Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 68 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
For two Stokes flows and of the same dynamic viscosity in the same region, with no volume force, the Lorentz reciprocal theorem statesIndeed, the divergence of their cross-work difference isThe pressure terms vanish by incompressible flow, and the derivatives of the Cauchy stress tensors vanish by the Stokes equation. The divergence theorem proves the result.
Use the convention that are the force and torque exerted by the body on the fluid. By Linearity of Stokes flow, . Applying the Lorentz reciprocal theorem to two independent rigid motions gives , so the hydrodynamic resistance matrix is a symmetric matrix. The boundary-power identity givesThis is strictly positive for nonzero rigid motion: equality would imply , hence a rigid motion throughout the connected fluid, which must vanish since the fluid is at rest at infinity. The no-slip boundary condition would then force . Therefore is a positive-definite matrix. Reversing to the fluid-on-body force changes the sign of the force law, not the positive resistance coefficients.
For the two rods, take the torque about and use body axes. On the -rod, , , and its slender-body force density isOn the -rod it isIntegrate and along both rods, using , and . A convenient dimensionally uniform statement of the complete right-angle two-rod resistance matrix isIn physical coordinates this means translation–translation entries scale as , the two translation–rotation blocks as , and rotation–rotation entries as . The planar block has inverseThis verifies the printed hydrodynamic mobility matrix with its third velocity component ; the TeX aid's is an OCR error.
Take laboratory vertical velocity positive upwards. The body axes are and . In quasistatic sedimentation the force and torque exerted on the fluid equal the gravitational resultants on the body:The out-of-plane block is unforced, so its positive hydrodynamic resistance matrix gives . Substitution in the planar hydrodynamic mobility matrix givesandFor , this ordinary differential equation has positive right side on , with a stable zero at . Uniqueness prevents crossing that equilibrium in finite time. For the initial angular velocity is negative, and the stable equilibrium reached from zero is . The heavier-end body turns clockwise through ; it does not settle at . More explicitly, with ,where the continuous branch has . At , remains zero.
Transforming the translational velocity back to laboratory axes givesFor , eliminate time between and the angular velocity:At either limiting orientation . Thus both cases have the same net horizontal displacement,For the drift is monotonically rightwards. For it first moves left, reaching at , then reverses. The total horizontal path length in this second case is , whereas its net displacement is rightwards. At it falls vertically without rotation or drift; taking the infinite-time limit before is consequently singular.
For the requested sedimentation drift of a weighted two-rod body sketch, a full parametric trajectory follows by also integrating . Put and set the initial height to zero:It tends to in either case while tends to . At both rods end pointing upwards from symmetrically; at they end pointing downwards symmetrically. The asymptotic downward speed is .
Falling two-rod bodies: trajectory of O and successive orientations for lighter and heavier end masses
. Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 68 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
For the motionless uniform layer, the heat equation reduces to . The lower temperature and upper heat-transfer condition determine the quasistatic temperature of a conductively cooled film:When , . For a varying film let its vertical velocity scale as , as required by incompressible flow. Relative to vertical thermal diffusion, horizontal thermal diffusion is smaller by , and either horizontal or vertical thermal advection is smaller by . Time variation on the film's transport timescale has the same small factor. Thus the leading heat equation is again at each when both specified dimensionless parameters are small. This argument retains the small assumption. If thickness were externally varied on a faster timescale , one would additionally need ; the spatial conditions alone do not control arbitrary rapid time dependence.
Define . The surface tension at the surface is , so the Marangoni stress is . With capillary pressure to leading order, horizontal Stokes flow in the film solves , , . HenceThe continuity equation gives the thermocapillary thin-film equationTo justify using constant surface tension in the capillary pressure, compare the two volume fluxes on horizontal scale : their magnitudes are and . When both mechanisms are retained at leading order, their balance gives . Thus replacing by in the curvature term incurs only a relative small correction. Equivalently, small ensures this if is bounded; if it were parametrically large, the extra small surface-tension-variation condition would have to be imposed separately.
