Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 333 4 c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
LetSolving zonal momentum and incompressibility for and in terms of givesSubstitution into meridional geostrophic balance cancels the terms involving and yields
SetThe equation becomesUsing the Hermite polynomial eigenvalues givesandThe associated pressure amplitude isFor , the denominator used to solve for and vanishes because . The inversion therefore assumed precisely the condition that excludes that degenerate case; it must be analyzed separately and is not a member of this Equatorial Rossby wave family.
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.