Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 78 6 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Put , , , and write , . In antiplane perfect plasticity, force balance and the fixed yield surface giveDifferentiate the second relation in . Along the proposed characteristic curve,Similarly, differentiating the yield relation in givesThe associated flow rule and give , . ConsequentlyThus both shear stresses and the antiplane velocity are constant on each characteristic. Assume a regular yield gradient . Since the stress is constant on a characteristic, its tangent has fixed direction, so the curves are straight lines, apart from arbitrary reparameterization by .
In a centred antiplane plastic fan those lines emanate from the crack tip. Henceand a radial line at angle from the axis must haveThe crack faces have normal in the direction, so traction freedom requires there. The fan joins the adjacent constant crack-face stress region along the characteristic carrying that stress. Its boundary line therefore satisfieswith the direction interpreted directly when the denominator vanishes. The original PDF reverses this ratio. Its displayed ratio is , whereas the tangent of an angle from the axis is . The distinction cannot be removed while retaining both its stated characteristic direction and its angle convention.
For the elliptic yield surface, with ,On the forward fan , choose the loading branch . The radial tangent condition gives . Substituting in the yield equation and choosing the positive square root gives exactlyFor the endpoints, use the equivalent nonsingular expressionsThey give on the upper boundary ray and on the lower one. The correct boundaries are , the vertical line through the tip. At either of these stress states and , so the characteristic tangent is vertical. The printed boundary ratio would instead give a horizontal line, providing a concrete counterexample to that intermediate assertion.
Extend the upper and lower rear sectors by the constant stresses and respectively; these satisfy the traction-free crack faces and match the fan stresses continuously. The reversed loading has all stresses negated. To check equilibrium within the forward fan, differentiation givesand hence . The yield equation is satisfied identically as well.
Finally , while . The associated flow rule reduces tofor this stress branch. Any such angular velocity field is constant along the rays and has constant values in the adjacent rear sectors. Its magnitude and angular variation require velocity or loading data beyond the specified traction-free faces; the local stress fan alone does not determine them.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 82 1 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
At a sharp interface, continuity of velocity and traction gives, for unit incident velocity from the left,Thus and . Normalizing the transmitted velocity by its elastic-wave energy flux gives , exactly the result above. Right incidence gives the reversed reflection sign and the same flux-normalized transmission. A stress reflection coefficient has the opposite sign to the velocity reflection coefficient; the convention matters.
Put and . The incoming-to-outgoing matrix is , with . Therefore , proving equality of incoming and outgoing time-averaged flux for arbitrary coherent incident wave amplitudes, not just incidence from one side.
For all real frequencies the harmonic equations instead giveTheir right sides are equal; the diagonal terms have zero real contribution. ConsequentlyThe mean flux for real-part phasors is . Evaluating it at the two endpoints proves exactly that total outgoing flux equals total incoming flux at every real frequency. This relies on real lossless moduli and mass density; absorption would change the identity.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 78 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let point out of the drop, and use for the interior and for the exterior. The interfacial velocity is continuous. Define ; for a sphere of radius it is . With constant surface tension, the interfacial stress balance with variable surface tension reduces toUse the exterior-viscosity kernels to define and . The interior viscosity is , so its velocity kernel is , while its stress kernel is unchanged. The interior boundary equation isFor the decaying exterior flow, the inner boundary's fluid-domain normal is , soAdd these equations and use the traction jump. The required capillary boundary integral equation for a viscous drop isThe formula uses the drop-outward normal consistently in both integrals. If , the double-layer term cancels. A spherical drop of constant curvature has zero velocity: a constant Laplace-pressure jump is balanced without motion. A prescribed ambient flow would add its known far-boundary contribution; none is present for the surface-tension-driven flow here.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 78 1 Solution 2026-10-14
Use the Newtonian fluid stress tensor , where . The Stokes equations for a point force on the fluid are and . Put . Away from the origin, a harmonic vector potential proportional to in the Unscaled Papkovich–Neuber representation gives the rotationally covariant decaying solution. Specifically, take and . Differentiation yieldsThis satisfies the homogeneous Stokes equations for . Its stress isTo verify the point-force normalization, on a sphere the traction is . Since , its surface integral is . Thus integrating momentum balance over the small ball gives exactly the applied force , fixing the normalization of the Stokeslet. Its radial velocity is , soThere is no net volume or mass source at the singularity. The kernels have the parity and .
For two Stokes flows with the same viscosity and body forces , the Lorentz reciprocal theorem including body forces isIndeed, apply the divergence theorem to . The cross-gradient terms cancel: incompressibility removes each pressure contraction and the remaining terms are both . The two stress divergences give the body-force terms shown.
