Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2010 / Paper 1 / 10 / Solution

Use the real weighted inner product $⟨u,v{⟩}_w={\int }_a^{b}wuvdx$ and the energy bilinear form $B(u,v)={\int }_a^b(p{u}^{\prime }{v}^{\prime }+quv)dx$. Integration by parts, the endpoint conditions, and the Sturm-Liouville problem giveThus orthonormality in the stated expansion givesand hence the Rayleigh quotientThe expansion is understood for nonzero admissible functions with finite norm and energy.

For a general endpoint-preserving variation $y+\epsilon \eta$, explicitlysoThe fundamental lemma of the calculus of variations shows that stationarity is exactly the eigenvalue equation with $\lambda =\Lambda$. Conversely an eigenfunction has vanishing first variation and quotient equal to its eigenvalue. Completeness gives the same weighted-average formula for any nonzero admissible expansion, even one with zero ground-state coefficient. Since every ${\lambda }_i\ge {\lambda }_0$,This is the Rayleigh-Ritz variational principle.

For the interval problem, the normalized Dirichlet eigenfunctions and their eigenvalues, with the paper's zero-based indexing, areFor $u=x(1-x)$, direct integration gives $F={\int }_0^1(1-2x{)}^{2}dx=1/3$ and $G={\int }_0^1{x}^2(1-x{)}^{2}dx=1/30$. ThereforeThe sine expansion and Rayleigh quotient of a parabolic Dirichlet trial follow from the coefficient integralConsequently the requested expansion hasEquivalently $u=(8/{\pi }^3){\sum }_{n\ge 1,n\text{ odd}}\sin (n\pi x)/n^3$. In particular $c_1=0$: the first excited eigenfunction $\sqrt{2}\sin (2\pi x)$ is antisymmetric about $1/2$, whereas the trial function is symmetric. Since $10-{\pi }^2>0$, the final ratio is exactlyThe first nonzero correction is $c_2=1/27$, not $c_1$. Reindexing only the nonzero terms would change the meaning of the requested ratio and is not used here.