For a nonrotating plane internal gravity wave with phase , let , , and use kinematic pressure. The Linearized Boussinesq equations and give , and , together with the displayed vertical relations. Buoyancy and displacement field are in phase or opposite phase; velocity and pressure are in quadrature with them. Incompressibility makes both the oscillating velocity and displacement field perpendicular to the wavevector.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 49 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be kinematic pressure, with the resting hydrostatic part subtracted, and let be the buoyancy perturbation about background buoyancy . The nonrotating inviscid Boussinesq equations, with no buoyancy diffusion, areHere the third equation is mass conservation for incompressible flow, and the last expresses buoyancy conservation following a parcel. Linearization about rest removes the products of disturbances. For a plane internal gravity wave proportional to , the resulting Linearized Boussinesq equations becomeWith and , the first and third equations give . Substitution in vertical momentum and buoyancy gives the dispersion relationSince the velocity is the time derivative of the displacement field, . Thus the complete buoyancy polarization of a plane internal gravity wave isBoth velocity and displacement are perpendicular to the wavevector; pressure and velocity are in quadrature with buoyancy and displacement.
For upward/rightward phase velocity, choose and . Differentiating this dispersion relation gives the group velocity, while the vector phase velocity points along the wavevector:Their dot product is zero and . Draw from the tip of : the right-triangle geometry of internal-wave velocities has horizontal hypotenuse . This hypotenuse is distinct from the horizontal phase velocity .
At an instant with real complex amplitude , write . The spatial fields areThe constant-phase lines of an internal gravity wave slope down to the right, with . Buoyancy maxima lie a quarter wavelength from pressure maxima; the oscillating displacement and velocity run along the phase lines. The group velocity points down and right along them, despite upward/rightward motion of the wave phase.
Internal-wave buoyancy, displacement, pressure and velocity fields, with downward energy propagation and the phase/group-velocity right triangle
. Details. Let , using horizontal averaging over a wavelength. This is the displacement pseudomomentum of an internal gravity wave, whose sign convention is opposite to . For complex coefficients, . The above wave polarization consequently givesSince , these obey . With weak kinematic viscosity, each leading monochromatic velocity component satisfies , . The dissipative term is therefore , so the supplied averaged balance reduces toFor constant and a steady wave envelope, . As is proportional to squared wave amplitude, viscous attenuation of an internal gravity wave givesHere , so amplitude decreases below a source at : the source is above the receiving level. The same conclusion follows directly because downward group velocity carries energy from the source downward. Upward phase velocity does not locate the source.
For a slowly varying mean shear flow , the local intrinsic frequency is . A local WKB approximation uses , with varying vertical wavenumber and group velocity. The appropriate transported quantity is wave action, or horizontal wave pseudomomentum ; its vertical flux has viscous loss, and the changing polarization factors must be retained. In particular, is no longer constant.
Near a critical level of an internal gravity wave, , so and . The damping per vertical distance, of order , grows rapidly. The waves are strongly attenuated over a narrow altitude range and transfer momentum to the mean flow there or before reaching the critical level. The inviscid WKB approximation eventually fails; viscosity and possibly internal-wave breaking regulate the small scales.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 72 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use for disturbance pressure divided by the constant inertial density. The ideal, nonrotating Linearized Boussinesq equations areHere is a prescribed time-independent buoyancy frequency squared. Taking the scalar product of momentum with velocity gives , using incompressibility. Multiplying the buoyancy equation by gives . No spatial derivative of is needed in this cancellation. ThusThis is positive disturbance energy per unit inertial density; its flux is pressure work.
For constant , write a plane internal gravity wave with wave vector and phase . Let and . In complex amplitudes, incompressibility and horizontal momentum giveConsequently . Substitution into vertical momentum, , yieldsThe same dispersion relation follows directly from the displacement equation: its two terms become and . The positive-frequency branch is ; the other branch is its sign reversal.
