For , the squared dimensionless growth rates are . Exponential growth begins for . Since the gravitating lattice Fourier kernel is largest at , the full infinite lattice is exponentially unstable when . Marginal repeated imaginary roots and zero-frequency secular modes require separate treatment.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 321 3 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Set . For the discrete Fourier mode, the displacement difference in the th neighbor pair carries , andThus the infinite system reduces toThe gravitating lattice Fourier kernel is nonnegative, even and -periodic, with . The uniform convergence and absolute convergence of its differentiated series givesTo prove the maximum, it is not sufficient to maximize each cosine term separately: the even terms do not reach their individual maxima at . Instead use the convergent integral representation . Summing the geometric series for sines givesFor , the denominator is positive and , so . For , . The interchange is justified by . HenceTheir value iswhere is the Riemann zeta function. This maximizing Fourier mode alternates the signs of neighboring particle displacements.