Past exam of the perturbation methods and applied complex variables course of the University of Oxford / 2007 / A / 1 / Solution

Away from the boundary, derivatives of a smoothly varying solution are much smaller than $k^{2}f$ unless the outer solution vanishes. Nonzero boundary data therefore require a rapidly varying layer. If its thickness is $\delta$, the radial second derivative is of order $f/{\delta }^2$; balancing it with $k^{2}f$ gives $\delta =k^{-1}$.

Put $R=k(1-r)$ and write $f(r,\theta )=F(R,\theta )$. The equation becomesFor fixed $R$ and boundary data with angular variation independent of $k$, the leading equation is $F_{RR}=F$. Matching to the zero outer solution removes the growing exponential, and the boundary value at $R=0$ fixes its coefficient:This approximation describes the layer; it is not a uniform expansion in polar coordinates at the origin.

Laplace's method localizes an exponential integral near maxima of its real phase. At an isolated smooth interior maximum $t_0$ with $G^{\prime \prime }(t_0)<0$ and $F(t_0)\ne 0$, Taylor expansion and Gaussian integral giveAn endpoint maximum with nonzero inward phase slope instead gives an inverse-$k$ factor. Degenerate maxima require their first nonzero local phase term; continuous differentiability alone does not guarantee the quadratic formula.

Here $\cos (ix\sin \varphi )=\cosh (x\sin \varphi )$. In its two exponentials, the positive exponential dominates at the interior maximum $\varphi =\pi /2$ of $\sin \varphi$. Since $\sin (\pi /2+s)=1-s^2/2+O(s^4)$,The negative exponential has no comparable positive maximum and is negligible. Consequently, where $kr\to \infty$,In the boundary layer $r=1-R/k$, $r^{-1/2}=1+O(k^{-1})$, so this reduces to $e^{-R}$, agreeing with the formal result when $g=1$.