Choose flow 1 to be the desired body-force-free field and flow 2 to be a Stokeslet with arbitrary force vector at . For , the body-force term is . Rearrange the reciprocal identity and use the parity of ; equality for every givesFor outside the volume there is no point force in , so the same two integrals sum to zero. To obtain the smooth boundary value, exclude a small hemisphere about , use continuity of to replace it by on that hemisphere, and take the radius to zero. A full small sphere contributes ; a hemisphere contributes half of it. Equivalently, the local solid-angle factor is . The result is the boundary integral representation of Stokes flow with right side on a smooth boundary, and with the double layer interpreted by its boundary principal value. A nonsmooth corner would have a different solid-angle coefficient.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 78 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For body-force-free Stokes fields with the same viscosity,To prove this Lorentz reciprocal theorem, integrate the divergence of the difference of the two cross-work fluxes. Both stress divergences are zero; incompressibility and symmetry of the Newtonian stress reduce each cross-gradient contraction to . These are equal, so the divergence integrates to zero. The argument applies to an exterior domain by first cutting it off and taking the outer radius to infinity; the decaying velocity and stress make the outer boundary contribution vanish.
Define the generalized force as force and torque exerted by the rigid body on the fluid. With a resting far field and no-slip boundary conditions, on the body, and linearity givesFor two such motions the reciprocal theorem becomesSince the six-component velocities can be chosen independently, . The ordinary work identity givesfor every nonzero rigid-body motion. If the integral were zero, would make the connected exterior flow an infinitesimal rigid motion. Its decay at infinity requires that motion to be zero, which is incompatible with a nonzero no-slip body velocity. Thus is positive definite. Fluid-on-body forces have the opposite sign; their map is , not a positive-definite resistance matrix.
Write and . The helix has , soIts unit tangent is , where . The given slender-body force density is the force per arc length exerted on the fluid. For pure axial translation, , it givesFor pure rotation, , it givesThe axial torque per unit arc length is . Integrating along the wire gives the axial resistance matrix of a slender helixThus translation gives , and rotation gives . These are the requested axial components; the axial swimmer approximation does not require proving statements about the other components. The equality of the two off-diagonal coefficients checks reciprocity, andFor the organism, retain the specified entrainment approximation: the head moves with the local large-scale fluid translation, and its angular velocity differs from the local fluid rotation by . Put . Its torque on the fluid is therefore , and its force is neglected. Neutral buoyancy and absence of external torque giveSolving,This is the entrained-head approximation for a helical microswimmer, which differs from treating the head as an isolated sphere in otherwise stationary fluid. The flagellum's angular speed is also .
At fixed , the speed is maximal at and tends to zero at either limiting pitch. At fixed other parameters it decreases as : the longer flagellum has more resistance at the fixed torque supplied in this model. Holding the number of turns fixed instead would make change with pitch, so that is a different comparison.
The motor exerts equal and opposite torques of magnitude on flagellum and head, whose relative angular speed is . Therefore its rate of working isEquivalently, the work delivered to the fluid is . Translation contributes no net work because the total force vanishes. This explains the independence from and , without assigning an isolated-fluid drag law to the entrained head.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 78 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The material derivative follows surfactant carried by the moving interface. The term is dilution or concentration by tangential area expansion or contraction. The term is the additional area change produced by normal motion of a curved interface. The term represents surface diffusion, while relaxes the concentration towards a reservoir value through exchange. All these terms refer to concentration per surface area, as in surfactant transport with exchange relaxation.
In the steady bubble frame, the spherical interface has . Write with uniform and regard both and as first order in the rising speed. Advection of and its product with surface dilation are second order. Hence the linear steady equation isSpherical symmetry and linearity leave only the tangential projection of the imposed translation vector: . An azimuthal term would change sign under reflection and is excluded for this non-chiral rising bubble. The degree-one forcing does not excite other spherical-harmonic degrees in the linear problem.
On , differentiating givesEach component of is a degree-one spherical harmonic, soOne may also obtain the coefficient from : its surface Laplacian gives , while rotational symmetry makes the vector Laplacian parallel to . Expanding then yieldsThe candidate therefore solves the linear transport equation ifIts spherical mean is zero. This is the dipolar surfactant distribution. Assuming , its consistency condition isDiffusion or exchange must restore uniform concentration faster than the interfacial flow redistributes it: this holds with a small surface Péclet number, fast exchange, or sufficiently immobilized surface velocity. These same conditions justify neglecting the perturbation's advection. Small capillary number and sufficiently small buoyancy-induced shape distortion are separate requirements for a spherical interface.
Take to mean the outer liquid, the bubble interior and outward from the bubble. The general interfacial stress balance with variable surface tension isFor , its tangential part is . Thus the requested form isThis positive parameter measures the strength of the restoring Marangoni stress relative to viscous stress, including the relaxation of concentration by diffusion and exchange.
