Past exam of the algebra, analysis and differential equations 1 course of the University of Oxford / 2013 / Differential Equations / 8 / d

Differentiate the uniquely determined lower solution and the zero upper solution:Their one-sided traces areThey disagree, for example at $x=0$, so the normal derivative is not continuous across the interface. The jump, defined as upper trace minus lower trace, is $2\pi \cos (\pi x)$. It vanishes at the two interior points $x=\pm 1/2$, but not identically on the interface.

This illustrates that continuous transmission need not preserve normal derivatives. In fact, at any point where these traces differ, the two-sided first derivative with respect to $y$ does not exist. The resulting function is continuous and smooth separately on each open side, but is not globally $C^1$. Consequently a globally classical $C^2$ solution satisfying all these data cannot exist. The calculation in part (c) evaluates the smooth lower formula on the interface; it does not supply the missing cross-interface regularity.