Choose real vertical-displacement amplitude . The internal-wave polarization can be writtenVelocity and displacement lie along the phase planes, perpendicular to , and are a quarter cycle out of phase. Buoyancy is opposite in sign to vertical displacement. In the requested two-dimensional sketch take , and : the phase velocity points down and left. Then points up and left, and positive accompanies positive and negative . Negative-pressure bands have the opposite velocity. Multiplication by pressure therefore transports energy up and left in both signs of band.
Differentiating the positive-frequency dispersion relation gives the group velocityIn particular . Since , the wavelength averages areUsing in the last expression provesFor the group velocity points up and left, perpendicular to the down-left phase velocity. The pressure sign pattern, rather than the direction of moving crests, determines the energy-flux direction shown below.
For the moving-boundary problem, first take the fluid to occupy with the boundary near . An outgoing boundary-forced internal gravity wave must have . With the specified and , the radiation condition therefore selectsIf instead the fluid occupies , radiation requires and the positive root for . The fluid half-space is needed to select a unique sign; the following formulas use the upper half-space.
For slowly modulated internal-wave boundary forcing, put , , . Acting on by and , the displacement equation has leading term . Its order- term isThus characteristics carry the boundary amplitude into the fluid:Real parts are understood. To the same leading order,Slow-envelope corrections to these polarization formulas are order . At , the amplitude is for , falls smoothly across , and is zero beyond . This translating ramp is also shown in the figure.
Internal-wave pressure and velocity, buoyancy and displacement, and the causal amplitude ramp at slow time T equals two
. Details. The mean boundary work per unit horizontal area is at quadratic disturbance order. The small boundary displacement permits evaluation at the unperturbed plane. From the flux calculation,The finite causal wave train has energy integralDifferentiation, or integration of the local energy law with zero flux beyond the front, proves
Finally, distinguish the oscillatory velocity from the second-order Eulerian mean . The displacement polarizations giveThe supplied mean-flow relation therefore yields at quadratic wave order. Equivalently, the horizontal momentum flux is , and envelope-energy transport gives the same acceleration through .
In the frame moving horizontally at , the boundary pattern is stationary and the initial mean current is . Subtract that background's kinetic energy before integrating over the infinite half-space. The internal-wave work in a phase-speed frame is thenIts rate of change isThe mean-current cross term supplies the quadratic energy loss in this moving frame; the lab-frame mean kinetic energy alone is fourth order in wave amplitude. The equality is at the leading slow and quadratic orders used throughout the forcing calculation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 72 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
After removing the hydrostatic background pressure, the two-dimensional ideal Boussinesq equations arewith the buoyancy equation . The last equation follows by materially advecting total buoyancy with . Take the streamfunction conventionso the -component of vorticity is . Taking of horizontal momentum minus of vertical momentum cancels pressure. Incompressibility combines the remaining nonlinear terms into advection of , giving . Hence the full equations areThere is no vortex stretching in this genuinely two-dimensional velocity field.
Write , with and background buoyancy anomaly zero. The Linearized Boussinesq equations becomeFor a stationary disturbance with real and , the second equation gives . The first therefore reduces to the stationary Taylor–Goldstein equationThe restriction is used when cancelling ; a purely horizontally uniform alteration of the background is not this wave problem.
For the exponential-profile stationary stratified waves, defineSince and , all coefficients are constant. The complete vertical solution set isShifting the origin of simply changes the two constants. Vertical oscillation requires ; equality gives an affine structure; below that value the structure is evanescent or growing, with admissibility determined by the physical boundaries.
The Rayleigh quotient with one Neumann endpoint must retain its upper boundary term. On a finite interval with , choose a nonzero real vertical structure, so the denominator is strictly positive. Multiplication of the differential equation by and integration by parts givesWith only , it equals precisely when . A lower Neumann boundary condition alone does not ensure this.
For , the lower condition selects . Equality of the quotient requires for a positive integer : even gives an upper Neumann condition, odd an upper Dirichlet boundary condition. Thuswhich additionally restricts . If , the lower condition leaves a constant structure; it has quotient , possible for a genuine wave only when . If , the lower condition leaves , whose upper product is positive and whose quotient is strictly less than . On an infinite interval, none of these nonzero lower-Neumann structures is square-integrable, so the displayed ratio of integrals is not a defined finite-integral quotient there. Ratios of truncated integrals would be a different limiting prescription.
