Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 105 1 c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Write . If is a classical solution, multiply by a smooth function and apply the divergence theorem. The Neumann boundary condition removes the boundary term and givesThe density of smooth functions in a Sobolev space and boundedness of the coefficients extend this identity to every , so is a weak solution.
Conversely, take to be a test function compactly supported in . The weak formulation saysThe fundamental lemma of the calculus of variations gives the equation in . Under the regularity implicit in the stated notion of a classical solution, it holds pointwise. Applying integration by parts again with arbitrary leaveswhere is the trace operator. Traces of smooth functions can be chosen arbitrarily on the boundary, so the boundary fundamental lemma of the calculus of variations gives . Thus is a classical solution.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 105 2 a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
For , the function is the th weak derivative whenfor every test function . This is the integration by parts identity with no boundary term and agrees with the ordinary derivative whenever is classically differentiable.
For , the first-order Sobolev space iswith norm, for example,Functions equal almost everywhere represent the same Sobolev element.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 105 3 b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
For , call a weak solution when, for every ,This follows by multiplying the equation by a test function and applying integration by parts in time and space; includes the term because the original transport operator is not in divergence form.
If is , test functions supported away from show that as a distributional identity, hence pointwise. Integrating this pointwise equation by parts in the weak identity leavesArbitrary boundary test functions and the fundamental lemma of the calculus of variations give . Thus a weak solution is the unique classical solution from part a.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 105 3 e Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Write the Inviscid Burgers equation in conservation form asA bounded function is a weak solution with initial datum whenfor every compactly supported test function .
Across a straight discontinuity , integration by parts on its two sides shows that the boundary terms cancel exactly when the Rankine-Hugoniot condition holds:when . For every , defineThe three jumps have left and right states , , and , so their Rankine-Hugoniot speeds are respectively , , and , exactly the speeds of the displayed lines. Hence each satisfies the weak equation away from the origin and across every jump. Moreover, its nonzero support at time has length , so in as ; its initial datum is therefore zero in the weak identity.
The zero function and all the distinct functions are bounded weak solutions with the same zero initial datum. Thus weak solutions are not unique. The central jump from to is an expansion shock, which an entropy condition would exclude.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 107 2 b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
For the p-energythe first variation in the direction isAn integration by parts therefore gives the Euler-Lagrange equationwhich is the p-Laplacian equation. In the notation of the question one takes .
For , the principal coefficient matrix isIts eigenvalue in directions orthogonal to is , while its eigenvalue parallel to is . The coefficients are away from , and the condition number there is at most . On every region where , this gives uniform ellipticity with constants depending on , , and . At all principal eigenvalues vanish, so the operator is degenerate there and is not strictly elliptic on a domain containing a critical point.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 105 2 c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
First choose a test function . The weak formulation and integration by parts giveThe fundamental lemma of the calculus of variations implies pointwise because and is continuous. The Dirichlet boundary condition on already follows from and continuity of .
For arbitrary , Green's first identity and the interior equation now reduce the weak identity toThe traces of smooth members of can be chosen freely on compact subsets of . Another application of the fundamental lemma of the calculus of variations, now on the boundary, gives pointwise on . Hence is a classical solution of the complete mixed boundary value problem.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 105 3 b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
For every compactly supported test function on , define a weak solution by the identityThe extra appears because . This identity is obtained from the linear transport equation by integration by parts in time and space.
Conversely, if and have the stated regularity, choosing test functions supported away from shows in the distributional sense that . Continuity makes the equation pointwise. Integrating that pointwise equation by parts in the displayed identity leavesfor all boundary test functions. The fundamental lemma of the calculus of variations gives , so is a classical solution.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 359 1 a ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Because is a divergence-free vector field, the product rule givesThe integral of a divergence over the periodic domain vanishes. Hence integration by parts yieldsThis is the skew-symmetry of incompressible transport.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 359 2 c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Let and multiply the vorticity equation by , first for an odd power as in the hint. Periodic integration by parts and giveThe diffusion term is nonnegative, while the Holder inequality bounds the right-hand side by . ConsequentlyOn the finite-volume torus, norms increase to the essential supremum as . Hence the damped-vorticity maximum estimate gives
For , the change of variables givesFor , use and integration by parts:The boundary term vanishes: at zero, and the exponential decay dominates the power at infinity. These estimates also establish convergence of the improper integrals used above.
Let be the difference of two sufficiently regular solutions of the wave equation with the prescribed data. By linearity, has zero initial displacement, zero initial velocity, and homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions. Define its wave energy byFor , differentiation under the integral sign and integration by parts yieldThe boundary term vanishes because at both fixed endpoints implies there. The zero initial data give , so for all times. Thus is spatially constant, and its zero boundary values give . This proves uniqueness for the undamped wave equation.
Choose the positive weightsThese are the volumetric heat capacities. The heat equations and integration by parts giveThe exterior boundary terms vanish because the temperatures there are zero. At the thermal interface, the remaining term isby continuity of temperature and heat flux. Hence the weighted energy estimate isBoth weights are positive, so . Zero initial temperatures give , forcing for all . Each temperature therefore vanishes throughout its slab. Applying this argument to a difference also proves uniqueness for arbitrary common initial data in this thermal interface problem.
For separation of variables, put and set . The boundary conditions are , . Multiplying by and using integration by parts givesA nonzero solution therefore has : the zero case forces constant, and then forces . Writing , the eigenfunctions and their temporal factors areThese sine functions are orthogonal on , with squared norm . Expanding the initial condition and multiplying by gives, using the permitted interchange of the sum and integral,Here and . Thus the Fourier series solution isThe exponential decay permits differentiation of the series for , and each term satisfies both boundary conditions. At it is the mixed-end Fourier expansion of .
