Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 82 4 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the displacement-potential convention , and harmonic dependence . Choosing the opposite sign for the shear potential changes its column sign but not the P-SV directional impedance matrix. Write , , , and . At a common point the forward potential wave amplitudes giveThe traction formulas follow from and , using and . The velocity matrix has determinant , so elimination gives the P-SV directional impedance matrixIts off-diagonal entries are real and antisymmetric. ThereforeWith real-part phasors, the outward flux is , sofor every nonzero forward displacement field. Mass density and angular frequency are essential to this flux coefficient; both appear correctly in the PDF.
P-SV displacement potentials 2026-10-14
In a uniform isotropic material, these scalar P-SV displacement potentials separate longitudinal P waves from vertically polarized SV-waves in an plane. They satisfy and , with compressional and shear speeds . Reversing the sign convention for changes its polarization column but not the physical P-SV directional impedance matrix or the separate modal energy fluxes.