Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 80 2 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For fixed real , consider initial data and a solution continuous into at time zero, with homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions for positive times. Existence, uniqueness and continuous dependence in this norm give Hadamard well-posedness.
To construct a solution, put . Substitution givesLet . The Fourier sine series solution isMultiplication by is bounded on . Completeness of the sine basis gives convergence to in at time zero, while the exponential decay gives smoothness for positive times and the required equation and boundary values. For a classical solution continuous up to the endpoints at time zero, the usual initial-boundary compatibility conditions are additionally required.
For the energy method, integration by parts givesBoth boundary terms vanish. The same identity applies to the difference of two solutions, proving uniqueness and continuous dependence. The Poincaré inequality further giveswith the identical estimate for differences of initial data. This Dirichlet convection-diffusion contraction holds for every real , and its energy constant is independent of the drift strength.