Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 47 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use material coordinates and write the placement as . The strain energy density in the printed convention is per unit reference mass. It is convenient to use the conventional first Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensor , soAssume the undeformed reference state is stress-free. With and infinitesimal strain tensor , material isotropy and material frame indifference give the quadratic expansionConsequently the Lamé parameters from hyperelastic energy Hessian areIndeed, differentiating the quadratic expression twice givesthe elastic stiffness tensor of linear elasticity. A prestressed reference state requires the corresponding initial-stress corrections; the displayed formula concerns the natural state.
For a plane elastic wave, , put and . Balance of momentum without body force becomesThis is a material-coordinate equation: the reference density cancels between inertia and nominal stress. If , the first-order system has characteristic speeds and right eigenvectors . Along a characteristic curve with , its differential compatibility relation isThis follows by multiplying the system by the left eigenvector . It does not assert the existence of globally integrable Riemann invariants for an arbitrary three-component constitutive law.
There is a necessary qualification to the finite-amplitude transverse request. Set and , so . The longitudinal momentum equation requiresThus arbitrary nonuniform pure transverse profiles are possible only if the compatibility condition for pure nonlinear transverse waves holds:The third component vanishes by the reflection symmetry implied by isotropy and objectivity. The shear equation then closes:
General compressible hyperelastic material assumptions alone do not imply the required compatibility. For a concrete counterexample, take the Saint Venant–Kirchhoff hyperelastic energyFor , this becomesAt , . A varying shear therefore produces a longitudinal force and cannot preserve . Infinitesimal transverse waves do exist, because this coupling is second order, but a general pure finite-amplitude transverse wave does not.
The compatible nonlinear shear energy class is nonempty and can be genuinely nonlinear. Define , , and, for , takeThis is objective and isotropic. Near , , so it has the specified Lamé parameters. On the plane deformation above, and . Hence at , whileFor positive , the relevant incremental plane moduli are positive. This supplies an explicit stable pure transverse family and, when , amplitude-dependent wave speed.
For any compatible family, letThe equations and give the Riemann invariantsConsider the initially undisturbed half-space . A right-going simple wave has the incoming invariant , so . Denote the prescribed boundary nominal stress by . The physical boundary traction, whose outward normal is , is . Invert the monotone law to obtain . The wave state emitted at boundary time is transported alongAhead of the leading front the state is zero. Before characteristic crossing, these equations determine the unique emission time for each disturbed point. The displacement itself is also determined, rather than just its derivatives:Differentiating the implicit emission relation verifies and , so this is the complete pre-shock simple wave solution.
Write . The boundary-generated characteristic curves lose invertibility whenThus the characteristic crossing in a boundary-generated elastic simple wave criterion isHere . A smoothly increasing boundary stress therefore steepens into a shock wave only when later states travel faster: . Increasing stress alone is insufficient. For the compatible example with and , , so a nonzero increasing ramp produces finite-time crossing. For all rays are parallel and no such shock forms. This criterion locates the first gradient singularity; subsequent discontinuous evolution additionally requires the jump conditions and an admissibility condition.
For a general vector simple wave, replace the pure-shear line by an integral curveSubstitution gives , with the same emission construction and crossing criterion. Boundary tractions must lie on this one-family curve. Generic finite-amplitude quasi-transverse waves may contain longitudinal displacement; arbitrary vector boundary forcing need not generate a single simple wave.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 49 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The constitutive convolution is the response of a linear viscoelastic fluid close to its relaxed state. Deformations and rotations during the material's memory time must be small, so the stress is linear in the deformation history and evaluating that history at a fixed position is consistent with linearization about rest. For an isotropic incompressible flow, the deviatoric stress is proportional to the history of the rate-of-strain tensor; an arbitrary isotropic pressure is separate. Small amplitude permits arbitrary frequency: the approximation does not require in an oscillatory experiment. Large accumulated deformation, substantial advection of memory, and nonlinear normal-stress differences are outside this formula's scope.