The capillary pressure is higher beneath a crest than beneath a trough, so pressure-driven volume flux drains the crest and smooths thickness. The Marangoni effect acts oppositely: a thicker region has a colder surface and therefore larger surface tension. Surface velocity is pulled towards that region, supplying more liquid and amplifying the thickness variation. The arrows below represent these two mechanisms separately.
Capillary pressure drains film crests whereas cooling-induced Marangoni stress draws liquid towards them
. Put and . Substitution of , , gives coefficients and . Making both equal to one yieldsIn these scales the fractional surface tension change is , making the previous approximation explicit.
The linear stability analysis about gives . For a normal mode ,Long waves with grow, decay, and are neutral. The neutral mode changes the mean film thickness. The dispersion relation is even in , with its two maxima at .
For a steady positive film with zero volume flux, divide by and integrate to obtain . Choosing as specified fixes . Multiplication by and another integration then give the zero-flux thermocapillary film profiles first integralFor , and : the unique minimum is , while and . This potential energy interpretation classifies the profiles without assuming a sinusoidal shape at finite amplitude.
For , the only profile is the uniform film . For , there are two positive turning heights and a smooth periodic film oscillates between them. Its period isFor , the maximum is and the lower endpoint is zero. A drop reaches zero thickness in finite distance, with zero limiting slope but unbounded curvature since . Its half-width isThus the formal limiting profile consists of drops of peak height and footprint width , with zero limiting contact angle. Identical drops can touch, or a zero-thickness region can separate them in the degenerate zero-flux model. These are limiting wet-region solutions, not everywhere positive twice differentiable films; the singular contact region is not resolved by lubrication theory. A useful parametric drop profile isFinally let with small positive . Writing gives and . The small-amplitude steady profile is , with period tending to . Its wavenumber tends to the neutral boundary of the unstable band, not to the fastest-growing wavenumber.
Thermocapillary-film dispersion relation, energy potential and periodic or dry-contact steady profiles
. Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 60 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Let be the rate-of-strain tensor of an incompressible flow, and let be the supremum over the conductor of its largest eigenvalue. State Backus' necessary condition for dynamo action with its magnetic boundary conditions: an isolated bounded conductor of uniform positive magnetic diffusivity , surrounded by an electrical insulator with a decaying potential exterior field, and no imposed magnetic field or boundary energy input. For definiteness take a no-slip boundary condition on the fluid, which eliminates the stretching surface term. If the conductor lies within a sphere of radius and , a necessary condition for a nondecaying dynamo isThe constant is the free-decay spectral bound for an insulating exterior, not a universal constant for every magnetic boundary condition. The condition is necessary, not sufficient, and involves maximum stretching rather than an rms velocity.
To see both the condition and the growth-rate bound, include exterior magnetic energy:This follows from the resistive induction equation and integration by parts, with the stated boundary assumptions. The magnetic free-decay spectral bound is . For a sphere its lowest mode is the dipolar poloidal free-decay mode; enclosing a smaller conductor gives the same valid lower bound. Since , we obtainIntegrating this differential inequality gives decay whenever . More generally the exponential rate of the field norm, rather than of its squared energy, satisfiesSimply discarding the nonnegative resistive dissipation already proves the requested maximum-strain bound. The energy exponent is twice the field-amplitude exponent.
For the alpha-Omega dynamo model, write , , and . Direct differentiation givesFor , use the weighted energy estimate for two coupled modes and form the positive weighted norm . The inequality givesFor each fixed and model parameters, this norm is equivalent to the amplitude norm; its square-root exponential rate is therefore bounded by , uniformly over all admissible . Maximizing over givesThe exponent is also achievable in order of magnitude. Choose the admissible constant . The growing eigenvalue of the two-component system has real part . Its maximum occurs at and equals . Thus the bounded-modulation alpha-Omega growth estimate has the scalingThis means the maximum over allowed modulations and wavenumbers, not that every bounded modulation grows; supplies no regenerating alpha coupling.