The far velocity is produced by the constant harmonic vector potential . The two independent decaying degree-one modes are the force-carrying vector potential and the scalar dipole . They are harmonic outside the bubble and have precisely the symmetry of uniform translation. The Unscaled Papkovich–Neuber representation gives, at arbitrary radius,The velocity at agrees with the printed expression. However, the original PDF's traction formula has a factor-of-two error. Direct differentiation with givesnot the printed prefactor . This is traction of translating-sphere Papkovich–Neuber potentials. The term follows immediately from the Stokeslet stress, and the scalar-potential part gives ; neither contribution contains the extra factor two.
With this consistent traction, no penetration requires , tangential velocity requires , and tangential stress balance requires . Solving,For comparison, taking the printed literally would instead giveThose solve the supplied algebraic pair but not the Newtonian stress calculated from the supplied potentials. The factor-six result is the physically consistent translating surfactant-coated bubble solution.
As , and : the clean bubble has a mobile interface and zero tangential traction. As , , and : the interface becomes immobilized and the exterior flow approaches that past a no-slip rigid sphere. The limiting tangential traction is , a useful check on the correct normalization.
The normal dynamic traction isapart from an arbitrary constant pressure. In the normal stress balance on a translating bubble, its degree-one part is balanced by the buoyant hydrostatic pressure difference and by the variation of normal capillary stress. A uniform internal gas pressure balances the constant Laplace-pressure term but cannot by itself balance this angular variation. If is upwards and is liquid minus bubble mass density, the degree-one balance can be writtenIt fixes , tending to the clean-bubble and rigid-sphere rise speeds. A degree-one radial displacement translates a sphere rather than changing its curvature, so a supposed dipolar shape distortion cannot replace this force balance.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 66 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let denote the applied force, and take the normal outward from the solid. At leading order the Stokes drag law and the torque on a rotating sphere in Stokes flow giveThe exact no-slip boundary condition and the exact resultant-load conditions areThe stress condition specifies the total force and torque, not a pointwise prescribed traction.
For the boundary perturbation of a nearly spherical particle, evaluate the no-slip condition at . Taylor expansion givesThere is no term because . Therefore
To expand the integral conditions correctly, use surface independence of Stokes force and torque integrals. The Stokes equation implies , and symmetry of the stress tensor implies that the angular-momentum flux is divergence-free as well. Evaluate the exact force and torque on a fixed sphere of radius enclosing the perturbed particle. There are then no geometric terms: the integrals of on that fixed sphere vanish because the external force and torque have no corrections. Each perturbation field solves the homogeneous exterior Stokes equations, so the divergence theorem transfers those integrals back to . HenceIf the integrals are expanded directly on the displaced surface, terms involving the displaced evaluation of , the changed normal and the changed area do appear individually. Their sum vanishes by the same surface-independence identity. Thus their absence in the final equations is a cancellation, not permission to omit geometric terms independently.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 66 3 Solution 2026-10-14
Let the longitudinal variation scale be . The stress-free boundary condition gives at each face. Incompressibility implies , so is smaller than a putative by . The leading Stokes equation and the two shear-free conditions therefore make independent of ; its thickness-dependent correction is smaller-order. Symmetry gives at , and incompressibility integrates toVertical momentum makes the leading normal stress independent of . With the normal directed from liquid into gas, the upper-face curvature is to leading order. The Young–Laplace equation givesThe Newtonian fluid stress tensor also gives . Hence andThe factor four is the planar extension factor: both the longitudinal viscous stress and the pressure adjustment from transverse contraction contribute.
For force balance on the illustrated slice, the vertical cuts give . Pressure on the sloping broad faces gives horizontally. Each of the two interfaces exerts a tangential surface tension pull at each cut, with horizontal component , where . Thus the horizontal force balance is the derivative of the effective tensionto the retained small-slope order. The ambient-pressure contributions cancel in this excess tension. Differentiating cancels the two terms, leaving the planar viscous-sheet stretching equationsThe upper-face kinematic condition is . Combining it with gives the second equation,which is conservation of mass per unit transverse width.
For the two bubbles, let be the common gas pressure and the surrounding liquid pressure away from the sheet. A cylindrical bubble has one nonzero principal curvature, so the Young–Laplace equation gives . In the nearly flat sheet the normal stress is , giving liquid pressure . The extensional correction is small compared with because the transition scale will satisfy . Thus , and this capillary pressure difference drives liquid out through both ends.
For a spatially uniform flat sheet, , so the longitudinal equation gives . Reflection symmetry at selectsHere is the outward speed at the positive end. The mass equation then gives , independent of , so initially uniform thickness remains uniform. Writing it as ,The end transitions determine , as derived in the following parts.

