Past exam of the physics B course of the University of Cambridge / 2021 / Paper 1 / Section B / B7 / d / Solution

In terms of $R={\ell }_2/{\ell }_1$,Both curves decrease monotonically: with $q=1/R$, $d{\lambda }_{\pm }/dq=1\pm q/\sqrt{1/4+q^2}>0$, while $dq/dR<0$. The limits, including their leading approach, areThus the limiting squared angular frequencies are ${\omega }_0^2/2$ and infinity for short joining fibre, and zero and ${\omega }_0^2$ for very long joining fibre. For orientation, at $R=1$ the values are $(3\pm \sqrt{5}){\omega }_0^2/2$. The high-frequency curve stays above ${\omega }_0^2$ and the low-frequency curve below ${\omega }_0^2/2$.