Lecture 4

Weston Barger

June 30, 2016

1 More Dispersion
From last time...
In general, ω(k ) = ωR (k ) + i ωI (k ). Then

e ikx –it (ωR (k )+i ωI (k )) = e ωI (k )t e ikx –it ωR (k )

Definition 1.1. If ωI (k ) < 0 the system is called dissipative. If ωI (k ) > 0, the system is unstable.

Example 1.2. Consider the equation

{eq:KS} ut + uxx + auxxx = 0 ⇒ a > 0. (1.1)

We find the dispersion relation by assuming u(x , t ) = e ikx –i ωt and inserting u into (1.1)

– i ωu + (ik )2 u + a(ik )4 u = 0
⇒ – i ω = k 2 – ak 4 .

We see that
2 4
u(x , t ) = e ikx –i ωt = e (k –ak )t e ikx

So

 If k 2 – ak 4 < 0, the solution decays in time.

 If k 2 – ak 4 > 0, the solution grows in time.

 If k ∈ (– √1a , √1a ), the solution grows. Otherwise, it is negative.

 Solutions to (1.1) are composed of superposition of the wave train. So, this equation dampens out
disturbances with wave numbers that are large in magnitude.

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 Figure 1: The graph of k 2 – ak 4 with a = 4.

2 The Wave Equation (Chapter 7 in the book)

Recall that the wave equation is given by

utt c 2 uxx .

Let us derive the wave equation by modeling the behavior of a plucked string. We start with the assumptions
Assumptions:

1. The equilibrium position of the string is u(x , t ) = 0.

2. The string has constant density ρ.

3. The vibration of the string stays in the plane i.e it only moves directly up and down. Otherwise, we’d
need to derive the equation in 2D.

4. Tension is uniform and constant. Tension is the force that allows a rope to pull something attached to
the end. Likewise, segments of the rope are pulling on neighboring segments. Our assumption is that
the string only imparts a force on it’s neighboring components in the direction parallel to the string,
in a uniform constant way.

5. There are no other forces.

2
 6. Vibrations are small i.e. ux  1 ⇒ ux2 ≈ 0.

Let S represent a segment of the string

Figure 2: A segment S of the string.

Newton’s second law gives

(Mass of S )(Acceleration of S ) = (Net force acting on S ).

Here, the acceleration and force are perpendicular to the x -axis.

Z x +∆x q
(Mass of S = ρ · (length) = ρ 1 + (ux (s, t ))2 ds
x
Z x +∆x √
≈ρ 1 ds
x
= ρ · ∆x .

We note that the vertical acceleration of the string at the left end of S is utt (x , t ).

Now to the RHS. Tension is the only force present in the string. We see that the vector –(1, ux (x , t )) is the
vector pointing in the direction of the tension force at x . So,
(1, ux (x , t ) (1, ux (x , t )
–T p ≈ –T = –T (1, ux (x , t )
1 + (ux (x , t ))2 1

On the right side of S , we have

(1, ux (x + ∆x , t ))
Tq ≈ T (1, ux (x + ∆x , t ))
2
1 + (ux (x + ∆x , t ))

So,

(Net force on S ) = F = –T (1, ux (x , t ) + T (1, ux (x + ∆x , t ))

3
 = T (ux (x + ∆x , t ) – ux (x , t )) in the y direction.

Putting it together,

(Mass of S )(Acceleration of S ) = (Net force acting on S )

⇒ utt (x , t )ρ∆x = T (ux (x + ∆x , t ) – ux (x , t ))
T ux (x + ∆x , t ) – ux (x , t )
⇒ utt (x , t ) = ·
ρ ∆x
s
2 T
⇒ utt (x , t ) = c uxx (x , t ), c= .
ρ

3 d’Alembert’s Solution
We would like to find the general solution to the wave equation.

Note: We know that f (x – ct ) and g(x + ct ) are traveling wave solutions to the wave equation. We want to
show that any solution to the wave equation can be written as a linear combination of such waves.

3.1 Change of Variable

Inspired by the arguments of f , g, we make the transformation

ξ = x – ct , η = x + ct .

