Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2016 / Paper 2 / 2 / b / Solution

The only nonzero angular Fourier mode is $\cos (2\sigma )$. Its radial equation is $T^{\prime \prime }-4T=0$. A solution vanishing at $\tau =a$ is proportional to $\sinh [2(\tau -a)]$; making its value one at $b$ fixes the constant. The Dirichlet problem between bipolar coordinate circles therefore givesIts second derivatives in $\sigma$ and $\tau$ cancel, and the endpoint values are respectively zero and $\cos (2\sigma )$. The difference of any two solutions would be a harmonic function with zero Dirichlet boundary conditions, so the maximum principle proves uniqueness.

Geometric wording. In the printed bipolar coordinates, the circle radius $1/\sinh \tau$ decreases with $\tau$. For $0<a<b$, the $b$ circle is contained inside the $a$ circle. Thus the source’s “inner” and “outer” labels are interchanged geometrically. The solution above follows the explicit coordinate boundary values, which unambiguously specify the problem.