Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 43 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be the magnitude of the downward gravity and write for the thermal expansion coefficient, to distinguish it from the dynamo coefficient of the previous question. The conductive state has , and . Its gravitational term is absorbed in a background hydrostatic pressure.
For the dimensional two-dimensional fields, choose the stream function and Cartesian magnetic flux function conventionsThese automatically give zero divergence. Define the Jacobian determinant bracket , so . The full magnetic flux function, including the imposed field, must be retained in the magnetic force; using the perturbation alone would lose its linear restoring term.
The scalar vorticity is . Also , and henceThe buoyancy perturbation is , whose curl in the direction is . Taking the curl of the momentum equation and multiplying by minus one eliminates pressure and therefore givesWe have restored in this dimensional expression. The printed magnetic force uses units in which , or equivalently a correspondingly rescaled field.
Use length scale , time scale , velocity scale , stream-function scale , magnetic flux-function scale , and temperature perturbation scale . Thus the dimensionless total flux function isHere now denote coordinates divided by , and the same notation in the second identity denotes the physical temperature. The dimensionless parameters for thermal-diffusion scaling of planar magnetoconvection areThese are the Rayleigh number, Chandrasekhar number, Prandtl number and magnetic-to-thermal diffusivity ratio. The nondimensional magnetic-force coefficient is , so omitting the factor would use a different magnetic parameter.
The resistive induction equation becomes . Since , its perturbation equation has source . Similarly, advection of the conductive temperature gradient gives , producing the source in the perturbation heat equation. The resulting nonlinear equations are thereforeThis derives both forcing signs from the background fields, rather than selecting them by a stream-function convention after the fact.
For the specified roll mode put and , the positive eigenvalue of minus the Laplacian on each spatial factor. Writeand take , , , with amplitudes depending on . These factors satisfy the printed boundary conditions: sine factors make the normal velocity and vanish at the required faces; the second derivatives of the velocity factors give the stress-free conditions; vanishes at the top and bottom and vanishes at the sides.
Discard quadratic perturbation terms. Since , the magnetic force linearizes to . The needed derivatives areThe heat and induction equations give and . In the vorticity equation, its left side is and its three right-side contributions are . Consequently, withthe three-amplitude vertical-field magnetoconvection system isPrimes now mean . They are genuine time derivatives, as the original PDF shows.
For its linear stability, seek amplitudes proportional to . Eliminating or taking the determinant giveswhereAssume the physical range , , . The Routh-Hurwitz stability criterion gives strict decay exactly when , and . At these hold. As increases, the first loss of stability can occur through a zero eigenvalue or a conjugate imaginary pair.
The stationary threshold isAt this value, withIf , the other two roots have negative real parts and the zero root is simple. Its derivative with respect to is . This is stationary onset; the reflection symmetry of the roll permits a generic pitchfork bifurcation. The linear calculation does not determine whether the nonlinear branch is supercritical or subcritical.
For oscillatory onset set , . Separating real and imaginary parts gives and . Solving the latter for yieldsA genuine Hopf bifurcation onset requires , soAt this threshold , giving the third root . The pair crosses transversely: differentiating at gives
The first instability of the conductive state is therefore stationary at if , or if and . It is oscillatory at if and . At , the two thresholds meet and : the frequency is zero and neither a simple pitchfork nor a nonzero-frequency Hopf test applies. The oscillatory marginality in vertical-field magnetoconvection formula must not be used where its frequency squared is negative.
Stationary and oscillatory magnetoconvection neutral curves for Prandtl number one and magnetic-to-thermal diffusivity ratio one quarter, showing the double-zero merger and stable region
. Details. For conversion back to physical parameters, , while the dimensional Hopf frequency is . These are onset conditions for the specified spatial mode. Identifying the globally first mode would additionally require comparison over the allowed spatial modes. Nonlinear saturation and the stability of the bifurcating finite-amplitude states are not determined by this linear three-amplitude system alone.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 46 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Choose a reference circular orbit at radius , rotate the frame with , and introduce local Cartesian coordinates , and vertical coordinate . On scales small compared with , neglect curvature of the coordinate directions but retain the leading differential rotation. The background velocity relative to the rotating frame isThus for a Keplerian disk. The shearing sheet retains Coriolis acceleration and the linear tidal acceleration. The radial shearing-sheet tidal potential is , whose force balances the background Coriolis acceleration. If vertical tidal gravity is included, its equilibrium contribution is balanced by a background pressure and disappears when that equilibrium is subtracted.
