Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 333 4 b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Put and use amplitudes proportional to . Zonal momentum giveswhile incompressibility, buoyancy evolution, and hydrostatic balance giveHenceMeridional geostrophic balance requiressoDecay as , together with and , requires . ThereforeThe negative-frequency root makes the Gaussian exponent positive and the solution diverge away from the equator. The acceptable branch is the eastward Equatorial Kelvin wave.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 333 4 d Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Every forced propagating mode must have the imposed zonal frequencyFor , only the Equatorial Kelvin wave has the correct sign. Upward group velocity in the fluid selectsWith , its pressure field can be writtenHere , , and the complex vertical-velocity amplitude isThe lower boundary is matched only ifafter choosing the phase of to make the prescribed cosine amplitude real.
For , the upward-radiating Equatorial Rossby waves haveChoose each pair as in part c for this . The propagating sum isThe other fields follow mode by mode from part c and . Thus the boundary matching condition is
For , the space of upward-radiating wave profiles is only the one-dimensional Gaussian Kelvin profile, so a generic cannot be matched by propagating waves. Its Kelvin projection radiates upward; the remaining forcing produces a balanced, vertically evanescent response trapped near the lower boundary. This is the equatorial analogue of the fact that quasi-geostrophic Rossby waves have westward rather than eastward phase propagation.