If a small step of strain is imposed at time zero and then held, to linear order. The convolution consequently gives for . In simple shear flow, this reads for a shear-strain step . Thus is the remaining shear stress per unit imposed step of shear strain, which explains the name relaxation modulus and directly describes stress relaxation.
Use the convention . Substitution into the convolution defines the complex viscosity:Write . Its real part multiplies the component in phase with the rate-of-strain tensor, causing dissipation; its imaginary part describes the out-of-phase, elastic response. More precisely the complex shear modulus is , so the storage modulus and loss modulus areFor shear-rate amplitude the mean dissipated power per unit volume is . For the exponential Maxwell fluid memory kernel, direct integration givesThe zero-shear viscosity is , and the high-frequency storage modulus tends to .
For the channel, let and interpret as the signed amplitude of , not the positive pressure drop. The Cauchy momentum equation and no-slip boundary conditions giveDefine and , choosing either square-root branch consistently; the flux expression is even in . The symmetric solution isIts integral across the channel gives the oscillatory channel flux of a linear Maxwell fluid:This includes inertia while using the linear constitutive response. The pressure-gradient amplitude must be small enough that the resulting deformation stays in that response regime.
As , . HenceIn particular , the usual plane Poiseuille flow flux with viscosity . The fluid has enough time to relax and behaves as a Newtonian fluid at leading order.
For fixed positive , let . At large frequency the square root with positive real part satisfiesIts real part tends to a positive constant, so remains bounded although it oscillates. Thus andThe leading volume-integrated response is an inertial balance and is in quadrature with the driving force . It is not necessary for the local profile to be a nearly uniform plug: the Maxwell fluid is elastic at these frequencies, and shear waves with speed can cross the gap. The oscillatory part of largely cancels on integration. Small attenuation allows resonance-like enhancements at finite frequencies; the leading flux limit still holds for fixed nonzero relaxation and gap parameters. A Newtonian thin viscous-layer argument would not justify the Maxwell profile here.
Finally take the different ordering but . Now is small, so the small- expansion remains appropriate even at a large Deborah number. The result isHere inertia is negligible throughout the narrow gap. Dividing the velocity by gives the displacement amplitude, whose parabolic profile is determined by an elastic shear balance with modulus . The velocity therefore grows like frequency for a fixed displacement response. This is not the fixed-gap high-frequency limit just obtained: with fixed, the condition eventually fails.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 47 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Subtract the ambient velocity and stress, writing . This perturbation decays at infinity and on the sphere has velocity . The ambient flow is regular through the ball and has no body force. Its net torque on the imaginary spherical surface is zero: the divergence theorem converts the torque to the volume integral of the stress divergence plus its antisymmetric part, both zero. Thus the perturbation has zero torque too.
Reciprocity with the auxiliary rotlet givesUsing yieldsOn this sphere , so the vector divergence theorem gives . Taking the curl of the homogeneous Stokes equation makes harmonic. Its ball average is its central value: the derivative of each spherical mean is proportional to the volume integral of its Laplacian, hence zero, and its small-radius limit is its value at the center. ThereforeThis proves Faxén rotation law directly from the reciprocal theorem, including why no finite-radius Laplacian correction is needed for a body-force-free ambient flow. Regularity of the ambient field throughout the sphere's prospective interior is part of this argument.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 47 1 Solution 2026-10-14
Use the Unscaled Papkovich–Neuber representationwith harmonic vector and scalar potentials. For a torque-driven sphere chooseIts components are harmonic for , and both and vanish. HenceThe last equality follows from the no-slip boundary condition at . To check that is indeed the applied couple, the traction on the sphere, with directed into the fluid, is . Its hydrodynamic torque isHere . The applied couple balances this resisting torque. The resulting field is the rotlet of a rotating sphere in Stokes flow.
