Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2002 / Paper 1 / 2 / Solution

Steady state. In the heat equation, time independence makes the second spatial derivative zero. The two endpoint temperatures therefore determine the linear profileInsulation is along the sides; the endpoint reservoirs can still exchange heat with the rod.

Transient solution. Subtract the steady profile before applying separation of variables: let $U=T-T_{0}x/l$. Then $U_t=\nu U_{xx}$, $U(0,t)=U(l,t)=0$ and $U(x,0)=-T_{0}x/l$ for $0<x<l$. Writing $U=X(x)\Theta (t)$ givesThe homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions exclude $\mu \le 0$ and select the eigenfunctions $\sin (n\pi x/l)$ with eigenvalues ${\mu }_n=(n\pi /l{)}^2$, $n\ge 1$. Their orthogonality gives the Fourier sine series coefficientsHere integration by parts uses ${\int }_0^{l}x\sin (n\pi x/l)dx=-l^2(-1{)}^n/(n\pi )$. ThusEvery summand satisfies the heat equation and the homogeneous endpoint conditions, while the steady profile supplies the prescribed endpoint values. The initial Fourier sine series equals $-T_{0}x/l$ in the open interval. At $(l,0)$ the initially cold rod and the suddenly imposed hot endpoint are incompatible; the formula describes the prescribed data for $t>0$ and the initial limit at interior points.

Heat absorption. Integrating in $x$ kills the even modes. With $a=\nu {\pi }^2/l^2$, the total heat relative to the initial state isConsequently the net rate of heat absorption isFor each $t\ge \epsilon >0$, any fixed number of differentiated modes is bounded by a polynomial in $n$ times $e^{-a\epsilon n^2}$. These bounds have finite sums, proving absolute convergence, uniform convergence on such time intervals and the validity of the integration and differentiation. In particular the displayed rate is finite for every $t>0$, positive when $T_0>0$, and tends to zero as equilibrium is approached. The same answer follows from the heat equation balance $H^{\prime }=\gamma \nu [T_x(l,t)-T_x(0,t)]$; this subtracts loss at the cold endpoint from input at the hot endpoint.