Suppose that u(x , t ) → u(ξ, η). Our goal is to rewrite the PDE in terms of our new variables. Note that
∂u ∂u ∂ξ ∂u ∂η
= · + ·
∂x ∂ξ ∂x ∂η ∂x
∂u ∂u
= +
∂ξ ∂η
and
∂2u
 
∂ ∂u ∂u
= +
∂x 2 ∂x ∂ξ ∂η
∂ ∂u ∂ ∂u
= +
∂ξ ∂x ∂η ∂x
   
∂ ∂u ∂u ∂ ∂u ∂u
= + + +
∂ξ ∂ξ ∂η ∂η ∂ξ ∂η
∂2u ∂2u ∂u
= 2
+2 +
∂ξ ∂η∂ξ ∂η
= uξξ + 2uξη + uηη .

Next, we see that

∂u ∂u ∂ξ ∂u ∂η
= +
∂t ∂ξ ∂t ∂η ∂t

4


= c uη – uξ

and
∂2u
 
∂ ∂u ∂u
= c –
∂t 2 ∂t ∂η ∂ξ
 
∂ ∂u ∂ ∂u
=c –
∂η ∂t ∂ξ ∂t
 
∂   ∂  
=c c(uη – uξ ) – c(uη – uξ )
∂η ∂ξ
2

= c uηη – 2uξη + uξξ .

Substituting our expressions gives

utt = c 2 uxx
c 2 uηη – 2uξη + uξξ = c 2 uξξ + 2uξη + uηη



⇒
⇒ –4uξη = 0
⇒ uξη = 0

Now, since
Z Z
uξ (ξ, η) = uξ,η (ξ, η) dη = 0 dη = Cξ .

We write Cξ because C is a constant which can depend on ξ. In other words Cξ is a function of ξ. Let’s
call it F (ξ). Suppose that F 0 (ξ) = f (ξ) i.e. f is the anti-derivative of F . Now,
Z Z
u(ξ, η) = uξ (ξ, η) dξ = F (ξ) dξ + Cη = f (ξ) + g(η)

This shows that

u(x , t ) = u(ξ, η) = f (ξ) + g(η) = f (x – ct ) + g(x + ct ).

Example 3.1. Show that u(x , t ) = cos(t ) sin(x ) solves the wave equation for c = 1. This doesn’t appear
to be in the correct form. We’ll

cos(t ) sin(x ) + sin(t ) cos(x ) = sin(x + t )

cos(t ) sin(x ) – sin(t ) cos(x ) = sin(x – t )

So,

cos(t ) sin(x ) + cos(t ) sin(x ) – sin(x – t ) = sin(x + t )

1
cos(t ) sin(x ) = (sin(x + t ) – sin(x – t )) .
2

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3.2 IVP
We will now solve our first initial value problem. Consider the problem

 x ∈ (–∞, ∞), t ∈ [0, ∞)


2
utt (x , t ) = c uxx (x , t ) u(x , 0) = f (x )


 u (x , 0) = g(x )
t

Here, f represents the initial position of the string and g represents it’s initial velocity. We already know
that

u(x , t ) = F (x – ct ) + G(x + ct ).

We want to find what F and G are in terms of f and g. We know that

f (x ) = u(x , 0) = F (x ) + G(x )

and

g(x ) = ut (x , 0) = –cF 0 (x ) + cG 0 (x ).

Thus, we need to solve

(
f (x ) = F (x ) + G(x )
g(x ) = –cF 0 (x ) + cG 0 (x )

From the second equation

1 x
Z
–F (x ) + G(x ) = g(y) dy + α
c 0
Our system is now
(
F (x ) + G(x ) = f (x )
–F (x ) + G(x ) = c1 0x g(y) dy + α
R

Adding and subtracting these two equation together gives

Z x
1 1 1
F (x ) = f (x ) – g(y) dy – α
2 2c 0 2
Z x
1 1 1
G(x ) = f (x ) + g(y) dy + α
2 2c 0 2
Thus,

u(x , t ) = F (x – ct ) + G(x + ct )
Z x –ct Z x +ct
1 1 1 1 1 1
= f (x – ct ) – g(y) dy – α + f (x + ct ) + g(y) dy + α
2 2c 0 2 2 2c 0 2
Z x +ct
1 1
= (f (x – ct ) + f (x + ct )) + g(y) dy.
2 2c x –ct
This solution is known as d’Alembert’s solution to the IVP.