The gained heat is the increase in internal energy. Since the paper specifies no cross-sectional area, first give the answer per unit cross-sectional area; multiply by for a rod of cross-sectional area . The initial temperature has integral , whereas . At this givesNumerically . This is positive and less than the eventual gain , as expected from relaxation towards the uniform steady state.
For separation of variables, set , with . The side Neumann boundary conditions give . As in the standard Sturm-Liouville problem, integration by parts shows . The zero eigenvalue gives constant , and together with makes constant too.
For positive eigenvalues, the side conditions give , , . The top condition chooses the hyperbolic cosine factor . Normalize it to one at , obtainingThe orthogonality of integer Fourier modes and the permitted interchange of summation and integration giveFor the remaining Fourier coefficients, integrate by parts twice. The sine boundary term vanishes, and with ,The last integral vanishes because and is a positive integer. Thus : only even Fourier modes survive, as expected from reflection symmetry about . Writing givesThe factor involving hyperbolic cosine lies between zero and one on the closed rectangle. Comparison with proves uniform convergence, so the solution is continuous on the entire boundary and takes the prescribed bottom values. On every strip , the Fourier coefficients have additional exponential decay, allowing differentiation and verifying Laplace's equation and all three Neumann boundary conditions.
To justify the endpoint calculation in b, differentiate at , in the interior-edge sense:Subtracting from the hyperbolic tangent leaves an absolutely convergent series. For the remaining part, the power series gives, by taking real parts at and then ,The same formula follows as the limit of the differentiated interior solution, since its leading multiplier is . This establishes the boundary normal derivative used in b. It also explains why the failure of the corner compatibility condition for mixed boundary data affects first derivatives at the bottom corners without spoiling continuity of itself.
The homogeneous linear differential equation has general solution . For a particular solution, use variation of parameters with , and Wronskian one:The double-angle formulas and integration by parts giveSubstitution simplifies to . Absorb the last term into the homogeneous linear differential equation solution. ThereforeIndeed, applying to gives , and applying it to gives ; their difference divided by four is the required .
For the rate-one exponential distribution, the probability density function is for . By integration by parts,Thus
On the function is odd, so its mean and all its cosine Fourier coefficients vanish:The assigned endpoint value does not affect these integrals. The product of the two odd functions and is even, hence the sine Fourier coefficients areTwo applications of integration by parts giveThereforeThe periodic extension has a jump discontinuity at every odd multiple of : its left and right limits are and . Its assigned value at each such point is . Thus it is odd away from these points, but it is not a globally odd function pointwise. The Fourier series will take the midpoint value zero at these jumps.
Subtract the constant steady state profile: set . ThenThe last equation follows from Fourier's law and zero heat flux at the insulated end. For a nonzero separated solution , separation of variables givesTo see that for a nonzero eigenfunction, multiply the spatial equation by and use integration by parts:Both boundary terms vanish. If the right side were zero, would be constant and would make it zero. Thus write with . Solving gives , and requires . The mixed Dirichlet-Neumann modes on an interval therefore haveThe eigenvalues of are ; are their positive square roots. By superposition, with coefficients for which the resulting series and its required derivatives converge at positive times,The eigenfunctions are orthogonal on and have squared norm . Expanding the initial excess temperature givesThus the requested temperature isAt the insulated endpoint cancels the alternating coefficient sign, leavingEvery summand is positive. The endpoint temperature never drops below ; it decreases towards as and starts at .
For completeness, the Sturm-Liouville eigenfunction expansion gives the initial profile in the sense. Here the coefficients are absolutely summable, so the Weierstrass M-test also gives uniform convergence on , and the initial values are recovered everywhere. For positive times the exponential factors justify all required termwise derivatives, giving a classical solution. There is, however, an initial incompatibility with a Neumann boundary condition at : the initial slope is , while the insulated Neumann boundary condition requires zero slope for . The temperature is continuous to the initial edge, but cannot extend continuously to that corner. One must not differentiate the initial series term by term at .
The function is an even function, so every Fourier sine coefficient is zero. Introduce the auxiliary integralFor a nonzero integer , integration by parts givesConsequentlyFor , a product-to-sum formula yieldsIf , this becomesThe exceptional Fourier coefficient at must be evaluated before dividing by :Thus the full Fourier series isThis equality holds on and by periodicity everywhere. Indeed the periodic extension is continuous at the joined endpoints, since both endpoint values are zero, and is piecewise smooth. The theorem on pointwise convergence of a piecewise smooth Fourier series therefore applies, including at the endpoints. The Fourier coefficients also decay as , making the resulting series absolutely and uniformly convergent.
Parametrize the surface of revolution byAn oriented vector surface area element isUse the vector field , whose divergence is one. If this parametrization has the outward orientation on an enclosing surface, the divergence theorem givesThe second equality is integration by parts, using the endpoint values. For example this outward convention applies when the positive- branch lies above the negative- branch, for .
The stated regularity and endpoint conditions alone do not guarantee an embedded enclosing surface: branches can cross or coincide. Without an appropriate orientation assumption the flux formula is an algebraic signed volume. If “inside” is defined as the region between the two graph branches for each radius, its nonnegative geometric volume is insteadThis explicitly handles a reversal or change in the order of the two branches.