Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 77 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For the intended nontrivial interface, take the limiting amplitude at the patterned end to be ; the identically zero solution is otherwise a trivial exception. Splitting the stationary real-coefficient cubic-quintic amplitude equation into real and imaginary parts givesThe imaginary equation implies , a constant. The radial first integral isA regular solution has finite . As , the nonnegative term would diverge unless . Hence wherever the nontrivial front has positive amplitude. This conclusion does not assume in advance that the patterned end has no phase gradient.
For a heteroclinic orbit connecting two constant states, tends to zero at both ends. Thus , while the nonzero end must obey both and . Eliminating givesThis is the stationary front of a cubic-quintic amplitude equation: a unique equal-potential parameter in the bistable interval.
Existence, not just a necessary condition, follows from the first integral. At , . The descending solution obeys , which integrates toIt connects the stable upper pattern at to conduction at , with arbitrary translation and constant phase .