Write the total velocity as . In the rotating-frame magnetohydrodynamic momentum equation, background advection is and advection of the background by the perturbation is . The uniform-viscosity diffusion of the linear background shear is zero. For a solenoidal magnetic field the Lorentz force per unit mass isAt constant density, absorb the magnetic-pressure gradient into . Subtracting the background force balance then gives the stated momentum equation, with the remaining nonlinear advection , Coriolis acceleration , magnetic tension and viscous diffusion.
For constant finite electrical conductivity , put . The resistive induction equation with uniform magnetic diffusivity is . Substituting the background shear supplies the term and the same background-advection operator as in the momentum equation. The two further conditions areThey express incompressibility and the absence of magnetic monopoles, respectively.
Now take real plane waves with common phase and real wavevector. The solenoidal conditions becomeEvery field depends on position only through . Hence for either transverse vector field and either wave field , . This proves that all the displayed quadratic advection and tension terms vanish pointwise, including products involving conjugate amplitudes. These waves are therefore exact solutions at finite amplitude, not merely a linearization.
Acting with on the phase yieldsCanceling its position-dependent part requiresThe remaining amplitude equations areDifferentiating the velocity constraint determines the pressure amplitude:The resistive induction equation preserves its constraint because cancels the corresponding shear term in . The specified magnetic field has no spatially uniform part. Thus there is no background magnetic field producing an additional linear magnetic-tension coupling. The scalar is the modified pressure; the physical pressure can include a constant and a second spatial harmonic from while retains the stipulated plane-wave form. This is an exact zero-mean magnetic shearing wave.
For decay, take the real part of the scalar product of the velocity-amplitude equation with its complex conjugate. Pressure does no work because , and the real part of Coriolis work is zero. ThereforeThe resistive induction equation similarly givesusing . Integrating these differential inequalities, defineThenA non-axisymmetric wave has . For nonzero differential shear and positive , the negative cubic terms dominate the linear upper bound on shear work. ConsequentlyThis cubic-exponent decay of a nonaxisymmetric shearing wave allows transient energy growth before the winding to short radial wavelengths makes diffusion dominant. The magnetic amplitudes can also be written explicitly aswhich confirms the damping independently. Positivity of the dissipative coefficients is necessary: with , an inviscid vertical velocity amplitude can remain constant, and an ideal vertical magnetic amplitude can remain constant when . The asserted decay applies to the viscous, finitely conducting model; taking an ideal limit before the long-time limit changes the conclusion.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 47 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Apply the reciprocal identity with flow1 the actual body-force-driven flow and flow2 the rotlet auxiliary field. Its body force is zero. The large-sphere boundary terms vanish under the usual decay and convergence assumptions for this unbounded body-force problem.
On the sphere, the actual rigid velocity is . The auxiliary force is zero and its torque with the outward fluid normal is . The actual torque with that normal is the negative of the hydrodynamic torque on the sphere, hence zero for a torque-free sphere. Consequently the surface side of the reciprocal identity is just . The volume side isSince the auxiliary couple is arbitrary,An unknown translation contributes nothing because the auxiliary rotlet has zero net force. This is body-force-driven rotation of a torque-free sphere.
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 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let . The first sphere's leading velocity field is . Taking its curl givesThe second sphere is torque-free, soIts own force-free and torque-free motion emits no Stokeslet or rotlet; further reflections are smaller at large separation. In particular it spins in the opposite direction for a primary rotation perpendicular to the line of centers, and in the same direction with twice that magnitude for a parallel rotation.
