Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ia Paper 2 8C a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
For real initial data, separation of variables givesThis includes , whose solution is identically zero. Every other real has a pole at , so only gives a finite solution on the whole real line. If complex-valued initial data are allowed, a nonreal has no real-time pole; the whole-real-line conclusion here uses the usual real-valued differential-equation convention.
Along a characteristic curve , the chain rule gives . For the homogeneous transport equation this is zero, so . For the nonlinear equation, the same method of characteristics reduces the problem to , with initial value . ThereforeFor differentiable real , this is the classical solution wherever its denominator is nonzero, on the characteristic intervals containing the initial line. If for some , that characteristic blows up at , . Thus the only real-valued solution bounded on all of has , giving .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ib Paper 2 16A Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
Put in the Laplace equation in cylindrical coordinates. Separation of variables first gives ; -periodicity forces , with angular factors (only the constant for ). Taking givesFor the separated modes are thereforeHere and are the Bessel function of the first kind and the Bessel function of the second kind. For the opposite sign , the modes instead involve , the modified Bessel functions, paired with . At zero separation constant use and for , or for . Superpositions over the integer angular orders and appropriate sums or integrals over the separation parameter give the general separated expansion; boundary conditions select its spectrum and coefficients. Regularity at the axis excludes terms.
For the specified decaying side data, bounded separated modes use . A particular solution isAll three denominators are nonzero. Each term satisfies the radial Bessel differential equation, is regular at the axis and bounded for , and substitution at gives the stated side values. The modes behave as at the axis, so their apparent angular dependence there causes no singularity.
There is an actual nonuniqueness in the printed problem: no values are specified at . If is the first positive zero of , then for every real ,is another bounded solution with the same side values. It remains smooth at the axis and even decays as . This explicitly proves that side boundary data do not determine a bounded harmonic function in a half-cylinder. Thus the boxed expression supplies a bounded solution; the phrase “the bounded solution” is not justified without an additional base boundary condition. The PDF has , whereas the TeX transcription displays .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 306 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Set . Work on the strip in conformal gauge, with worldsheet signature and target signature . In light-cone gauge in string theory, the independent fields are the transverse coordinates. Put the Neumann boundary condition at and the Dirichlet boundary condition at ; reversing the endpoints exchanges cosine and sine modes without changing the spectrum. The fixed endpoint is .
Varying the transverse Polyakov action gives and the spatial boundary contribution . At the free endpoint this vanishes precisely when ; at the fixed endpoint . Separation of variables then gives with , hence , . These are Neumann-Dirichlet open-string boundary conditions. No dynamical transverse worldsheet zero mode survives: a constant solution must equal the prescribed , and a linear-in- solution violates the free-end condition.
Write . The orthogonality relation reduces the action to independent harmonic oscillators:The canonical commutation relations determine normalized annihilation operators at Thus . These formulas derive the quantization from the action rather than import integer-moded open-string rules.
For the usual phased string oscillators, set and for . Then the half-integer open-string oscillator expansion and algebra areThe corresponding field momentum density is . Completeness of the mixed-boundary eigenfunctions gives , where . This is a distribution identity on the mixed-boundary function space, not an unrestricted value at a fixed endpoint with a Dirichlet boundary condition.
Classically, the transverse Virasoro algebra zero-mode generator isThere is no transverse momentum term. If the two light-cone directions are common directions with Neumann boundary conditions, the full zero-mode constraint adds : . This assumption about the longitudinal directions is needed to interpret oscillator levels as target-space masses.
Quantizing the symmetrically ordered transverse generator gives , where the string level operator is . Each harmonic oscillator contributes to the vacuum energy. Use zeta function regularization and the Riemann zeta function with the actual half-integer spectrum:Consequently the Neumann-Dirichlet string zero-point energy isIn the common convention , the normal-ordering constant of a string is . This positive shift differs from the vacuum energy of 24 integer-moded transverse bosons. The difference between those two vacuum energies is . To distinguish zero-mode conventions, the ND twist conformal weight is per transverse boson. With 24 bosons, the plane matter generator is ; its physical open-string condition is exactly the strip/light-cone constraint used here. The transverse plane and strip constants differ by the central charge shift . A common exponential frequency cutoff independently gives , confirming the finite part and avoiding invalid termwise manipulation of divergent sums.