For the Lorentz reciprocal theorem for Stokes flow, let point out of the fluid domain and take the same viscosity in both flows. With , the theorem isIt follows by taking the divergence of the boundary integrand: incompressibility removes pressure-work terms, the two Newtonian strain contractions are equal, and the remaining stress divergences give the displayed body-force terms. This convention matters: on the inner boundary of an exterior domain, .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 47 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The material derivative follows surfactant carried by the moving interface. Tangential surface divergence changes the local surface area and hence dilutes or concentrates insoluble material. Normal motion changes area through the curvature: an expanding sphere has positive and its concentration decreases. The last term is surface diffusion, which smooths concentration gradients. There is no exchange with the bulk; this is conservation of insoluble surfactant on a moving interface.
The interfacial speed is of order . Diffusion dominates redistribution when the surface Péclet number satisfiesThen , and advection of is a second-order effect. Write . Since , the projected divergence of the first term is , whereas the second has divergence ; its gradient contracted with is zero. Hence .
The leading steady transport equation is . Trace-freeness and the supplied surface Laplacian identity give . Fixing the conserved total surfactant removes the uniform null mode and yieldsThis is quadrupolar surfactant distribution on a spherical interface; its spherical mean is zero because .
With outside, inside, and the normal directed out of the bubble, the interfacial stress balance with variable surface tension isNow , so . Multiplying the curvature by the tension and retaining linear terms givesThe undeformed isotropic pressure jump is kept with its normal; the perturbation terms are evaluated on the reference sphere. Products of deformation and concentration perturbations are beyond the approximation.
The imposed tensor is symmetric and traceless, so is a harmonic scalar of degree two. Its decaying partner is ; the corresponding harmonic vector uses . Linearity and rotational symmetry give precisely these tensorial modes, with the growing scalar chosen to reproduce the imposed strain. Thus in the unscaled convention one can takeThe coefficients multiply distinct decaying modes. No other angular harmonic is forced at this order.
No penetration in the steady state gives . The given tangential surface velocity implies . The tangential stress balance, with , gives , or . ThereforeThe nonuniform normal stress is unaffected by the uniform inviscid interior pressure. Its balance isSubstitution and rearrangement giveAs , : the concentration-induced Marangoni stress suppresses tangential surface motion, making the exterior boundary behave like an immobile surface despite the inviscid interior. The deformation coefficient tends to ; the clean limit is . Both small surface Péclet number and small deformation, of order , are required. This is Marangoni immobilization of a bubble in straining flow.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 50 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Write , and . Use the infinitesimal strain tensor, symmetric stress, zero body force, and the outward unit normal . The divergence theorem applied separately to the two displacement derivatives givesFor static elastic equilibrium, , and therefore . With traction , the divergence theorem now givesThe right-hand side is automatically symmetric because the volume stress tensor is symmetric; it can also be written as the integral of .
To prove the work identity, put . The constant symmetric tensor is equilibrated, so integration by parts givesHere the two cross terms each equal , and the last constant term restores one of them. Division by the volume proves the required identity. In particular, affine boundary displacement makes on the boundary and yields the Hill-Mandel energy identity. The zero-body force hypothesis matters: otherwise the first integration by parts has an additional volume-force term.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 50 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Interpret derivatives on the space of symmetric strains, with inner product . Assume a differentiable strain energy density with local stress , and a differentiable stable equilibrium branch under the prescribed affine boundary displacement. Thus with on ; part(a) ensures that the mean strain is exactly .
Vary in any symmetric direction . The induced displacement variation has the form , where vanishes on the boundary. Differentiating the effective elastic energy and using static elastic equilibrium givesThe last term is zero by integration by parts, since the body force is zero and has zero boundary trace. As is arbitrary,This is a work-conjugacy statement on symmetric tensors; treating off-diagonal entries as independent scalar coordinates without their contraction weights would introduce erroneous factors of two. If the minimized effective elastic energy has a nondifferentiable point, the corresponding formulation uses a subgradient rather than a claimed classical derivative.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 50 1 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
In the Voigt elastic approximation, every local strain is . The corresponding local stress is . Differentiating the averaged strain energy density under the integral givesThe uniform strain need not generate an equilibrated local stress; this calculation concerns the stated approximation, not an assertion that it solves the heterogeneous boundary problem.