For every mode above, including the affine and exponential cases, the disturbance satisfiesThis statement concerns the disturbance, not the sum with the background streamfunction; the latter generally has a different Laplacian eigenvalue. Its buoyancy polarization isThus no nonzero mode has a constant buoyancy-to-streamfunction ratio when .
The nonlinear exactness test for a stratified streamfunction mode now distinguishes the two equations. The disturbance's vorticity self-advection vanishes because its Laplacian is proportional to itself. But its buoyancy self-advection isFor a nonzero real sinusoidal disturbance and , this is a nonzero second harmonic somewhere. Consequently none of the nontrivial modes with the stipulated positive is by itself an exact finite-amplitude solution of both nonlinear equations. Additional harmonics or mean corrections would be needed. In the limiting case , are constant; both self-interactions vanish, and these same single-wavenumber structures, or their superpositions with the same , do solve the full ideal equations wherever their boundary conditions are admissible.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 77 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Here write for the buoyancy perturbation about the resting constant- stratification; the total buoyancy also includes its background gradient . Use kinematic perturbation pressure . The weak-forcing Linearized Boussinesq equations areWeakness means that perturbation advection is small compared with the retained linear terms. With the specified streamfunction convention, the transverse vorticity isDifferentiate the horizontal momentum equation in and subtract the derivative of vertical momentum. The pressure derivatives cancel, givingThe second equation uses and is the forced internal-wave equation.
For free waves at frequency , the internal gravity wave dispersion relation gives . Thus the horizontal response scale is much larger than the vertical scale. Vertical acceleration is small in the vertical momentum equation, leaving the hydrostatic approximation . Correspondingly the transverse vorticity is predominantly : neglect relative to in the inertial vorticity term. The restoring term must still be retained, since it balances the small time derivatives.
For put , and interpret physical fields as real parts. The reduced equation isOne can solve it while obtaining the buoyancy simultaneously. Define and . The first-order hydrostatic equations becomeHence and obeyApply the method of characteristics with zero fields in the past. Withthe solution is . Consequently the hydrostatic response to a localized horizontal force isThese are exactly the required two characteristic integrals, derived with their relative sign fixed by the buoyancy equation. Quiet-past initial conditions exclude additional freely propagating solutions.
For the consistency check, set , so both integrals run over the fixed range . Differentiation at fixed now givesThis change of variable is important: it includes the time dependence of both the sampled forcing and the moving integration geometry without omitting a term. Each straight path intersects for a time interval of length at most . If , thenThe characteristic size of the hydrostatic buoyancy and pressure-gradient balance is , as follows from the analogous bound on in its integral formula. Thus the omitted acceleration has relative scale at most a constant timesTogether with the low-frequency assumption, this verifies the requested hydrostatic consistency. It is a comparison of characteristic magnitudes, rather than division by a buoyancy value at a node where both terms may vanish. The capital here is the buoyancy frequency, as printed in the PDF.
For , only contributes. If , every point lies outside the source interval, so both integrals vanish:This finite propagation cone belongs to the reduced hydrostatic wave equation.
The hypotheses do not require an even forcing, so no single symmetric graph follows for every permitted . For an illustrative smooth even nonnegative profile, is even and is odd. At late time and fixed , if , thenThus the streamfunction develops a broad nearly level interior response with outgoing fronts, while the buoyancy changes sign across the source and approaches opposite interior plateaus to its left and right. Both vanish beyond the fronts. For , a vertical phase with gives real fields and . The figure plots those profiles up to positive normalization factors, for an even compact forcing increasing slowly from zero.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 81 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
In the Boussinesq approximation, replace density by a constant reference density in inertia and incompressible flow, retaining the small density departure only in the gravitational force. Write and subtract the resting hydrostatic pressure. The upward buoyancy perturbation acceleration and squared buoyancy frequency areThus stable density stratification has . Let henceforth denote the pressure anomaly divided by . The ideal, nonrotating Boussinesq equations areThe buoyancy equation follows by materially conserving the total buoyancy , where ; it does not assume constant .