Now isolate the additional interaction caused by the applied force . Its leading Stokeslet produces at the first center the incident velocity . The Stokes drag law makes the increment of the force required to hold that sphere fixedThe sign opposes the incident velocity. This holding force acts on the fluid and generates a reflected Stokeslet. A Stokeslet of force has vorticity . Evaluating half that vorticity at givesThus its magnitude is , as required. This is forced-sphere rotation reflected from a held sphere. Longitudinal forcing has zero leading spin by symmetry. Finite-size multipoles and the couple correction needed to preserve the first sphere's prescribed spin are smaller than this force-monopole reflection by order .
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 47 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Measure pressure relative to its hydrostatic value and let be the lower-side excess pressure minus the upper-side excess pressure. The long unobstructed parts of the tube act as Poiseuille resistances in series. Their lengths add to at leading order because ; entrance and exterior resistances are smaller for . ConsequentlyHere is downward laboratory-frame volume flux.
Take upwards in the particle frame and let measure distance from the particle surface to the tube wall. In this frame the particle is stationary and the wall moves upwards at speed . In the thin, slowly varying gap, pressure is uniform across and the leading axial Stokes equation is . No slip givesThe gap's upward relative flux is constant, while conservation of displaced volume gives . Thus , and integration from bottom to top yieldsCurvature corrections to the gap circumference are relative order . Rapid end regions do not contribute to the leading singular neck resistance.
For the force use a cylindrical fluid control volume containing the particle, with full-area end caps just beyond it and the particle surface as an inner boundary. The upward pressure force on the caps is . The outer wall exerts axial traction on the fluid, whereas the particle's traction on the fluid integrates to minus its upward hydrodynamic resistance . The zero-inertia momentum balance is thereforeThe velocity profile gives , provingUsing the outer-wall traction is essential; directly using the particle-side shear and a flat-end pressure force would omit the pressure on the sloping particle surface. This is control-volume drag formula for a sphere in a tube.
The four dimensionless relations areSolving them givesWithin the preceding lubrication and tube-resistance approximations, the force isSince , . Dropping the smaller additive terms in the numerator yields the requested leading formulaThe Cauchy-Schwarz inequality gives , so the retained term is positive. The term multiplied by must be retained: it can compete with even though the unmultiplied lower integrals cannot.
For a sphere of radius , the neck has at leading order. With , the integrals reduce to . For these last integrals are , giving the full two-sided integrals. PutThe printed sphere integrals are half these values: they correspond to integrating over one side of the neck rather than the stated interval spanning both sides. The substitution above establishes the radius-deficit normalization of sphere-tube lubrication integrals. Using the two-sided values, the force becomesso the three answers areThese are the corrected sphere-tube drag regimes with a radius-deficit gap. If the supplied half-integrals are treated as stipulated data instead, the same algebra gives , and in the three regimes. Thus the first and third numerical drag coefficients double when the geometrically correct integrals are used; the regime boundaries and dominant flow patterns are unchanged.
In the first regime, , , and . Almost no displaced fluid escapes through the long tube; it bypasses upwards through the thin annulus. The large pressure-driven bypass resistance sets the drag, with shear smaller.
In the second regime, , , andAlmost all displaced volume travels through the unobstructed tube, whose pressure resistance dominates the force. Both terms in this small gap flux are worth displaying: their crossover at changes the balance between pressure-driven and wall-driven gap transport but does not create a fourth leading force regime.
In the third regime, , , and . Tube throughflow still carries almost all the displaced volume, but the dominant resistance is local annular lubrication rather than the net tube pressure drop. The relative gap flux is now of order , so wall-driven and pressure-driven components both matter locally. The formulas describe hydrodynamic resistance after subtracting hydrostatic buoyancy; terminal settling would balance it against the particle's excess weight.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 47 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The Darcy law here is , with hydrostatic contributions absorbed into if present. Since is uniform and the fluid is incompressible, gives in the porous matrix.
