Undamped resonant forcing has no bounded sinusoidal steady state

Undamped resonant forcing has no bounded sinusoidal steady state because the forcing continually adds energy to a mode that has no dissipation. For a series LC circuit driven from rest by $V_0\cos \omega t$, let $q$ be its electric charge and ${\omega }_0=1/\sqrt{LC}$. When $\omega \ne {\omega }_0$, imposing $q(0)=\dot{q}(0)=0$ on the linear ordinary differential equation givesBoth frequencies persist: the undamped homogeneous solution never disappears. Taking the limit $\omega \to {\omega }_0$ at fixed time produces the growing resonant response described in sinusoidal steady state. Its factor proportional to time cannot be removed by adding a bounded homogeneous solution.

For an original numerical example, choose $L=10\mathrm{mH}$, $C=1\mu \mathrm{F}$ and $V_0=1\mathrm{V}$. Then ${\omega }_0=10^4\mathrm{rad}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$. At exactly ten resonant periods, $t=20\pi /{\omega }_0\approx 6.283\mathrm{ms}$, the resonant solution has $q=0$ butAt twenty periods the electric current doubles and the stored magnetic energy quadruples. These are ideal-model values; a real source and winding have finite electrical resistance and ratings.

With positive series resistance $R$, the resonant phasor calculation instead gives current amplitude $V_0/R$. The DOE handbook explicitly identifies resistance as the remaining series electrical impedance at resonance.^[ref] For weak damping, decay takes a time of order $2L/R$, which grows as resistance decreases. These noncommuting damping and observation-time limits at resonance explain why an infinite steady-state amplitude is a failed limiting calculation, not the actual finite-time response. The late-time transient assumption underlying sinusoidal analysis must be checked.^[ref]

Noncommuting damping and observation-time limits at resonance means that the late-time approximation of a damped circuit is not uniform as its dissipation tends to zero. A precise comparison needs an observable: the unnormalized resonant sinusoid itself has no ordinary limit as time tends to infinity. Use the series RLC circuit with zero initial conditions, source $V_0\cos {\omega }_{0}t$, and ${\omega }_0=1/\sqrt{LC}$. For $R>0$, its steady-state electric charge and electric current areThe remaining electrical resistance sets the resonant amplitude, as in the DOE series-resonance model.^[ref]

Define a dimensionless state error relative to that amplitude:For each fixed $R>0$, the homogeneous solution decays and $D_R(t)\to 0$. Conversely, on a fixed finite observation interval the actual circuit solution converges to the finite undamped solution as $R\downarrow 0$. The two terms containing $R$ then vanish, giving $D_R(t)\to 1$. Thus the genuine iterated limits areThis states the failure without treating an oscillating quantity as though it had a time limit.

For weak damping, put $\gamma =R/(2L)$ and ${\omega }_d=\sqrt{{\omega }_0^2-{\gamma }^2}$. The exact zero-state chargeboth verifies the decaying transient and recovers the undamped resonant response in undamped resonant forcing has no bounded sinusoidal steady state by a fixed-time expansion.

For an original timing comparison, $L=10\mathrm{mH}$ gives envelope decay times $2L/R=0.1\mathrm{s}$ at $R=0.2\Omega$ and $1\mathrm{s}$ at $R=0.02\Omega$. At a fixed $50\mathrm{ms}$ the respective exponential multipliers are about $0.607$ and $0.951$. A smaller electrical resistance can make the sinusoidal late-time approximation worse over a fixed acquisition window. MIT's steady-state notes explicitly require the startup transient to have disappeared.^[ref]