Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2023 / iii / Paper 331 / 1 / i / a / Solution

Write the Rayleigh equation for inviscid shear flow asMultiply by ${\varphi }^{\ast }$, integrate, and use integration by parts:Its imaginary part isFor an unstable mode $c_i>0$, the integral can vanish only if $U^{\prime \prime }$ changes sign somewhere in the flow. Thus the velocity profile must have an inflection point. This is Rayleigh's inflection-point theorem; it is necessary, not sufficient, for inviscid instability.