Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2025 / Paper 2 / 3 / c / Solution

Use the Green-function representation to integrate over the charged segment:For $y\ne 0$, a primitive with respect to $u$ isas direct differentiation verifies using the derivative of inverse tangent. ThereforeThis expression is even in $y$, since $y\arctan (u/y)$ is even. On $y=0$, take the continuous limit $F(u,0)=u\log u^2-2u$, with $u\log u^2=0$ at $u=0$. The finite segment has a logarithmically growing potential at large distance, but its electric field decays; the boundary condition constrains the field rather than the potential.