Let . The lowest levels of a fully transverse ND bosonic string areThe third level has two excitations; there is no oscillator. Its indices are symmetric because the creation operators commute. With and the common longitudinal momentum convention, the rest energies and masses obeyAt fixed positive the corresponding light-cone energies are ; the table lists excitation levels, not a spectrum that remains discrete if longitudinal momentum is varied continuously.
The surviving transverse rotations form . The ground state is a scalar, the next level its vector, and the third level the symmetric square of the vector. Separating its trace givesThe trace state is proportional to ; subtracting this trace gives the 299-dimensional symmetric traceless square.
There is a qualification to the printed “little group”. The little group with mixed string boundary conditions must preserve the endpoints as well as momentum. These boundary conditions break the full 26-dimensional Lorentz group, so the massive states above cannot be classified as representations of the unbroken 26-dimensional massive little group . In a D1–D25 realization the common worldvolume has Lorentz group and trivial connected massive little group; acts on the ND coordinates as an internal rotation group. The scalar, vector and symmetric trace-free decomposition is under the surviving transverse SO(24), with this boundary-background qualification.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ib Paper 4 5A Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Separation of variables with and the three homogeneous boundary conditions gives and . The boundary value at contains only the third Fourier sine series mode. ThereforeThis harmonic function has all four prescribed boundary values.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 321 2 e Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
At fixed cylindrical radius, let and use the continuity equation . For the similarity solution and , the continuity equation reduces toHere is dimensionless and labels the initial height. Midplane symmetry sets the integration constant to zero, so the flow is a homologous vertical motion of an astrophysical disk:The hydrostatic approximation and ideal gas law becomeThe material derivatives are and , so the energy equation givesSeparation of variables requires a positive constant such thatIntegrating with gives the slow cooling of an astrophysical disk similarity factorA closed set of profile equations is thereforeThese have the same polytropic vertical structure in stellar gravity as part (b). Writingwith , fixesReturning to physical height, the explicit profiles and evolving semi-thickness for areandOutside this moving surface . The surface density of a disk is conserved because . The column cools and contracts without changing its scaled profile: its midplane temperature falls as , its mass density rises as and its pressure falls as .
The value determines , but the mass density normalization also enters . If the initial column is specifically the heated equilibrium of part (b), switching off its heating givesOtherwise , or equivalently the conserved column mass, is additional initial data. The contraction timescale grows with , so sufficiently slow initial evolution remains slow relative to the fixed vertical dynamical timescale of a disk. This is an exact solution of the reduced hydrostatic approximation, rather than the full momentum equation: its omitted vertical acceleration is , with , which remains small and decreases if .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 311 1 b iv Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
For this charged scalar field, . On , the gauge-covariant derivative of a charged scalar field supplies the shifted frequencyThe wave equation becomesSeparation of variables with constant givesandThe angular equation is the axisymmetric spherical harmonic equation on the three-sphere; regular solutions have with , the even values selected by the absence of and dependence.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ib Paper 1 14B Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
Expand in its Fourier sine seriesBy separation of variables, the decaying solution of Laplace equation in each half-strip has th mode proportional to . Continuity at and integration of the equation across the Dirac delta function require the normal-derivative jumpThe jump of is , so
For , its Fourier coefficients areThusTranslation in gives the Dirichlet Green function for an infinite strip with source :
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ib Paper 2 13A ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
By separation of variables, the axisymmetric normal modes satisfying regularity at and the fixed-edge condition at arewhere . The zero initial displacement removes all cosine terms, soDifferentiating at gives the weighted Fourier-Bessel expansionMultiply by and integrate from zero to one. The orthogonality and norm from part (i) giveUsingthe remaining integral isHenceand therefore
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 iii Paper 333 3 ii Solution 2026-09-29
Linearization about rest replaces the material derivative by , so the quasi-geostrophic potential-vorticity equation becomesInsert the separation of variables and imposeThe horizontal amplitude then satisfiesThe Linear Rossby-wave equation therefore governs each vertical normal mode, whose Rossby deformation radius is .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 iii Paper 336 2 b Solution 2026-09-28
For constant width, separation of variables with givesHence , with imaginary representing an evanescent mode.