The Omega effect rapidly makes toroidal field from poloidal field, but exponential dynamo action also requires the slower alpha effect to regenerate the poloidal component. The coupled amplification rate is of order rather than ; shortening the wavelength to increase it also increases magnetic diffusion as . Their optimal balance gives and growth . The Backus' necessary condition for dynamo action estimate controls stretching alone and does not incorporate this regeneration bottleneck. A shear without regeneration can give transient amplification but not this sustained exponential feedback.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 74 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use the inviscid, nonrotating Boussinesq approximation, with a stable background mass density and reference density . Write for the perturbation buoyancy and for the kinematic pressure. The buoyancy frequency is . Dropping products of perturbations in the Boussinesq equations gives the Linearized Boussinesq equationsThe last equation expresses incompressible flow; the second follows by advecting the background mass density gradient. Neglecting rotation and viscosity is part of this internal gravity wave model.
For a plane internal gravity wave proportional to , put and . Eliminating the horizontal velocity, pressure and buoyancy from the linear equations givesFor example, the horizontal momentum and continuity equations give ; substituting into vertical momentum yields the displayed dispersion relation. Thus an IGW has in this model.
On the positive-frequency branch, the phase velocity normal to a constant-phase plane and the group velocity areConsequently , and phase and group velocity are perpendicular. Equivalently, the dispersion relation is homogeneous of degree zero in the wave vector, so differentiating with respect to its scale proves the same orthogonality. Energy travels with the group velocity, along the phase planes. At the degenerate limit , and the group velocity vanishes; the orthogonality statement then has this limiting interpretation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ib Paper 1 17C c i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Write the conservative body force per unit mass as . For a fluid of constant density , the Euler equations for an inviscid fluid and the incompressible flow condition areUsing part (a), these becomeFor irrotational flow, locally choose a velocity potential with . Then , so the unsteady Bernoulli integral isThe constant is spatially uniform on a connected region where the velocity potential is defined; its time dependence can be absorbed into the additive time-dependent gauge of . A global single-valued velocity potential requires an appropriate topological condition, such as a simply connected domain; without it, the integral is locally valid. In a connected steady irrotational region, directly gives one spatial Bernoulli constant even without choosing a global potential.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ib Paper 3 18C a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Use the standard ideal-fluid assumptions of incompressible flow, inviscid flow, gravity , and no surface tension. Irrotational flow gives in each layer, and incompressibility gives Laplace equationThe rigid-wall boundary conditions are at and at . At the moving interface, each fluid has the same normal velocity as the interface:The dynamic condition is continuity of pressure, at . Bernoulli equation in each fluid reads . Choosing the potential gauges to subtract a common reference pressure, the interface condition becomesTangential velocities need not agree across an inviscid interface.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ib Paper 4 18C a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 318 1 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use the fully developed flow branch of Hartmann flow. Translation invariance along the walls makes the velocity and induced magnetic field functions of alone. Incompressible flow and zero normal velocity at the walls give and hence . The zero divergence of the magnetic field makes constant, equal to the imposed . There is no forcing in ; the homogeneous -components obey the same coupled viscous-resistive equations as the -components, with zero boundary data. Multiplying them by and , integrating by parts and adding givesThus , establishing the asserted forms on this fully developed flow branch. This is a symmetry reduction of the steady channel model, rather than a claim that every possible flow in a channel is translation invariant.
The current density and Lorentz force density areThe advective acceleration vanishes because acts on fields independent of . The -component of the magnetohydrodynamic momentum equation therefore givesThe -component must also balance: it requires . Hence a compatible pressure is ; the specified streamwise pressure gradient does not require the ordinary pressure to be uniform in . This accounts for the magnetic pressure of the induced field.
