Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 iii Paper 76 2 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For the oscillator coupled to slow damping feedback, expand , alongside the method of multiple scales oscillator expansion. The leading equation makes independent of fast time. The oscillator force evaluated on is . The amplitude-phase equations therefore giveThe next equation for the damping variable isA bounded periodic exists only when the mean of its right side vanishes. Thus the full leading averaged system isSet , , and . These specify the arbitrary leading initial conditions.
For , the phase average is zero. ConsequentlyThus and . Positive damps the oscillator, negative amplifies it, and zero leaves the leading amplitude unchanged. The fast correction plus an initial-matching constant confirms that can oscillate slightly even though is constant. For , the exact solution is , .
For the logarithmic feedback, assume . Its phase singularities are integrable, and the supplied integral givesWriting turns the nonlinear amplitude-phase equations into the linear pairso . With ,The first integral provides a direct check, and the amplitude remains positive on every finite slow time interval. At the retained averaged order, the physical approximation is , .
The logarithmic case needs an interpretation at oscillator zeros. The original right side is undefined at , so a globally classical solution through each crossing, or a solution from , cannot be asserted. At a transverse crossing, is locally integrable; can be interpreted as absolutely continuous, with its equation holding away from the crossings and almost everywhere. In that integrable interpretation the displayed averaged formulas apply formally for nonzero leading amplitude. The standard smooth-forcing averaging theorem cannot be invoked without addressing this singularity. The phrase arbitrary initial conditions must exclude the identically zero state for this logarithmic problem.