Modified Helmholtz adjoint plane wave 2026-10-06
For , a nonzero spectral parameter for a linear boundary value problem givesThe identity proves that this solves the modified Helmholtz equation. The reciprocal companion is .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ib Paper 3 15A Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 69 3 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Put . The Wirtinger derivatives give and . Write , whereUsing the exterior derivative, . The terms involving and cancel, leavingBecause never vanishes for , if and only if . In real coordinates this is the modified Helmholtz equation with mass parameter , not . In fact any one nonzero spectral parameter suffices for the equivalence; the full family supplies many independent boundary tests.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 70 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Fix the convention , , and let . With , two families of modified Helmholtz adjoint plane waves areBoth satisfy , since the products of their and exponents are . They obey . Green second identity gives the two conjugate global relations for the modified Helmholtz equationFor real boundary traces, . Thus the second identity is the conjugate spectral companion, rather than an unrelated extra boundary condition. In complex differential form the first relation is equivalentlyIts integrand is a closed one-form: differentiating its coefficients gives . This supplies a direct derivation of the global relation as well as its outward-normal sign convention.
Write the known Dirichlet boundary condition on side as and the unknown outward normal derivative as , with . For any linear combination of the adjoint waves, the global relation isExpanding the in a finite basis and enforcing these identities at selected collocation points for a global relation gives a linear system with a known right side. The square permits especially simple paired tests.
Let , , and for . Define four real adjoint solutionsThey satisfy the modified Helmholtz equation because . Each is a linear combination of two adjoint exponentials, hence is obtained from the two spectral global relations. More explicitly, put , so . For the convention above, the required spectral pairs areAppropriate phase-weighted differences produce . For example the top test is . The conjugate relation ensures a real system for real data. This is sine collocation of square modified Helmholtz global relations.
The functions are an orthonormal Fourier sine basis on . Set and compute the known quantity by numerical integration. Since , each adjoint test vanishes on both adjacent sides. On its own side it equals , and on the opposite side it equals , where . Thus the square modified Helmholtz Dirichlet-to-Neumann coefficients obeyEach block is inverted explicitly: for opposite sides ,Compute these coefficients for and reconstruct . This is a semi-analytical scheme: the spectral basis integrals and two-by-two inverses are explicit, while the known boundary integrals are evaluated numerically. Increase and the quadrature resolution until the desired convergence is observed; compatible smooth side data have convergent normal-trace expansions, while corner singularities require the usual weaker trace interpretation and more careful quadrature.
The requested weak interaction between sides is particularly clear: the adjacent-side unknown traces contribute exactly zero, and the opposite-side coefficient is . The own-side coefficient stays equal to one. Thus diagonal dominance of paired square global-relation collocation is genuine after pairing; individual uncombined exponential samples need not have the same conditioning. The eigenvalues of each block are , so its condition number is .
There is also a direct localization check for an individual adjoint wave. On side with outward unit normal and tangent , the normalized test has . Its opposite-side magnitude is , and its magnitude integrates to at most along either adjacent side. This side localization of modified Helmholtz plane waves explains why suitable large spectral parameters suppress remote-side effects even before the exact sine cancellation.
Finally the interior solution can be evaluated from the computed traces using the two-dimensional modified Helmholtz fundamental solutionHere is the Modified Bessel function of the second kind, and . Replace by its computed finite Fourier sine series and use numerical integration; at interior points the boundary kernels are smooth. The sign follows from Green second identity with this fundamental-solution convention. This completes the numerical integration of the boundary value problem with a Dirichlet boundary condition, rather than stopping at an equation for its unknown boundary derivatives.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 336 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
At fixed , the leading equation is . Its solution compatible with the eventual decaying far field and the boundary value at one is . This decay implies at distances . Balancing radial derivatives against the linear screening term identifiesThe distant region is governed by the modified Helmholtz equation; its decaying homogeneous profile is .
For a matched asymptotic expansion, write the fixed- approximation as , allowing logarithms of in the coefficients. Successive equations areThe boundary condition imposes and . Before matching, their integrated forms can be writtenIn particular a pure power series with parameter-independent coefficients will be insufficient: the logarithmic overlap creates a switchback term.
In the distant region set . The scaled equation is , soDecay and leading matching give . The radial modified Helmholtz equation gives the supplied particular integral in terms of the exponential integral:As , the small-argument expansion of the exponential integral yieldswhere is the Euler--Mascheroni constant. Substitute to compare the two expansions in :The constant at order fixes . Its coefficient then fixes , and the constant at order fixes . HenceThe required inner expansion at fixed isAt fixed positive , the outer expansion isBoth display every term through the requested order, including the switchback term in the fixed- region.
To form an additive composite expansion, subtract the common overlap from the sum of the inner and outer expressions. Their retained common part isThus one composite is . The last term can be screened by multiplying it by without changing either retained expansion. This gives a useful exponentially decaying version:Its boundary value is . If exact satisfaction of the boundary value is desired, use insteadThe small-argument expansion of the exponential integral shows that this normalized composite has the same two retained expansions; it equals one at and tends to zero at infinity.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ia Paper 3 11A i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Let be two solutions with the same Neumann boundary condition, and set . ThenMultiplying by and applying Green's first identity givesThe integrand is nonnegative. If , both terms can vanish only when , so the solution of the modified Helmholtz equation is unique.
If , the identity only forces . On a connected region, may be any constant. Thus solutions of the Laplace equation with prescribed normal derivative are unique only up to an additive constant, so