Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2019 / Paper 1 / 13

Let $M=2x+e^y$ and $N=x{e}^y-\cos y$. Their cross partial derivatives agree: $M_y=e^y=N_x$. On the simply connected plane, this makes the differential form exact. Integrating $F_x=M$ gives $F=x^2+x{e}^y+h(y)$; matching $F_y=N$ then requires $h^{\prime }(y)=-\cos y$, so one potential isThe ordinary differential equation states $dF/dx=0$ along a solution. Its initial condition fixes the constant to $F(1,\pi /2)=e^{\pi /2}$. Hence the solution is specified implicitly byAt the initial point $F_y=e^{\pi /2}\ne 0$, so the implicit function theorem guarantees a unique local branch $y(x)$ through that point.

For $x\ne 0$, multiply by $x$ to obtain the first-order linear ordinary differential equation $y^{\prime }+xy=5x{e}^{-x^2}$. Its integrating factor is $\mu =e^{x^2/2}$. The product rule then givesIntegration yields $y{e}^{x^2/2}=-5e^{-x^2/2}+C$, soThe constant of integration is arbitrary on each connected interval of the original equation's domain. The formula extends smoothly through zero, but the printed equation itself contains $1/x$ and is not defined there.

The real equation has domain $x>0$. Its integrating factor isThus the linear ordinary differential equation becomes $(x^{x}y{)}^{\prime }=x^x{x}^{-x}=1$. After integration, $x^{x}y=x+C$. The initial condition gives $2=1+C$, hence

Write the scalar field as $u=R(r)Y(\theta ,\varphi )$, where $R=r+r^{-2}$ and $Y=\sin \theta \cos \varphi$. Its radial contribution to the Laplacian in spherical coordinates isFor the angular contribution, $Y_{\theta }=\cos \theta \cos \varphi$ and $Y_{\varphi \varphi }=-\sin \theta \cos \varphi$, soCombining the radial and angular terms provesThe calculation uses $0<\theta <\pi$ to avoid coordinate singularities. In Cartesian coordinates, $u=x(1+r^{-3})$, which extends smoothly across the polar axis for $r>0$. It therefore satisfies Laplace's equation there as well. The origin is a genuine singularity and is excluded.