The resistive induction equation with constant magnetic diffusivity gives . Since , its curl has -component . Steadiness consequently givesFinally the no-slip boundary condition gives , and the normal magnetic field boundary condition gives . The coupled equations and all wall conditions follow directly from momentum balance and magnetic induction.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 329 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Let be the rate-of-strain tensor and the Newtonian fluid stress tensor. The viscous dissipation is . The Minimum-dissipation theorem for Stokes flow compares the Stokes flow with every sufficiently regular incompressible flow in the same domain having the same prescribed boundary velocity, with no body force or with a conservative body force absorbed into the fluid pressure. A trial field need not satisfy the Stokes flow equations. Write it as , with and on the boundary. Integration by parts, the symmetry of the Newtonian fluid stress tensor, and giveConsequently the Stokes flow minimizes dissipation:Equality requires a rigid body motion of , which the prescribed boundary eliminates. Extending the flow inside the inserted particle as its rigid body velocity produces an admissible comparison field with zero internal rate-of-strain tensor; hence the extra dissipation due to a rigid inclusion is nonnegative.
Here and below on points into the particle, so the traction represents force exerted by the particle on the fluid. Apply the Lorentz reciprocal theorem for Stokes flow in the fluid region to and the restriction of . The equal outer boundary velocities yieldThe boundary-work formula for viscous dissipation therefore gives . The last integral is zero: is symmetric and divergence-free throughout the particle's original volume, so its total force and torque there vanish, and on is a rigid body velocity. This also allows the sign of this zero-work term to be reversed, giving exactly
With the particle's centre as origin, define , and the particle stresslet tensor . Contracting the linear background velocity with the traction givesThe background rate-of-strain tensor is symmetric and trace-free; the trace of this unprojected particle stresslet tensor does not affect the contraction.
For the straight-rod resistance in a linear flow, write , , , and , . The slender-body force density becomes . The integrals of and are and , respectively, soFor a force-free, torque-free rod, and the perpendicular component of is . Axial spin is not determined by this leading, zero-thickness slender-body theory; it has no effect on . Put . The vector identity givesThe force-free straight-rod orientation equation combines the background rotation with the part of strain that turns the rod; removing preserves its unit length. A rigid body cannot undergo the axial extension or compression imposed by , so opposite axial forces resist that deformation. No leading slender-body force density is needed when , even though the rod may rotate. Its particle stresslet tensor and viscous dissipation are
In the simple shear flow, , and . Thus the rod excess dissipation in shear isThe maxima at correspond to strongest axial extension and compression. The zeros at correspond to zero axial strain: a rod aligned with the velocity or its gradient needs no leading force at that instant. For , with the continuous branch and . Reversing the shear flow reverses the traversal. Substitution givesThe tails make the total finite; the instantaneous zero at lies between two maxima.
For a dilute rod suspension, the added bulk stress is the number density times the orientation average of the particle stresslet tensor. In this ideal infinitely slender, non-interacting model, rods approach alignment with the shear flow and their excess viscous dissipation decays. A real finite-aspect-ratio rod continues to tumble; rotational diffusion and interactions also maintain a spread of orientations. One therefore expects increased effective viscosity, with alignment offering a mechanism for reduced excess viscosity at strong shear flow. This is a qualitative expectation, not a claim that a finite rod suspension has zero steady excess stress.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 329 2 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Take positive downwards. The leading axial velocity of a slender viscous thread is independent of radius. Incompressible flow then gives , while steady mass conservation gives . The Newtonian fluid stress tensor has and . The Young–Laplace equation, neglecting axial curvature at slender order, gives and hence .
The axial cut transmits both the integrated Newtonian fluid stress tensor and the circumferential surface tension. After subtracting the ambient pressure, its tensile force isThe coefficient three is the Trouton ratio for axial extension. The last term is essential: the capillary tensile force of a slender thread is , not , because the capillary pressure subtracts half the interfacial line contribution. Axial force balance is . Together the governing equations areDefine the dimensionless variablesThen and the axial equation becomesFor the increasing power-law branch, all three terms have the same dependence when . Substitution leaves . ThusThis remains valid at , when . The other root is negative and describes a decreasing local branch up to its singular endpoint, not a thread accelerating downwards indefinitely. Positive surface tension decreases , so it slows the fall at a given height on this branch. Thinning reduces the capillary tensile force . Its negative axial derivative supplies an upward capillary force on a thread segment, balancing part of the weight. The viscous tensile force therefore supplies a smaller remaining balance; on the quadratic family this reduces the stretching rate.
