Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2022 / iii / Paper 345 / 1 / e / Solution

The incident internal-wave ray has equation $z=-rx$. Intersecting it with the bottom $z=-H_0+sx$ givesIts distance to the slope is consequentlyThe subcritically reflected ray rises through the same vertical distance at angle $\theta$, so its next free-surface reflection is at

On the first leg, viscous attenuation of an internal-wave beam multiplies the energy density by $e^{-2k\ell /\mathrm{Re}}$. The bottom reflection multiplies it by ${\gamma }^2$ and changes the wavenumber to $\gamma k$. Since the corresponding Reynolds number is $\mathrm{Re}/{\gamma }^2$, attenuation on the second leg contributes $e^{-2{\gamma }^{3}k\ell /\mathrm{Re}}$. Ignoring boundary-layer enhancement as requested,