Pressure is uniform across the thin crack at leading order. No-slip lubrication theory gives its flux per unit depth . Conservation in a short crack segment says , while Darcy flow gives . ThereforeThe other interfacial condition is pressure continuity, . The far pressure gradient is ; outside the slit both pressure and normal Darcy flux are continuous. The leading tapered-crack flux vanishes at its endpoints. The assumptions and justify transverse pressure uniformity and neglect of porous-wall slip on scale . Close to the sharp tips the reduced model is an outer approximation, not a uniformly resolved tip solution. This is lubrication boundary condition for a crack in a Darcy medium.
These are planar elliptic coordinates. The curve is the slit , traced on its upper and lower sides. The curve is the ellipse with semiaxes and . For fixed noncardinal , the coordinate curve is the appropriate branch of . The cardinal angles give the two exterior horizontal rays and the upper/lower vertical rays. The requested original sketch is:
On the upper face , the supplied derivatives reduce to and . The same point on the lower face has angle , so its has the opposite sign. ThusInsert this and the tangential derivative into the crack condition and multiply by to obtainPressure continuity becomes . The uniform-flow background is . Its derivatives immediately giveThe harmonic equation is because the metric multiplier is nonzero outside the slit.
For the specified profile, on the upper face. Its coefficient in the tangential operator is constant, so the imposed cosine mode separates. With , write . Harmonicity gives , the interfacial condition gives , and the far field fixes the growing coefficient to . ThereforeReflection symmetry makes the two face derivatives equal. Other homogeneous cosine modes decaying as would require at the slit, impossible for and . The constant pressure gauge is immaterial. This justifies the separated crack pressure in elliptic coordinates, not only a candidate satisfying selected conditions.
At the midpoint and . HenceFor , and the crack barely perturbs the imposed Darcy pressure gradient. For , and the slit is nearly equipotential: its high axial conductance collects flow from the surrounding matrix rather than sustaining a substantial pressure gradient. The parameter compares crack conductance with matrix conductance . In fact , so the tip flux is zero in this outer model.
Subtracting the exact uniform background gives . Since and at infinity,The printed far-field coefficient is too large by a factor of two. The factor is forced by the stated coordinate map. An independent check is the large- solution , whose expansion has precisely . This is the elliptic crack pressure dipole.
The phrase “suitably chosen curve” matters for the pressure-only dissipation integral. Put and use a rectangle with end faces and transverse extent , taking . The horizontal faces have . The two end-face integrals of totalThis is a fixed-throughflow normalization: the integrated velocity perturbation on an infinite end face is zero, since it is proportional to . Work on the transverse faces vanishes as . Thus the requested line functional givesA bare circular cutoff would give instead; it does not enforce this same throughflow normalization, so its pressure-only term cannot be substituted into the fixed-throughflow dissipation comparison. Keeping the control surface explicit resolves that ambiguity. This is fixed-throughflow dissipation reduction of a conductive crack.
Let . The noninteracting average dissipation per area is . Equating this with givesOnly the first-order density term is controlled by the noninteraction assumption; the rational form is not an all-orders result. It increases permeability along the aligned cracks and saturates as their conductance becomes large. This is dilute permeability enhancement by aligned cracks.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 49 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be kinematic pressure, with the resting hydrostatic part subtracted, and let be the buoyancy perturbation about background buoyancy . The nonrotating inviscid Boussinesq equations, with no buoyancy diffusion, areHere the third equation is mass conservation for incompressible flow, and the last expresses buoyancy conservation following a parcel. Linearization about rest removes the products of disturbances. For a plane internal gravity wave proportional to , the resulting Linearized Boussinesq equations becomeWith and , the first and third equations give . Substitution in vertical momentum and buoyancy gives the dispersion relationSince the velocity is the time derivative of the displacement field, . Thus the complete buoyancy polarization of a plane internal gravity wave isBoth velocity and displacement are perpendicular to the wavevector; pressure and velocity are in quadrature with buoyancy and displacement.
For upward/rightward phase velocity, choose and . Differentiating this dispersion relation gives the group velocity, while the vector phase velocity points along the wavevector:Their dot product is zero and . Draw from the tip of : the right-triangle geometry of internal-wave velocities has horizontal hypotenuse . This hypotenuse is distinct from the horizontal phase velocity .
