave, not a compressive shock. Write and . The self-similar solution isThe fan connects continuously to the initial state and broadens linearly in time. This interpretation requires . A nonnegative physical fractional flow on the entire interval also requires .
The PDF specifies the formula only for and earlier calls residual. If that means an immobile wetting phase with , the endpoint is an extra constraint and the continuous-branch answer applies without conflict only at . For , the printed branch would give negative fractional flow for , so it cannot be the complete physical constitutive law. With an additional admissible extension, for example up to and the given positive branch above it, a compound fan–shock is possible. The tangent condition then givesThe fan ends at , followed by a jump to . This is a conditional physical extension, not data supplied by the question. For an immobile residual endpoint is likewise incompatible with a continuous version of the stated branch. These distinctions identify what is, and is not, determined by the printed constitutive assumption.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 5 1 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The characteristic curves solve , hence . By the chain rule, . Pulling back along the characteristic flow map givesFor , this is a classical solution: and cancel in the transport equation, and at the initial condition holds. Conversely, constancy along every characteristic curve forces this formula.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 5 1 2 a Solution 2026-10-06
A characteristic curve has constant. Backtracking reaches the initial line if and the inflow boundary otherwise. HenceValues on the dividing characteristic curve are immaterial for bounded weak solutions.
For a classical solution on the closed quadrant, choose and impose the corner compatibility for constant-speed transportThese make the values and both first derivatives agree across ; each branch solves the transport equation. They are also necessary for a solution up to the initial and inflow boundaries.
Spatial regularity for every , up to , holds precisely for smooth data with all matching jets:Indeed the spatial derivatives of order at are and . Necessity of smooth follows at ; smoothness of on any finite interval follows by reading the boundary branch in a spatial slice at a larger time.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 5 1 3 b Solution 2026-10-06
The inverse function theorem applied to makes smooth. Since , . Monotonicity of the characteristic flow map and the vanishing of outside implyThus the solution is a smooth function with compact support at each such time. The fact that some interior characteristic speeds differ from causes no difficulty: they cannot cross the two exterior characteristic curves before .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 5 1 3 d Solution 2026-10-06
The tangent-line inequality for a differentiable concave function is . Taking and using the Hamilton-Jacobi equation yieldsAlong , the chain rule identifies the left side with . Integrating givesStrict concavity makes equality possible exactly when along the line, which will select the maximizing characteristic curve.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 5 1 3 e Solution 2026-10-06
Because is a decreasing bijection, its inverse exists and is continuous. For any , choose in the preceding inequality. The line from then reaches , giving .
Now let and . On this characteristic curve, , so the tangent-line inequality is an equality throughout. This proves attainment andIn fact the maximizing foot is unique. The concave Legendre dual can be written and satisfies : compare the minimizing values at and and use continuity of . This avoids assuming differentiability of , which strict concavity by itself does not guarantee. Differentiating the maximizing expression with respect to gives , hence and . The maximum representation for a concave conservation law therefore reproduces the characteristic solution of a scalar conservation law throughout the smooth lifespan.

