Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Oxford / 2015 / Prelims / Mathematics V / 5 / b

Substitute the separated solution $y=e^{-\alpha t}F(t)\sin (nx)$ into the damped wave equation. Its time derivatives givewhereas $y_{xx}=-n^2{e}^{-\alpha t}F\sin (nx)$. ThusThe last two conditions follow from $y(x,0)=0$ and $y_t(x,0)=\sin (nx)$. For $0<\alpha <n$, let $\nu =\sqrt{n^2-{\alpha }^2}>0$. The simple harmonic motion equation has solution of a differential equationThis is an underdamped normal mode: its oscillations have the decaying factor $e^{-\alpha t}$.

When $\alpha =n$, the reduced ordinary differential equation is $F^{\prime \prime }=0$. The initial conditions $F(0)=0$, $F^{\prime }(0)=1$ giveThis is the critically damped normal mode, also obtained by taking $\nu \to 0$ in $\sin (\nu t)/\nu$.

When $\alpha >n$, set $\mu =\sqrt{{\alpha }^2-n^2}>0$. The reduced ordinary differential equation is $F^{\prime \prime }-{\mu }^{2}F=0$. Enforcing the same initial conditions givesThe corresponding overdamped normal mode can also be writtenBoth rates in the exponential functions are negative because $0<\mu <\alpha$, so the hyperbolic sine factor does not prevent decay.