Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2024 / iii / Paper 202 / 6 / b

Let $p_t(z)=(2\pi t{)}^{-1/2}{e}^{-z^2/(2t)}$ be the heat kernel for $u_t=\frac{1}{2}{u}_{xx}$. The symmetry of the Gaussian distribution gives the method-of-images formulaThis is the Neumann heat kernel on a half-line. Differentiation under the integral sign shows that $v\in C^{1,2}$ for $t,x>0$ and that $v_t=\frac{1}{2}{v}_{xx}$. At $x=0$, the two differentiated kernel terms cancel, so $v_x(t,0)=0$. The Gaussian approximate identity gives $v(t,x)\to f(x)$ as $t\downarrow 0$, while the dominated convergence theorem gives continuity up to $x=0$. Finally $|v(t,x)|\le \Vert f{\Vert }_{\infty }$, which is stronger than the required exponential bound. Thus $v$ satisfies every condition in the displayed boundary-value problem.