Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 iii Paper 306 4 1 Solution 2026-09-28
Varying the gauge-fixed Polyakov action gives the bulk wave equation and the boundary termIt vanishes in each target direction either through the Neumann boundary conditionor through the Dirichlet boundary conditionwhich fixes the endpoint positions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 iii Paper 341 4 a Solution 2026-09-29
Let , where the centered second-difference matrix is real symmetric negative definite under homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions, and the centered first-difference matrix is real skew-symmetric. HenceThe semidiscrete energy method gives for every real , so the scheme is stable.
The flat four-dimensional retarded Green function isFor a Dirichlet boundary condition at , the method of images givesThe boundary-to-bulk kernel for is its inward boundary derivative. For a source at the spacetime origin,Multiplying by the Weyl factor gives the requested kernel for the original bulk field:It is causal and supported on the future bulk light cone of the boundary insertion. Its distributional boundary limit satisfies , while the source-free initial term vanishes for the CFT vacuum in this response calculation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ia Paper 3 11A ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Put . The common Dirichlet boundary condition gives on . Expanding the energy functional,Integration by parts and the field equation make the cross term zero:Consequently
For , equality holds exactly when . For , equality holds exactly when , so is constant on the connected region; its zero boundary value then again forces . The minimizing property therefore proves uniqueness for the Dirichlet problem in both cases:
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ib Paper 2 15B a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Inside the infinite square well, the time-independent Schrodinger equation has Dirichlet boundary conditions at and . Its normalized energy eigenstates and energy eigenvalues are
Let and use the clamped energy space , whose traces satisfy on . Two applications of integration by parts giveIf equality holds, then . The maximum principle for harmonic functions and the zero Dirichlet boundary condition imply . The biharmonic operator is therefore positive definite. The same identity and conclusion hold for the simply supported conditions ; either standard interpretation of the paper's phrase “zero boundary conditions” gives the result.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ii Paper 4 40C b ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Let be the spatial matrix, so the Forward Euler method isThe conservative use of shared edge coefficients makes a real symmetric matrix. In an interior row, put . Its diagonal entry is , and the sum of the absolute off-diagonal entries is . Boundary rows have no larger disk because homogeneous Dirichlet data remove some unknown neighbors.
The Gershgorin circle theorem and symmetry therefore place every eigenvalue of inIf , each amplification eigenvalue is . It lies in wheneverorSince the amplification matrix is symmetric, bounding all its eigenvalues in modulus by one bounds its discrete Euclidean operator norm by one. This proves the stated stability condition and is the Gershgorin stability bound for a variable-coefficient diffusion stencil.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 105 2 a Solution 2026-09-28
The zero-boundary Sobolev space isOn it defineIf this quadratic form vanishes, then . The Poincare inequality givesso . It is therefore an inner product, and its norm is equivalent to the usual norm.
A function is a weak solution whenThis follows from integration by parts and incorporates the homogeneous Dirichlet boundary condition through membership in .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 341 3 c Solution 2026-09-28
Extend a grid vector by zero to the Dirichlet boundary. Pairing contributions along undirected nearest-neighbour edges gives the discrete energy identitywhere includes edges from an interior node to a boundary node. This is the three-dimensional version of summation by parts for the seven-point Dirichlet Laplacian.
The right side is nonpositive. If it vanishes, every pair of neighbouring values agrees; connectivity of the grid and the zero boundary values then imply . Thus for every nonzero , so is negative definite. In particular, zero is not an eigenvalue, and therefore
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 341 4 a Solution 2026-09-28
Take the real inner product of the equation with . The homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions and integration by parts giveThus , and applying the same estimate to the difference of two solutions gives continuous dependence on the initial data. The constant-advection term is skew-symmetric under these boundary conditions and contributes no energy. Hence
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 105 1 d ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
For with homogeneous Dirichlet data at and , integration by parts shows that . Its homogeneous kernel isbecause vanishes at both endpoints exactly when .
The forcing obeys the orthogonality conditionThe Fredholm alternative for an elliptic Dirichlet problem therefore says that solutions exist, though they are not unique. Indeed,satisfies and both boundary conditions for every constant .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 202 6 c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Let and apply the Itô formula to for . The heat equation cancels the drift, so the stopped process is a bounded martingale. The optional sampling theorem for a supermartingale gives . On the three mutually exclusive terminal events, the initial and Dirichlet boundary conditions identify this value asThis is the probabilistic representation of the heat equation with time-dependent Dirichlet data.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 107 2 d Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Seek a radial function on the unit ball. The equation and regularity at the origin giveHence , and the zero Dirichlet boundary condition givesThe power is twice differentiable at the origin exactly when . Here , so at the origin exactly when . Under the assumption , this weak solution is never at the origin, exhibiting the regularity loss caused by degenerate ellipticity.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 306 1 a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Varying the Polyakov action with respect to the worldsheet metric givesIn conformal gauge, variation of gives the wave equationwhile the Virasoro constraints become and . The boundary variation is at each endpoint. It vanishes through a Neumann boundary condition , a Dirichlet boundary condition , or a direction-by-direction mixture of the two.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 105 2 b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Multiply the Poisson equation by and apply Green's first identity. The Dirichlet boundary condition makes the trace of vanish on , while the Neumann boundary condition makes the boundary flux vanish on . Thus the weak formulation is: find such thatwhere
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 105 2 c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
First choose a test function . The weak formulation and integration by parts giveThe fundamental lemma of the calculus of variations implies pointwise because and is continuous. The Dirichlet boundary condition on already follows from and continuity of .
For arbitrary , Green's first identity and the interior equation now reduce the weak identity toThe traces of smooth members of can be chosen freely on compact subsets of . Another application of the fundamental lemma of the calculus of variations, now on the boundary, gives pointwise on . Hence is a classical solution of the complete mixed boundary value problem.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 201 5 c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Apply part (b) to . Its zero boundary value givesThe assumptions say that for every and that uniformly. Thus the integrand converges pointwise to zero and is dominated by , whose expectation is finite by part (a). The dominated convergence theorem gives for every .
In a fixed-temperature convection problem, the boundary temperature is prescribed, and its perturbation satisfies a thermal Dirichlet boundary condition. A homogeneous condition means the boundary follows the prescribed conductive background temperature. This does not necessarily mean a vertical wall has a spatially constant temperature; that additional assumption can conflict with a background vertical gradient.
Piecewise-linear hat function Created 2026-09-28 Updated 2026-10-05
A piecewise-linear hat function is one at one mesh node, zero at all other nodes, and affine on each adjacent mesh interval. Interior hat functions form the standard nodal basis for continuous piecewise-linear finite elements with homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions.
For on with initial data and time-dependent Dirichlet boundary conditions , stop Brownian motion at its first hit of or . Applying Itô formula to yields