Department of Mathematics & Statistics

MTH424a
Quiz-II

Name:.................................. Roll No....................

Marks: 10 Time: 20 minutes

1. Let f : R → R be a smooth function, a := (a1 , a2 , a3 ) ∈ R3 be a non-zero vector and c

be a positive real number. Let u(x, t) := f (ha, xi − t).

(a) Find the necessary and sufficient condition for the function u(x, t) to be a solution
of the three dimensional wave equation utt (x, t) = c2 ∆u(x, t) for x ∈ R3 and t > 0.
Let u(x, t) := f (ha, xi − t). Then utt = f 00 (ha, xi − t) and ∆u = (a21 + a22 +
a23 )f 00 (ha, xi − t).
Therefore utt = c2 ∆u iff f 00 (ha, xi − t)(1 − c2 (a21 + a22 + a23 )) = 0.
This equation holds iff f 00 (ha, xi−t) = 0 for all x ∈ R3 and t > 0 or c2 (a21 +a22 +a23 ).
[1 mark]
(b) Let f (x) = x2 for x ∈ R. If g, h : R3 → R are two smooth functions such that
u(x, 0) = g(x) and ut (x, 0) = h(x), find the relation between these two functions
so that the initial conditions are compatible.
Let u(x, t) := f (ha, xi − t). Then h(x) = ut (x, 0) = −f 0 (ha, xi) and g(x) =
u(x, 0) = f (ha, xi).
Therefore ∇g(x) = af 0 (ha, xi) = −ah(x) = − ha, xi a. [1 mark]
(c) Find all solutions u(x, t) = f (ha, xi − t) of the wave equation utt = ∆u such that
u(x, 0) = 4x1 + 3x2 + 5.
Given initial condition g(x) = u(x, 0) = 4x1 +3x2 +5 shows that ∇g(x) = (4, 3, 0).
The initial conditions are compatible iff (4, 3, 0) = ∇g(x) = −(a1 , a2 , a3 )h(x).
This shows that −a1 h(x) = 4, −a2 h(x) = 3 and a3 = 0. [1 mark]
Therefore we may write (a1 , a2 , 0) = λ(4, 3, 0). Since a21 + a22 = 1, it follows that
λ = 51 .
That is (a1 , a2 , a3 ) = ( 45 , 45 , 0) and h(x) = −5. [1 mark]
Therefore g(x) = f (ha, xi) = 5(ha, xi) + 1) and it follows that u(x, t) = f (ha, xi −
t) = 5(ha, xi) − t + 1) = 4x1 + 3x2 + 5 − 5t. [1 mark]

2. Let Ω := (0, π) × (0, π). Find the solution to the Dirichlet problem ∆u = 0 with the
boundary conditions uy (x, 0) = 0 = uy (x, π), u(0, y) = y(π − y) and u(π, y) = 0.
Let u(x, y) = f (x)g(y) be the solution of the given problem. Then the equation
∆u = 0 splits in to the two equations f 00 (x)−λ f (x) = 0 with the boundary condition
f (π) = 0 and g 00 (y) + λ g(y) = 0 with the boundary conditions g(0) = g(π) = 0.
Therefore, for every n ∈ N, the function gn (y) = sin ny is a solution of the g 00 (y) +
λ g(y) = 0 with the boundary conditions g(0) = g(π) = 0. [1 mark]
00
If we now substitute the value n in f (x) − λf (x) = 0, we get that f (x) = An enx +
2

Bn e−nx . Using the condition f (π) = 0, we can write f (x) = An sinh n(x − π) for
n ∈ N. [1 mark]

1
 P∞
We write u(x, y) = Pn=1 An sinh n(x − π) sin ny. Since u(0, y) = y(π R− y), it follows
∞ π
that y(π − y) = − n=1 An sinh nπ sin ny. Therefore, −An sinh nπ 0 sin2 nydy =
Rπ
0
y(π − y) sin nydy for every n ∈ N. [1 mark]
A computation shows that
Z π
π2
y sin nydy = (−1)n+1
0 n

and π
π2
Z
2
y 2 sin nydy = (−1)n+1 + 3 ((−1)n − 1)
0 n n
Hence
8 1
1 + (−1)n+1


An sinh nπ = 3
[2 marks]
πn
and the solution is
∞  
8 X 1 sinh n(π − x)
u(x, y) = sin ny.
π n3 sinh nπ
n=1 and n odd