Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2018 / Paper 2 / 5 / d

For $t>0$, close the inverse-transform contour in the upper half-plane. There $|e^{i\omega t}|\le 1$; the rational factor is $O(|\omega {|}^{-2})$, so the arc integral vanishes. For $\Omega >\kappa$, write $\beta =\sqrt{{\Omega }^2-{\kappa }^2}>0$. The two simple poles are $i\kappa \pm \beta$, and the residue theorem yieldsThis causal Green function of a damped oscillator has damped oscillations with envelope $e^{-\kappa t}$ and tends to zero as $t\to \infty$.

For $\kappa >\Omega$, put $\eta =\sqrt{{\kappa }^2-{\Omega }^2}$, so $0<\eta <\kappa$ and the poles are $i(\kappa \pm \eta )$. Closing in the upper half-plane for $t>0$ again includes both simple poles. The residue theorem givesThis overdamped response has no oscillation. Its slow tail is $e^{-(\kappa -\eta )t}/(2\eta )$, and it tends to zero because $\eta <\kappa$.

At $\Omega =\kappa$, the inverse-transform denominator is $-(\omega -i\kappa {)}^2$. For $t>0$, its upper-half-plane double-pole residue is the derivative of the exponential:It is also the continuous limit of both answers above as $\beta \to 0$ or $\eta \to 0$. This critically damped response tends to zero with a linear factor multiplying the exponential.

In all three cases, for $t<0$ close the contour in the lower half-plane, where $e^{i\omega t}$ decays. There are no poles inside, soAt $t=0$ its continuous value is zero and $G^{\prime }(0^{+})=1$, producing the unit derivative jump required by $(D_t^2+2\kappa D_t+{\Omega }^2)G=\delta (t)$. Thus all three formulas are causal Green's functions and all decay to zero at late times.