The condition alone does not select a unique solution of this second-order ordinary differential equation. The boxed power law is the requested verified branch, with tensile force tending to zero at large height; an additional nozzle tension or downstream condition is required to select it physically. The slender, negligible-inertia approximation must remain valid over the height range considered.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 329 2 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Write , , , and . Incompressible flow with axial strain rate givesIts radial Stokes equation gives , because . The radial Newtonian fluid stress tensor component is . The outer and inner Young–Laplace equation conditions have opposite curvature signs:Subtracting and eliminating givesIn particular, the boxed pressure is equivalent to the printed identity for . For equal gas pressures, , so surface tension draws both interfaces inward in addition to the imposed extension.
The kinematic boundary condition is at either interface. Taking the difference, and then the difference of squared radii, givesThe cancellation of in the area equation is mass conservation: axial stretching reduces the liquid area while radial redistribution changes the hole size. For , equal pressures, and , , one has and . Since ,Closure occurs at , soThis capillary collapse of an annular viscous cylinder has finite closure time for and . For it does not close in this case. The annular formula is used only up to closure; the singular cylindrical inner curvature is not a boundary condition on the subsequent solid cylinder.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 331 1 a i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Separate the uniform stream and an arbitrary time-dependent gauge from each velocity potential: . Only gradients of the velocity potential determine the velocity field. The remote fluid must remain in its unperturbed uniform stream, soAfter fixing the harmless gauge, the nonzero-wavenumber perturbation velocity potentials themselves vanish at the corresponding infinities. Incompressible flow and irrotational flow give the Laplace equation for each perturbation. For a normal mode with , the vertical amplitude solves , henceThe opposite exponentials are excluded because they make the perturbation grow at infinity. It is the perturbation, rather than the total potential , that decays.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 331 2 b i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Set and , so and . Away from , the logarithmic derivative givesFor , and . The Taylor–Goldstein equation residual divided by consequently simplifies toThus the neutral mode of the equal-width Hazel model requiresThe qualifier “solution” needs care at the critical level of an internal gravity wave . For , and : it is a solution separately on either side, not a classical smooth eigenfunction across the critical level of an internal gravity wave. A branch for negative is also needed. For example, a limit from assigns on .
The critical-layer regularity of a neutral Hazel mode further gives local finite horizontal kinetic energy only for , since incompressible flow gives and then converges. At , and is smooth after the removable quotient is continued. At , and the formal profile does not decay at infinity, so it fails the remote endpoint condition. These qualifications prevent interpreting the whole closed parameter interval as a family of classical decaying modes.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 331 4 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use , , , and . Work along a sufficiently regular direct trajectory satisfying the given constraints. The zero spatial mean of the scalar field is conserved by incompressible flow, impermeable walls and zero scalar flux, so minimizing is equivalent to minimizing scalar variance, up to the fixed domain volume.
The printed functional fixes the initial state to a candidate ; it contains no term that enforces its kinetic energy. For the optimization over that candidate, add the real Lagrange multiplier constraintEquivalently, one can restrict all control variations to the sphere in a normed vector space of fixed kinetic energy. This term changes the initial-control optimality condition, not the interior adjoint equations.
Let , and . Linearization of the momentum and scalar transport residuals givesBoth appearances of the perturbation velocity in the nonlinear momentum term have been differentiated. In particular, the coefficient is the gradient of the total velocity, not just the base shear.
For the negative-constraint convention of the functional, integration by parts gives the interior coefficients of asThus the adjoint equations for Boussinesq scalar mixing areThe transpose is essential: the th component of is . The coupling transposes advection of the scalar by a velocity perturbation; transposes buoyancy feedback. Dropping the latter would give a passive scalar adjoint, not the active scalar problem.