For an -periodic flow of period , define . An infinite-domain average with vanishing end contributions works as well. The necessary pressure condition is no mean zonal pressure gradient, : periodic pressure satisfies it, whereas a pressure containing a term proportional to does not. Use incompressible flow to write the zonal momentum equation in conservative form,Averaging its zonal derivative terms yields the exact Reynolds stress relation
For two-dimensional small disturbances about rest, the Linearized Boussinesq equations are , , , and . Differentiate the two momentum equations to eliminate pressure: . Differentiating in and using gives . One further time derivative givesThe equation remains valid for . No vertical derivative of was taken: .
For constant and , a plane internal gravity wave hasBoth signs give the prescribed lower-boundary velocity. The radiation condition excludes energy arriving from infinity. At positive frequency, the vertical group velocity isFor a source below the fluid, energy must propagate upward, so the outgoing solution has , even though its vertical phase velocity is downward.
To obtain this selection causally, let and , and replace the constant amplitude by . The method of multiple scales treats as independent during differentiation: the carrier derivatives hold fixed, while holds fixed and holds fixed. Only after differentiating do we restrict to , . Acting on the complex wave, the operators becomeWith , the wave equation has residualThe zeroth-order term is the dispersion relation; the first-order term vanishes precisely whenIf is the switched-on boundary amplitude, with for , the outgoing envelope is for . Its characteristics carry the boundary signal into initially undisturbed fluid. If , characteristics instead arrive from the upper half-space; zero initial disturbances and no incoming signal cannot establish the proposed boundary-forced wavetrain. This is the internal-wave envelope radiation condition.
The leading incompressible flow polarization gives . Hence, to second order in amplitude and leading order in the slow modulation,There is no meridional transport here. Envelope transport gives , so an initially vanishing mean develops asThese are the leading expressions for internal-wave momentum deposition; higher slow-modulation corrections to the stress are beyond the displayed approximation. In particular, a spatially uniform fully established wavetrain has zero stress divergence, but the front has already produced its mean flow.
The mean wave energy density per unit mass follows from :Thus . In the original frame the mean kinetic energy is . In a frame translating at , the undisturbed velocity is , and the change in mean kinetic energy is . Indeed at this order behind the front. Mean-flow energy is therefore essential at the same order as wave energy in the translating frame. This follows also from the frame transformation of energy, up to the fixed background constant, and is why conservation of momentum cannot be omitted from the moving-frame conservation of energy budget.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 70 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Let be the buoyancy perturbation and the pressure perturbation divided by . For stable stratification, . The nonrotating Linearized Boussinesq equations areEliminating gives . Since , a nonzero-frequency plane wave obeys the same equation for its displacement. Substituting its phase yields the dispersion relation for a plane internal gravity wave:Thus the frequency depends on the wavevector direction rather than its magnitude.
Advection of the background density gives to first order. With constant , the instantaneous density gradient is . A region has unstable density stratification when this becomes positive, namely when . The maximum of is , so the monochromatic internal-wave overturning criterion isEquality gives a locally vanishing gradient. This is the prediction of the displacement field extrapolated to overturning; the small-amplitude approximation itself ceases to be reliable there.
For the rising packet, distinguish its conserved absolute frequency from its actual intrinsic frequency . The printed terminology calls intrinsic while also assigning it to a stationary observer; the stationary-observer interpretation is the one consistent with the displayed Doppler shift. On the positive-frequency branch, the ray Hamiltonian isThe Hamiltonian ray-tracing equations giveThe last identity follows also by differentiating the Hamiltonian along its canonical trajectory: the spatial and wavevector terms cancel in pairs. Thus absolute-frequency conservation in steady shear gives constant , constant , and constant stationary-observer horizontal phase speed . In contrast, decreases as the packet rises. At its initial height,This is the critical level of an internal gravity wave. In fact and , so the inviscid ray approaches as , rather than reaching it at a finite time.