For and varying width,Projection of the next-order equation onto , whose squared norm is proportional to , givesThus the WKB amplitude in a slowly varying duct isThis applies for away from turning points .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ib Paper 2 14A a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Apply separation of variables to the Laplace equation in polar coordinates by writing . Division by givesThe requirement that be a real -periodic function restricts the separation constants to , with angular factors and . For , the radial ordinary differential equation is an Euler equation with solutions and . For the zero mode, is constant andso . By linearity, superposition givesThis is the separated expansion of a harmonic function in a circular region.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 ib Paper 3 5B Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-09-25
Set . Periodicity and separation of variables give the angular modes , , and . The radial equation iswhose solutions are for ; the zero mode has solutions and . Thus a general real harmonic function on the annulus is
The boundary data contain only the cosine mode, so writeThe condition at gives , and the condition at fixes . The Dirichlet problem on an annulus for one Fourier mode therefore has solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 ii Paper 3 13A a i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
For separation of variables, put and set . The boundary conditions are , . Multiplying by and using integration by parts givesA nonzero solution therefore has : the zero case forces constant, and then forces . Writing , the eigenfunctions and their temporal factors areThese sine functions are orthogonal on , with squared norm . Expanding the initial condition and multiplying by gives, using the permitted interchange of the sum and integral,Here and . Thus the Fourier series solution isThe exponential decay permits differentiation of the series for , and each term satisfies both boundary conditions. At it is the mixed-end Fourier expansion of .
The gained heat is the increase in internal energy. Since the paper specifies no cross-sectional area, first give the answer per unit cross-sectional area; multiply by for a rod of cross-sectional area . The initial temperature has integral , whereas . At this givesNumerically . This is positive and less than the eventual gain , as expected from relaxation towards the uniform steady state.
For separation of variables, set , with . The side Neumann boundary conditions give . As in the standard Sturm-Liouville problem, integration by parts shows . The zero eigenvalue gives constant , and together with makes constant too.
For positive eigenvalues, the side conditions give , , . The top condition chooses the hyperbolic cosine factor . Normalize it to one at , obtainingThe orthogonality of integer Fourier modes and the permitted interchange of summation and integration giveFor the remaining Fourier coefficients, integrate by parts twice. The sine boundary term vanishes, and with ,The last integral vanishes because and is a positive integer. Thus : only even Fourier modes survive, as expected from reflection symmetry about . Writing givesThe factor involving hyperbolic cosine lies between zero and one on the closed rectangle. Comparison with proves uniform convergence, so the solution is continuous on the entire boundary and takes the prescribed bottom values. On every strip , the Fourier coefficients have additional exponential decay, allowing differentiation and verifying Laplace's equation and all three Neumann boundary conditions.
To justify the endpoint calculation in b, differentiate at , in the interior-edge sense:Subtracting from the hyperbolic tangent leaves an absolutely convergent series. For the remaining part, the power series gives, by taking real parts at and then ,The same formula follows as the limit of the differentiated interior solution, since its leading multiplier is . This establishes the boundary normal derivative used in b. It also explains why the failure of the corner compatibility condition for mixed boundary data affects first derivatives at the bottom corners without spoiling continuity of itself.
Subtract the constant steady state profile: set . ThenThe last equation follows from Fourier's law and zero heat flux at the insulated end. For a nonzero separated solution , separation of variables givesTo see that for a nonzero eigenfunction, multiply the spatial equation by and use integration by parts:Both boundary terms vanish. If the right side were zero, would be constant and would make it zero. Thus write with . Solving gives , and requires . The mixed Dirichlet-Neumann modes on an interval therefore haveThe eigenvalues of are ; are their positive square roots. By superposition, with coefficients for which the resulting series and its required derivatives converge at positive times,The eigenfunctions are orthogonal on and have squared norm . Expanding the initial excess temperature givesThus the requested temperature isAt the insulated endpoint cancels the alternating coefficient sign, leavingEvery summand is positive. The endpoint temperature never drops below ; it decreases towards as and starts at .
