Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 82 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let the positive real material parameters depend on but not on time. Define the flux-normalized elastic characteristic amplitudes and logarithmic seismic impedance gradientWrite and . Then , , and direct substitution givesFor example, the first relation uses and ; the second uses . Adding and subtracting now provesThe original PDF has these two first-order equations. The TeX mistakenly combines them into ratios, which must not be used. A seismic impedance gradient couples forward and backward wave amplitudes even when the local wave speed is allowed to vary.