Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 70 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Reflection symmetry gives . In a vertically stable thin disk, expand the vertical force as , where is the vertical epicyclic frequency squared. For local hydrostatic equilibrium and height-independent isothermal sound speed, andThus with . Integrating the pressure and mass density through the disk gives the vertically integrated pressure of an isothermal disk:The force expansion is approximate in , while is exact for a height-independent sound speed.
In a nearly Keplerian disk, the vertical oscillation and radial epicyclic motion frequencies are close to the orbital frequency. The exact leading orbital differences are and , soThus is the nodal precession rate of a slightly tilted orbit, and is the apsidal precession rate of a slightly eccentric orbit. Their signs distinguish prograde from retrograde precession. This also agrees with the sign convention in the complex tilt: a freely precessing ring obeys .
For exactly Keplerian motion, , so and . In the local approximation, freeze the slowly varying coefficients and take . The inviscid warp equations of a nearly Keplerian disk becomeEliminating gives . HenceThese are bending waves of a Keplerian disk, carrying changes in orbital tilt. The local approximation needs wavelength small compared with ; the secular thin-disk warp equations also describe the long-vertical-wavelength regime .
For a nonspinning hole, gives . A steady disk warp then satisfies . The zero inner torque forces throughout, and the second warp equation, with positive , forces . The outer orientation fixes everywhere. An apsidal precession term by itself therefore does not require a tilt warp.
For nonzero spin, set the time derivatives to zero. The two equations giveEliminating the internal torque yieldsUse , , , and . The first coefficient becomes and the second becomes . ThereforeThis is the stationary disk warp equation under the stated weak-precession approximations. The inner condition is when its coefficient is finite and nonzero, because .
Let , so , and impose , . Converting both radial derivatives carefully to and dividing out the common positive factor givesor . For , introduceSince is proportional to , the first-derivative term cancels exactly, leaving . Thus .
The outer boundary is , giving . The specified inner-radius relation is exactly . The inner zero-torque condition then gives . Hence the stationary bending warp of a Kerr disk isThe tilt magnitude is . Far out it tends to the imposed tilt. Moving inward, it decreases to zero atthen grows again with opposite signed tilt, reaching . All tilt vectors lie on the same line in the complex plane. Their azimuth is outside the node and differs by inside; azimuth is undefined at the aligned node itself. The tilt vector remains smooth there. Thus this is an oscillatory standing bending warp, with equal outer and inner tilt magnitudes and reversed inner orientation, rather than monotone inner alignment.
The prescribed real inner radius assumes : for , its square root is not real, so that particular boundary prescription does not apply. With a separately chosen positive inner radius and negative spin, put . The equation becomes , and the same outer tilt and zero inner torque giveThis negative-spin solution decreases smoothly toward the inner disk without a sign reversal. The specified positive-spin solution is the cosine profile above; the case is the flat solution already derived.
Stationary bending warp of a Kerr disk 2026-10-14
For , , constant disk aspect ratio , and , the inviscid steady disk warp equation reduces to in the displayed coordinate. The vanishing inner torque gives ; the outer tilt gives . The displayed solution holds when . If , it is , with an aligned node at and opposite signed inner tilt. For negative spin the corresponding equation is hyperbolic, giving with .