At an instant with real complex amplitude , write . The spatial fields areThe constant-phase lines of an internal gravity wave slope down to the right, with . Buoyancy maxima lie a quarter wavelength from pressure maxima; the oscillating displacement and velocity run along the phase lines. The group velocity points down and right along them, despite upward/rightward motion of the wave phase.
Internal-wave buoyancy, displacement, pressure and velocity fields, with downward energy propagation and the phase/group-velocity right triangle
. Details. Let , using horizontal averaging over a wavelength. This is the displacement pseudomomentum of an internal gravity wave, whose sign convention is opposite to . For complex coefficients, . The above wave polarization consequently givesSince , these obey . With weak kinematic viscosity, each leading monochromatic velocity component satisfies , . The dissipative term is therefore , so the supplied averaged balance reduces toFor constant and a steady wave envelope, . As is proportional to squared wave amplitude, viscous attenuation of an internal gravity wave givesHere , so amplitude decreases below a source at : the source is above the receiving level. The same conclusion follows directly because downward group velocity carries energy from the source downward. Upward phase velocity does not locate the source.
For a slowly varying mean shear flow , the local intrinsic frequency is . A local WKB approximation uses , with varying vertical wavenumber and group velocity. The appropriate transported quantity is wave action, or horizontal wave pseudomomentum ; its vertical flux has viscous loss, and the changing polarization factors must be retained. In particular, is no longer constant.
Near a critical level of an internal gravity wave, , so and . The damping per vertical distance, of order , grows rapidly. The waves are strongly attenuated over a narrow altitude range and transfer momentum to the mean flow there or before reaching the critical level. The inviscid WKB approximation eventually fails; viscosity and possibly internal-wave breaking regulate the small scales.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 49 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The basic quasi-geostrophic streamfunction gives , and constant quasi-geostrophic potential vorticity . DefineBecause the background has no potential-vorticity gradient, the linear potential-vorticity equation is simplyIts characteristics have constant , so the general solution is . In particular, is the requested arbitrary separated family; one product is not the most general initial field.
Linearizing the vertical velocity requires retaining advection of by . ThereforeThe impermeable boundary at imposesThis is conservation of boundary buoyancy, not merely a condition that vanish.
For zero interior potential vorticity, write . With , stratified quasi-geostrophic inversion givesThe decaying solution isNo time dependence has been assumed to obtain this vertical structure. Applying the boundary condition gives , henceThus the Eady edge wave travels eastward with horizontal phase velocity for .
The propagation mechanism can be made explicit using boundary parcels. Thermal wind gives the background buoyancy gradient . A small meridional parcel displacement produces boundary buoyancy perturbation . Meanwhile the decaying potential-vorticity inversion gives at the boundary. Consequently there, and the parcel equation becomesA displaced buoyancy contour therefore induces a velocity field that advances that displacement eastward. No interior potential-vorticity gradient is needed because the boundary buoyancy supplies the invertibility data.
Vortex stretching is what sets the induced flow's vertical reach. In the interior, the zero-potential vorticity condition requiresBoundary isopycnal displacement decreases with height as , so fluid columns are stretched or compressed over depth . Conservation of potential vorticity makes this stretching balance the relative vorticity. The resulting inversion factor gives the propagation speed: stronger density stratification reduces penetration and speed, while larger increases them. Zero interior potential vorticity therefore does not imply zero interior flow.
For imposed boundary vertical velocity, retain the same decaying structure and writeThe boundary relation becomes the forced Eady edge wave equationThe integrating factor gives, for ,The arbitrary homogeneous coefficient sets the initial disturbance. With , this is .
At resonance, , integration instead yieldsAn initially undisturbed fluid has . The imposed pumping reinforces the same boundary normal mode every cycle, with no dissipative loss, so the linear amplitude grows secularly. The divergence describes resonance of the undamped linear model; sufficiently large wave amplitude invalidates the assumed small-disturbance approximation.