For the Reuss elastic approximation, use the convex conjugateUnder differentiable strictly convex duality, the local strain produced by uniform stress is . Set . Averaging the local strains gives . At the maximizing stress in , the stationarity condition is precisely . ConsequentlyThus the derivative of each approximate energy is its own mean stress, includingFor positive linear elasticity, and , giving the useful check and . More general convex duality gives the same conjugacy relation with subgradients when differentiability or strict convexity is absent.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 50 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
At a perfectly bonded elastic interface without an interfacial force, displacement and traction are continuous:Tangential derivatives of the common displacement trace are also continuous. Thus the jump of a piecewise constant displacement gradient tensor annihilates every tangential vector, and has the form . Taking its symmetric part shows that the strain jump is , whereThe adjoint formula follows from for symmetric stress tensors. Tangential-tangential strain components are therefore common to all layers. Conversely, such gradient jumps can be realized by continuous piecewise affine displacement in the layered geometry.
Take positive elastic stiffness tensors with their usual minor and major symmetries, and a positive comparison elastic stiffness tensor . A fictitious layer can have the same tangential displacement derivatives and the same traction as the physical layers. Hence . The common traction condition giveswhere is the positive acoustic tensor, with components . Solving for givesExpanding the two occurrences of gives exactly the symmetrization over and in the directional elastic strain Green operator specified in the paper.
For any two layers, the inverse identity for their acoustic tensors proves the required resolvent relation without interchanging noncommuting tensors:With , this identity also gives . ThereforeThese finite-dimensional operators are inverses. Define . Then , and averaging strains and stresses givesEliminating the fictitious strain yieldsAll products have the displayed order; the elastic stiffness tensors need not commute.
It remains to justify the inverse and comparison independence. Consider two compatible equilibrated layer solutions with the same mean strain. Their difference has zero common tangential-tangential strain, so , with because is injective and the mean difference is zero. Their traction difference is one common vector . ThereforePositive elastic energy forces every to vanish. In particular, if , all physical layer strains vanish. Their common tangential components then force , and their zero traction gives . Hence , proving that is invertible. Finally, every positive choice of constructs the unique layer solution for the same . Its averaged stress is unique, so the displayed effective stiffness is independent of the fictitious comparison material. This is the exact layered constitutive response, rather than a claim that piecewise constant fields meet arbitrary finite-body boundary data.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 50 5 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be the actual displacement field, let be an admissible trial displacement, and set . On the displacement-prescribed part of the boundary, . With actual stress , the supporting-plane inequality for the convex strain energy density givesBoth and satisfy static elastic equilibrium with the same body force, so . On the traction-prescribed boundary their tractions agree. Since , integration by parts givesSubtracting the prescribed external-work representative proves the minimum potential energy principle in elasticity:Strict convexity gives uniqueness of the minimizing strain, although rigid displacements can remain when the boundary conditions allow them.
For the comparison bound, put and use the lower conjugate, with its infimum sign convention,Its defining inequality is , hence for every . Integrate this pointwise majorant for each compatible strain, then take the infimum over the same admissible set. This provesNo convexity of is used for this inequality. If , it yields only the extended-real upper bound . For example, and give for every finite . A useful finite bound requires a suitable comparison energy; choosing a sufficiently stiff quadratic comparison makes the usual excess energies concave. The derivative used below additionally presupposes finite differentiable duals, or an appropriate supergradient formulation.
