Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2016 / ia / Paper 2 / 2A / b

Use the inverse change of variables $u=(x+y)/2$ and $v=(x-y)/2$. The chain rule gives the differential operatorsThe mixed partial derivatives cancel, assuming the twice continuously differentiable solution appropriate here. Consequently $f_{xy}=(g_{uu}-g_{vv})/4$.

The transformed equation isThe factors of $1/2$ belong to the inverse Jacobian matrix; using the forward transformation instead would give an incorrect factor.