For completeness, the Sturm-Liouville eigenfunction expansion gives the initial profile in the sense. Here the coefficients are absolutely summable, so the Weierstrass M-test also gives uniform convergence on , and the initial values are recovered everywhere. For positive times the exponential factors justify all required termwise derivatives, giving a classical solution. There is, however, an initial incompatibility with a Neumann boundary condition at : the initial slope is , while the insulated Neumann boundary condition requires zero slope for . The temperature is continuous to the initial edge, but cannot extend continuously to that corner. One must not differentiate the initial series term by term at .
Here , so the Binet equation reduces toThe initial conditions becomeMultiply the differential equation by and use the chain rule:The initial conditions give . Since , cannot change sign at a finite value of . Thus on the physical branch. Separation of variables givesThereforeThe natural logarithm must be positive because . For the forward trajectory, and , so : the particle travels counterclockwise while strictly decreases.
For , it starts at , with tangent vector proportional to . Its successive crossings of the positive coordinate axis have radiiIt makes infinitely many inward turns, approaching the origin as . There is no finite-time arrival at the origin: behaves as , whose improper integral diverges. If extended backwards, it comes from infinity as .
With , the chain rule gives . ThusSeparation of variables gives the eigenfunctions with time factors . The Fourier sine coefficients of the initial constant areOnly odd modes survive, soReturning to , , henceFor every the exponential coefficients give uniform convergence of the differentiated series on later-time compact sets, verifying the PDE and boundary conditions. As , the solution tends to at every interior point and in L2 norm, while remaining zero at the endpoints. The expression is visibly even in , consistent with the corrected symmetry argument for .
Treat the boundary data as -periodic in the angular variable. Denote the outer data by , and set for the inner data. Define their mean and nonconstant Fourier coefficients byThe outer data have reflection symmetry, so all their sine Fourier coefficients vanish. Their mean is , and their cosine Fourier coefficients are
The angular Fourier harmonics for a single-valued harmonic function in an annulus are and , with integer . Their radial factors are independent combinations of and ; the zero angular mode has radial factor . For arbitrary inner data, the sine and cosine modes need independent radial coefficients: forcing them to share one radial factor, as in the product form supplied in the paper, would impose an extra restriction. For either sine or cosine mode, if its outer and inner coefficients are and , the radial coefficients obeySolving this linear system givesIt is convenient to collect the result into the annular harmonic interpolation factorsThey satisfy , , and . The zero mode satisfies and . Therefore the required separation of variables solution isAll dependence on is given by the displayed integrals. Substituting leaves its Fourier series, and substituting leavesthe Fourier series of the specified outer step. The radial factors satisfy , so each nonconstant term satisfies Laplace's equation; and do also. For integrable boundary data the radial factors give exponential decay on every closed subannulus strictly inside , justifying the necessary termwise partial derivatives there.
There is a qualification at the two outer jump discontinuities. By pointwise convergence of a piecewise smooth Fourier series, the outer series gives at , whereas the printed data assign at those two points. Thus the displayed solution attains the outer data at their continuity points, and has radial limit at the jumps. One may separately assign the boundary value at the two exceptional points without changing the interior harmonic function, but no continuous extension can match the discontinuous data there. For piecewise smooth inner data, the analogous boundary trace agrees with at continuity points and with its midpoint at jumps. Some regularity of is necessary for a classical interpretation; the problem imposes none explicitly.
Put in Laplace's equation and multiply by on intervals where the factors are nonzero. Separation of variables givesand henceThe angular Dirichlet boundary conditions are . Multiplication of the angular equation by , followed by integration by parts, givesFor a nonzero angular eigenfunction this forces : equality would make constant and then zero. Write . The first angular condition removes the cosine term, and the second requires . ThusThe radial Cauchy-Euler equation has the two solutions and . By superposition, the general separated series is thereforeThe coefficients are arbitrary subject to convergence with enough partial derivatives on compact subsets to give a harmonic function and to the prescribed zero values on the two open radial edges. Completeness of the sine eigenfunctions gives the usual series representation for solutions smooth up to those edges on closed radial subintervals. There is no constant or logarithmic zero mode because its angular factor would be linear in and would vanish at both ends only if it were zero.
The negative powers must be retained: the stated domain omits , and no boundedness at that vertex is prescribed. For example, is a harmonic function satisfying both edge conditions. An additional boundedness condition as would remove all ; an additional value on the circular arc would then determine the remaining . With only the conditions in the paper, neither restriction is available and the solution is not unique.