Write , so with . The intrinsic internal-wave phase and group velocity calculation givesThe observer-frame horizontal ray velocity is . Dividing it by proves the internal-wave ray in uniform vertical shear:The angle increases toward and the vertical group speed tends to zero near the critical level.
The wave-action conservation law fixes the prescribed upward flux. For a nonzero packet, , and the given flux relation impliesApply the monochromatic internal-wave overturning criterion, using . After multiplying by the positive trigonometric factors, the exact instability condition isAt marginal overturning near a critical level, , so the wave-action criterion for critical-level overturning givesWith fixed , this is the requested quarter-power order estimate; the prefactor supplies the dimensions suppressed in that notation. It is an onset balance, not a replacement for . Combining the two relations instead gives at onset. Since diverges as toward , any nonzero packet flux eventually violates the linear overturning criterion before reaching that level, within this nondissipative ray model.
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 2015 iii Paper 74 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For a two-dimensional internal gravity wave with fixed horizontal wave number , the vertical velocity amplitude satisfiesThis follows from the Linearized Boussinesq equations just as in part (a), allowing the background buoyancy frequency to vary. The WKB approximation gives locallyIt requires slowly varying stratification compared with the local vertical wavelength, in particular , and a small-amplitude wave in the inviscid, nonrotating regime. Propagation requires ; where , the local vertical wave number is imaginary and the solution is evanescent. Turning levels and abrupt changes need a separate connection calculation. Finite viscosity, background flow, rotation or nonlinear effects require modifications of this model.
The ray tracing equations use the local dispersion relation as a Hamiltonian:The stationary, horizontally uniform background conserves the frequency and horizontal wave number. In two dimensions the group velocity gives . For the specified buoyancy frequency and , . Hence for the two geometric internal-wave rays through the specified point areEach curve has both directed propagation senses, giving four local directed rays. Their formal intersections with are and .
At , and : this is a double-zero internal-wave turning level, since touches zero without changing sign. The ray becomes vertical geometrically, but its group velocity tends to zero. Taking without loss of generality, the downward branch hasThe formal travel time diverges logarithmically as . Meanwhile grows, so the WKB approximation fails before that limit; its predicted amplitude cannot be extrapolated to infinity. The spatial ray reaches a finite limiting position, but finite-wavelength behaviour near the zero must be found beyond WKB. There is no evanescent half-space supplied by this particular , so ordinary simple-turning-point reflection cannot be assumed solely from the local ray construction.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 330 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The WKB approximation treats the vertical wavenumber as locally constant over one vertical wavelength. Write , with and . For the stationary internal-wave WKB solution, away from singular or turning levels. A small terrain slope and small perturbations are also needed for Linearized Boussinesq equations.
Let be the perturbation fluid pressure divided by reference mass density, and the buoyancy perturbation. The steady Linearized Boussinesq equations and incompressibility condition areFor an component, elimination gives , and . Substitution into vertical momentum gives the exact stationary Taylor–Goldstein equationThe leading WKB approximation therefore identifiesThe kinematic boundary condition fixes the horizontal wavenumber to for the sinusoidal forcing.
For explicit heights assume a constant positive buoyancy frequency , , and . The latter is a large gradient Richardson number. The linear shear flow has , so the propagation condition is .
For , the first obstruction is the critical level of an internal gravity wave atAs , . The critical-height approach of a stationary wave in linear shear has upward group velocity , so the travel time to diverges: the height is a supremum, approached in the ideal ray model. Here , which can remain small; it would be incorrect to say that the short-wavelength WKB approximation necessarily fails solely because diverges. Nevertheless and displacement , so a finite disturbance eventually violates linearity. Dissipation and overturning also matter near this singular level.
For , the turning height of a stationary wave in linear shear isAt , and the WKB approximation fails. An Airy function matching region describes reflection and an upper evanescent wave. Thus is the highest height of vertical propagation, rather than a sharp cut-off of every disturbance.