Now normalize , take positive constant , and write . For phasewise constant elastic polarization , its lower conjugate contribution is constant within each phase. The remaining minimization isWrite the minimizing strain as , where comes from a zero-boundary displacement field. The static elastic equilibrium equation is , so the supplied elastic strain Green operator gives . Its zero mean removes the cross term with the constant . Using its reciprocity and projection property , we obtainHere the brackets in the last two terms denote the spatial integral and tensor contraction, not just a phase average.
Let . The zero output mean and reciprocity of imply that it annihilates constant elastic polarizations on either side. Thus subtracting and from the phase indicators does not change their bilinear integral. Define the fourth-order block tensorsConsequently , , andThese identities follow from reciprocity and ; no phase independence assumption is needed. The phase polarization comparison bound, valid for every polarization with finite dual terms, is thereforeIn particular, it can be optimized over the phase elastic polarizations without changing the upper-bound direction.
To derive the final displayed form, impose the stationarity equations in the question. For , put ; these are dual strains, initially distinct from the comparison solution's phase averages. Reciprocity of givesThus stationarity is exactlyThe comparison solution has phase meanso the dual strains become its phase means at stationarity. Multiplying the stationarity equations by and summing gives .
For clarity, the concave biconjugate here uses another infimum: . The lower conjugate is concave, since it is an infimum of affine functions. At a differentiable finite point, its supporting-plane inequality shows that minimizes this last expression when . HenceSubstitute both identities into to obtainThis is the requested final bound with the accompanying phase equations. It remains valid at any well-defined stationary choice; asserting existence of such a differentiable choice for arbitrary would require extra hypotheses. Without stationarity, the earlier is the correct general bound. In the concave closed excess-energy case ; for general excess energies replacing the concave biconjugate by without proof would reverse the needed majorant logic.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 53 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
An isotropic simple fluid has local stress determined by the deformation history of the material element. A viscometric flow is one whose relative deformation history is that of steady simple shear flow, up to rigid changes of frame. At a given element the shear rate is constant along its history, although it can differ between elements. This includes the locally simple-shear kinematics used in standard viscometric measurements.
Use the component-first velocity gradient . The first two Rivlin-Ericksen tensors areIn the axes of a steady shear , the relative deformation gradient over a lag is , since . The material history is determined by , and its tensor symmetries exclude and stress components. The remaining symmetric stress consists of an isotropic part, one shear component, and two independent normal-stress differences. The relevant matrices areThus span the allowed stress components. Material isotropy and reversal of the shear show that their scalar coefficients depend on . Define the viscometric functions bySolving for the matrix coefficients givesThis is an exact steady-viscometric representation, rather than an assumption that the fluid is everywhere a second-order fluid. The shear viscosity measures the shear resistance, while and measure the first and second normal-stress differences generated by shear. Their zero-rate values are understood as limits when these exist. An isotropic pressure changes neither normal difference.
For a flow in the lubrication approximation with gap , longitudinal scale and speed , the shear-rate scale is . The viscous shear force per unit volume scales as . Quadratic viscoelastic normal stresses scale as ; their longitudinal gradients, and the comparable mixed-component corrections, contribute forces of scale . Therefore the normal-stress smallness in lubrication criterion isEquivalently, the thin-gap aspect ratio must multiply the shear-based elastic parameter to give a small quantity: . Normal stresses need not themselves be smaller than the shear stress; it is their effect on the leading force balance that matters. If the flow changes on an additional short time scale , the term also requires for its neglect. Material coefficients should be evaluated at the characteristic shear rate.
Now take positive cylinder rotation, measure counterclockwise from the rightward horizontal, and let increase outward through the film. The tangent has upward component , so the tangential gravitational acceleration is . To leading order in , neglect inertia and higher-order hydrostatic or capillary pressure gradients, and write . Tangential force balance and the shear-free free surface givehenceThe wall shear stress is . It opposes rotation on the uphill side and assists it on the downhill side.
For a power-law fluid, . Its inversion must retain the sign:Integrating with the no-slip boundary condition yieldsThe volume flux per unit axial length is . The integrated bracket is , so the power-law coating on a rotating cylinder hasAt the gravitational term vanishes by continuity. Steady mass conservation makes independent of .