These equations are integrated backward, not forward. If , they readwith direct coefficients evaluated at . Both terms from the diffusion equation now have the usual forward sign in . A direct-adjoint looping method stores or reconstructs the forward trajectory, solves these equations backward, and uses the initial adjoint as the control gradient. The endpoint and fixed-energy conditions below give necessary conditions for a local optimizer, not a global optimality theorem.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 331 4 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The temporal integration by parts terms areThe terminal states are free and the objective has no explicit terminal-velocity dependence. ThereforeThe factor two follows from the displayed objective without a prefactor. The initial scalar field perturbation is fixed, so and there is no independently prescribed adjoint-scalar condition at . Its value there is obtained by backward integration. Independent variation of the initial velocity state gives .
Variation of the candidate in the energy-augmented functional gives the fixed-energy initial-condition optimality condition. For the usual divergence-free no-slip control space , write for its orthogonal projection, the Leray-Helmholtz projection in the usual incompressible velocity space. This is the standard formal control condition when pressure is determined by incompressible flow and normal momentum. If the independently imposed direct pressure flux is retained as an additional constraint, the admissible control variations must also satisfy its compatibility conditions along the trajectory; they need not fill the usual space . The standard projection formula alone does not prove stationarity for that more restricted problem. ThenFor the natural solenoidal adjoint space, . Equivalently, its component tangent to the sphere in a normed vector space of fixed kinetic energy vanishes:Here is needed for the sphere in a normed vector space to be regular and for division by . The multiplier is real and can have either sign; normalizing the initial adjoint with a prescribed positive sign is not a general necessary condition for minimization. If , the only feasible initial velocity is zero and this tangent formula for the sphere in a normed vector space is inapplicable. First-order stationarity alone also allows maxima or saddles; a local minimum requires the appropriate nonnegative constrained second variation.
The spatial boundary terms vanish with periodic adjoints in , homogeneous no-slip boundary conditions at , and there. To see this, velocity variations vanish at the wall while their normal derivatives need not, so the viscous boundary term forces the adjoint velocity to vanish. Scalar variations have zero normal derivative but free values, forcing the adjoint scalar's normal derivative to vanish. Pressure variation gives adjoint incompressible flow; no independent terminal or initial datum is assigned to . Its additive time-dependent constant may be fixed by a zero spatial mean.
In particular, a homogeneous Neumann condition for the direct pressure does not by variational transposition require . For a smooth adjoint solution, the wall-normal adjoint momentum equation instead suppliesat the flat walls, because the direct scalar normal derivative is zero there. A zero adjoint-pressure derivative would be an additional compatibility choice, valid only when this right-hand side vanishes.
There are also literal direct-data compatibility qualifications in the printed setup. The initial total scalar field is , whose wall derivative is . It is extraordinarily small but mathematically not zero. Thus exact initial scalar data and exact zero wall flux are incompatible for a classical solution smooth at . One may use a parabolic mild solution of an abstract Cauchy problem with the boundary condition enforced for , or replace the initial profile by an exactly compatible smooth one; these are conventions, not an equality . The reference scalar field is also not a stationary profile of the diffusion equation at finite : the full term must be retained.
The pressure compatibility at a no-slip wall is similarly important. Direct normal momentum gives . The separately imposed zero pressure derivative requires this right side to vanish. It is not automatic for arbitrary fixed-energy initial velocities. For example, the divergence-free no-slip field generated by the periodic stream function with has , and , while . With adjusted to any positive energy, no classical solution smooth up to the initial wall can satisfy that extra pressure condition. The displayed adjoints are the formal necessary equations along admissible smooth trajectories; a well-posed physical formulation normally determines pressure from incompressible flow and normal momentum, rather than imposing independent homogeneous pressure flux for every control.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 332 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Take upwards and write , so that the unperturbed interface is , with carbon dioxide above and water below. Use the sharp-interface, incompressible flow version of Darcy's law, with constant porosity and permeability of a porous medium, no capillary pressure, and effectively unbounded layers. The distinction between Darcy flux and interface speed matters: the base flux is , since the printed is the speed of the interface. Thus the base pressure gradients satisfyThe mass density ordering is stabilizing, whereas injection of the less viscous fluid into the more viscous fluid produces the Saffman–Taylor instability.