The problem initially allows to vary. Without the extra constant- assumption, replace the explicit turning height by the first root of encountered on a propagating branch. A declining can cause a turning level before the negative-shear critical level. The two closed-form heights require the stated constant-stratification assumption.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 331 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Introduce the thermal expansion coefficient , so the linear equation of state is . With gravity , the resting conductive state of Rayleigh-Bénard convection satisfies the steady heat equation and hydrostatic pressure balance. Consequentlyand, up to an arbitrary constant,Indeed , where .
The Boussinesq approximation retains temperature-dependent mass density in buoyancy while replacing it by in inertial coefficients; it requires . Subtracting the conductive state of Rayleigh-Bénard convection and dropping products of perturbations gives the dimensional Linearized Boussinesq equationsThe minus sign in the temperature equation comes from .
Use the thermal-diffusion scaling of a convection layerThe Rayleigh number and Prandtl number areThus the nondimensional perturbation equations areHere is kinematic viscosity, is thermal diffusivity, and positive denotes destabilizing heating from below for .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 345 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let denote the fluid pressure perturbation divided by the reference mass density, and let be the buoyancy perturbation. The buoyancy frequency satisfies . Linearization requires small boundary slope , small displacements compared with the vertical scales of the disturbance and background, and advection small compared with the oscillatory acceleration. For a propagating internal gravity wave this includes ; boundary slope alone is insufficient when . The Boussinesq approximation also requires small relative mass density differences over the region of interest. These conditions must hold for the resulting disturbance, including any amplification by resonance.
The inviscid Linearized Boussinesq equations and linear kinematic boundary condition areWrite the velocity field as . Incompressibility and horizontal momentum balance giveThe vertical momentum balance therefore yieldsFor a real vertical wavenumber , this gives the dispersion relationWhen , define . The radiation condition selects , because energy must leave the boundary upward. The boundary-forced internal gravity wave isIts wavevector is , its phase velocity is , and its group velocity isThus the phase velocity points down and right, while the group velocity points up and right. They are perpendicular. Internal-wave polarization makes the particle motion an oscillation along the group velocity direction, with zero first-order mean transport. The constant-phase lines of an internal gravity wave are also parallel to the group velocity. Their inclination above the horizontal satisfies .
When , set . Boundedness at infinity selects the evanescent waveThe horizontal and vertical velocity components are in quadrature: fluid particles describe small ellipses, and the response decays over . There is no upward time-averaged energy flux, because and are in quadrature. A real vertical group velocity is not defined for this evanescent wave. The pattern travels horizontally with phase velocity .
For the response is the evanescent wave with ; the ratios should not be used. At the cutoff , the bounded harmonic solution has , : it neither decays nor has nonzero upward group velocity. It is the limiting cutoff response, rather than a localized radiating disturbance. A uniform nonzero buoyancy frequency in an infinitely deep Boussinesq approximation is itself a local idealization of the background mass density.
The arrows distinguish the phase velocity, group velocity, and oscillatory particle motion of the internal gravity wave. The right panel shows the decay envelope and particle ellipses of the evanescent wave.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 iii Paper 331 1 b Solution Created 2026-09-29 Updated 2026-10-03
Write and . Dropping quadratic perturbation terms gives the Linearized Boussinesq equationsandThe fixed temperatures give at . Impermeable stress-free boundary conditions give
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 iii Paper 345 1 a Solution 2026-09-28
Let and , so mass conservation for the two-dimensional incompressible flow is automatic. Write for buoyancy and introduce the diffusive operatorsThe Linearized Boussinesq equations areTaking the curl of the momentum conservation equations eliminates the pressure and givesApply and use . Since the constant-coefficient linear partial differential operators commute,This is the viscous-diffusive internal gravity wave equation.
Using layer depth and thermal diffusivity gives time scale , velocity scale , and perturbation pressure scale . With temperature scale , the Linearized Boussinesq equations have viscous coefficient Prandtl number and buoyancy coefficient , where Rayleigh number .