On the uphill half, put and . The local flux is , withIt has a unique maximum atA positive coating must carry the same steady flux at every angle. The tightest local bound occurs at , not on the downhill side, where the flux increases monotonically with thickness. ConsequentlyFor the thinner positive root on the uphill side connects through to the unique downhill root, giving a periodic leading-order coating profile. At the limiting flux the two uphill roots meet at ; it is the maximum flux of this lubrication model, with a possible limiting corner resolved by neglected higher-order effects. For the check is . All these conclusions require the resulting film to remain thin enough for the lubrication approximation and for the neglected normal stresses and inertia to satisfy their scaling restrictions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 53 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
A simple fluid reduces to a linear viscoelastic fluid when its deformation and rotation over the relevant memory interval are small enough to linearize the constitutive history about an isotropic relaxed state. Small amplitude is essential; small frequency is not. For example, arbitrarily high-frequency oscillation can still be linear if its strain amplitude is sufficiently small. The relaxation modulus is the shear-stress response to a unit small step of shear strain.
Choose the harmonic convention . If the imposed shear rate is , the corresponding shear stress is . Substitution into the constitutive convolution gives the complex viscosity:For a nondecaying elastic part this formula is understood through the limit from a positive Laplace damping parameter. The complex shear modulus is , so is the storage modulus, the loss modulus, and in this convention.
Creep is the progressive deformation produced by a held stress. For a small step of shear stress, define the creep compliance by from a relaxed state. Writing hats for Laplace transforms, the same constitutive law gives . Since , this yieldsHere is the Heaviside step function. Inversion determines the full creep response, including any instantaneous elastic strain jump. Equivalently, the causal relaxation/creep convolution includes that jump through for .
For the Maxwell fluid, . Thus the two material responses areThe creep response is an elastic jump followed by constant-rate viscous deformation. The zero-frequency shear viscosity is .
For the wall problem, take and denote the shear component of stress by . The incompressibility constraint is satisfied, and the advective part of the material derivative vanishes because no field depends on . With no imposed longitudinal pressure gradient, momentum conservation and the linear Maxwell law giveThe initial conditions are in ; the no-slip boundary condition is , with decay as . Transforming these equations givesChoose the analytic square-root branch in with , so that the spatially increasing solution is excluded. The Maxwell start-up shear layer consequently hasThe Bromwich inversion formula now givesThe vertical Bromwich contour is directed upward and lies to the right of all singularities, including the origin and the branch points at and . A cut joining these branch points is a possible continuation into the left half-plane; inversion only requires the stated right-half-plane branch.
The Newtonian limit holds fixed while , so . Then . With , the inverse Laplace transform gives the complementary error function profileThis is diffusive momentum penetration in a Newtonian fluid, with thickness of order .
The elastic limit instead holds fixed while . Write . On the chosen branch, , so the Laplace transform time-shift rule yieldsAn elastic shear front travels at speed : the material ahead is at rest, while that behind moves at the wall speed. Indeed the limiting displacement is , whose shear strain is . A nonzero pointwise velocity gradient at the front is interpreted distributionally, or by smoothing the ideal wall start.
The use of linear viscoelasticity is conditional, rather than automatically justified for arbitrary . The material derivative simplifying to a time derivative does not remove the nonlinear constitutive effects of finite shear strain. In this Maxwell problem the rapid elastic response supplies the natural strain scale , which must be small for linearization through start-up. Away from the front, the strain accumulated over an effective memory interval must likewise be small. In the late diffusive regime its characteristic size is , which decreases with time. Large absolute wall displacement alone is not a disqualification for a fluid with finite memory; it is relative deformation during that memory that matters. In the elastic limit, where memory does not decay, the explicit strain behind the front confirms the condition . Without such a small-strain restriction, the computed field is a formal linear response and need not describe an arbitrary simple fluid.