Past exam of the year 2 of the earth sciences (geology) course of the University of Oxford / 2023 / Paper 1 / 10 / b

Put $k_n=n\pi /L$ and ${\lambda }_n=\kappa k_n^2$. Direct differentiation of $T_n=A\sin (k_{n}x)e^{-{\lambda }_{n}t}$ givesso ${\partial }_t{T}_n=\kappa {\partial }_x^2{T}_n$, the heat equation. At $x=0$, the sine factor vanishes; at $x=L$, it is $\sin (n\pi )=0$ for integer $n$. Thus the homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions hold. The nonzero, nonredundant spatial modes use $n=1,2,\dots$; $n=0$ is the zero function and negative $n$ only change the amplitude sign.

For $T_n=A\cos (k_{n}x)e^{-\kappa k_n^{2}t}$, direct differentiation again gives ${\partial }_t{T}_n=-\kappa k_n^2{T}_n$ and ${\partial }_x^2{T}_n=-k_n^2{T}_n$. Thus it satisfies the heat equation. Moreover,vanishes at both endpoints for integer $n$, proving the homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions. Now $n=0$ gives the nonzero constant mode $T=A$, which does not decay. It represents conserved mean temperature in an insulated plate.