Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 47 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Take the difference of two solutions with the same body force, initial displacement and initial velocity. It satisfies the homogeneous linear elasticity equations. With the infinitesimal strain tensor, define the bulk energyThe usual stability assumptions make the elastic quadratic form nonnegative and . Multiplying momentum balance by , using integration by parts and using symmetry of the stress tensor givesAll interior terms cancel: the strain term is exactly the time derivative of elastic energy.
For the restoring boundary law, . The prescribed support displacement cancels in the difference. Since is a time-independent symmetric matrix,Hence the elastic energy uniqueness with restoring boundary springs identity isThe boundary contribution is nonnegative because is negative semidefinite. The initial difference and its velocity vanish, so the conserved energy is zero. Its kinetic term implies everywhere; the zero initial displacement then gives . This proves uniqueness without needing to exclude rigid displacements separately.
Physically, is a nonnegative boundary spring-stiffness matrix, and the prescribed vector is the moving support position. The traction restores the displacement towards that support; null directions of have no spring force. The interpretation and conserved-energy proof use a fixed spring matrix, as indicated by the given boundary law.
On the mixed part , write . The condition isThus the tangential traction and normal displacement are prescribed. The normal traction is a constraint reaction; tangential displacement is free. Only the tangential component of matters. On , the entire displacement is prescribed.
For the difference of two such solutions, and on . Consequently is tangential and normal, so . On , . The boundary power vanishes everywhere, giving . The same zero-initial-energy argument gives . Therefore the mixed boundary problem also has at most one solution.