Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2005 / Paper 1 / 2

Set $T(x,t)=X(x)G(t)$ in the heat equation. Separation of variables gives $G^{\prime }/(c^{2}G)=X^{\prime \prime }/X=-\lambda$. Zero endpoint temperatures impose Dirichlet boundary conditions $X(0)=X(\pi )=0$, selecting $\lambda =n^2$ for $n\ge 1$. The separated factors can therefore be chosen asZero and negative separation eigenvalues give only the zero spatial solution under these boundary conditions.

The initial profile is continuous and triangular, with midpoint height $\pi /2$. Its Fourier sine series coefficients areConsequently the heat flow from a triangular initial temperature isFor $t\ge 0$, each summand has magnitude at most $4/[\pi (2m+1{)}^2]$. The Weierstrass M-test proves absolute and uniform convergence. The initial Fourier sine series equals the continuous piecewise smooth profile, and for $t>0$ the exponential factors justify termwise spatial and time differentiation on every time interval bounded away from zero.