Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 314 4 a Solution 2026-09-25
The given velocity is a homologous spherical flow,with the spatially uniform velocity divergenceEvery shocked fluid element therefore expands rather than undergoing continued compression, and the velocity fills the remnant smoothly instead of concentrating its mass in a thin cooling shell. In the absence of radiative losses, the entropy advection equation then makes each element follow an adiabatic process after its one entropy-producing passage through the shock. This broad expanding structure is the expected adiabatic phase of a supernova remnant.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 314 4 d Solution 2026-09-25
For the homologous spherical flow , the ideal magnetohydrodynamic induction equation and give the material derivativeLet and use the self-similar ansatzPart (b) gives , and thereforeThe radial induction equation becomes . The boundary value gives . The solenoidal vector field condition requireswhich also matches the tangential shock value in part (c). Hence the interior field is
Outside the shock, the uniform-field lines obey . Inside, the magnetic-field-line equation givessoA sketch therefore shows straight exterior lines refracting at the spherical shock into north-south symmetric curves that bow toward the equatorial interior before leaving through the opposite hemisphere. The field strength falls as toward the centre.