Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 ii Paper 2 41A b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
WriteProjecting the equation onto modes gives the Fourier-Galerkin matrix for a drift-diffusion equationwhere for .
For , only
are nonzero. HenceThe column belonging to the constant mode is zero, soRemove that zero mode. In every remaining row , the sum of the magnitudes of the off-diagonal entries is at most ; for , the would-be coupling to the removed zero mode vanishes. The diagonal entry is . Gershgorin's theorem therefore places every eigenvalue of the nonconstant block inTogether with the zero eigenvalue, all eigenvalues of have nonpositive real part.
are nonzero. HenceThe column belonging to the constant mode is zero, soRemove that zero mode. In every remaining row , the sum of the magnitudes of the off-diagonal entries is at most ; for , the would-be coupling to the removed zero mode vanishes. The diagonal entry is . Gershgorin's theorem therefore places every eigenvalue of the nonconstant block inTogether with the zero eigenvalue, all eigenvalues of have nonpositive real part.