For linear stability analysis, displace the interface by . Taking the divergence of Darcy's law shows that the perturbation pressure satisfies the Laplace equation. Decay away from the interface gives, for ,The kinematic boundary condition and continuity of normal Darcy flux giveMeanwhile pressure continuity, evaluated on the displaced interface, givesEliminating yields the buoyancy-modified Darcy fingering dispersion relation:Every nonzero wavenumber decays when , grows when , and is neutral at equality, whereThe zero wavenumber is a uniform displacement and is neutral. Without a short-scale regularization such as surface tension, this model has no fastest-growing finite wavenumber: on the unstable side its growth rate increases without bound as increases. Finite layer depths would change the dispersion relation; none are specified here.
Taking and a year of days, the data giveThe numerical paragraph supplies no porosity, so it cannot determine a unique numerical interface speed. If were instead intended to mean Darcy velocity, the numerical critical value would be , and the interface would move at . These two velocity conventions must not be conflated.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 332 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Let increase upwards, so the bed is at , the surface is at , and . In the shallow-shelf approximation the incompressible flow has nearly depth-uniform horizontal speed and vertical strain . The Newtonian fluid stress tensor, together with the hydrostatic approximation, then givesThe factor four includes both horizontal extension and the pressure correction required by vertical compression. Integrating horizontal force balance over depth, using zero surface shear and the bed traction, gives the membrane-stress derivative and the gravitational driving force . The thin subglacial till layer is idealized by Newtonian till lubrication and undergoes Couette flow, with resisting basal stress . Hence force balance and mass conservation yieldSince is fixed, . No accumulation or ablation is included.
At the grounding line, the first boundary condition is ice-sheet flotation:For an unbuttressed ice shelf, the second is the extensional stress required to balance the difference between the integrated ice and seawater hydrostatic pressures. The ice contribution is , while the water contribution is . On using ice-sheet flotation, their difference is , with . Equivalently, shelf force balance integrates to ; absence of a buttressing force sets this constant to zero. Thus the unbuttressed Newtonian grounding-line stress condition isHere is kinematic viscosity; it appears in the printed target formula without an explicit definition.
The ratio of longitudinal stress divergence to till drag is of order . The given small-parameter limit therefore yields the friction-dominated bulk relationThe coefficient depends on the basal lubrication, and gives seaward motion. This is a bulk reduction: longitudinal stress has been neglected in the differential equation but its boundary traction remains specified. A complete uniformly valid approximation close to the grounding line could require a membrane-stress boundary layer. In the remainder, use the pointwise friction closure and retain the shelf stress condition as the boundary data, as requested in the paper.
Differentiate the ice-sheet flotation condition along the moving grounding line:Now . Substitution of the friction-dominated speed and the shelf stress boundary condition gives the friction-dominated grounding-line evolution law:The coefficient of is the spatial derivative of the flotation deficit, up to sign. If it vanishes, the implicit equation remains the correct compatibility condition but division to determine a finite speed is invalid; tangential contact needs separate analysis.
In a steady state, volume flux per unit width is constant: . The friction relation givesDifferentiating and using at the grounding line givesPut , and . Substitution and cancellation of yield the steady friction-dominated grounding-line thickness relation:For and a bed deepening seaward (), the polynomial is strictly increasing for , starts negative and tends to infinity, so it has exactly one positive root. At that root and , as required by steady outward extension. The relation belongs to the specified friction closure; it is not a flux law for arbitrary till rheology or arbitrary membrane-stress matching.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 337 1 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Take and . Taking the divergence of the Stokes flow momentum equation gives ; applying the Laplacian to its vertical component then eliminates pressure and gives . The forced velocity and temperature are , so their advection product is and drops out at leading order. The steady heat equation reduces to .
Consequently the boundary value problem for the forced profiles isIts six boundary conditions areThe horizontal velocity field is , which directly verifies the incompressible flow and stress-free boundary condition. In the detuning used subsequently, may be replaced by in this leading problem, since its correction enters at order . The vertical profiles depend linearly on .



