ES 23 — Distributed Systems and Fields Winter 2020

T HAYER S CHOOL OF E NGINEERING • DARTMOUTH

ENGS 23

GROUP PROJECT
February 2, 2020

Contents
1 Readings 1

2 The Report ! 1

3 Group Problems 1

1 Readings
The SFW sections we will cover are: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.7, and 4.8. A reminder
that all lectures in class are also part of the readings. You can find them in the module LECTURES.

2 The Report !
I want you to write a report, i.e. title, abstract, introduction, ... , and a conclusion. One report per group.
The intended audience for the report are your peers, not Prof. Österberg. I want every step of your deriva-
tions in the report. I suggest that the majority of the derivations are relegated to appendices. Computer
code should also be part of the report and left for an appendix.
In the report I want you to provide a clear, coherent story of what you did and why. Allow my problem
numbering to be a guide for you but not something that you reference in your write-up.
The report should be at least 12 pages long, appendices not included. Fontsize 5 12pt, linespacing = 1
and figure sizes have to be smaller or equal to at most 1/4 of a page.
It is assumed that you will divide up the work between the group members but at the time you hand
in the report it is also assumed that everyone in the group understands all parts of it. Unit quiz #2 and the
final exam will have questions on all parts of the group project.

3 Group Problems
Problem 1 - Warm-up (
T0 , for 0 6 x 6 L/2
α( x ) = (1)
0, for L/2 < x 6 L

1. Find the Fourier series for α( x ).

2. If we call the individual eigenfunctions in the series above, φn ( x ), plot φn ( x ) for
n = 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 50, 100, 500. What do you observe?
HINT: For plotting purposes put L = 1. Also, pay attention to the length of your linspace for
time compared with the frequency n.
∞
3. Above you obtained the Fourier coefficients bn in α( x ) = ∑ bn φn ( x ). Instead of summing (not
n =1
sure this is a word?) to ∞, sum to N, where N = 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 50, 100, 500. How do these various
sums compare with the exact α( x )? Comment on how quickly your Fourier series converges.

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ES 23 — Distributed Systems and Fields Winter 2020

4. Below is an excerpt from Wikipedia about Gibbs phenomenon. In the previous part, did you
observe the Gibbs phenomenon?
In mathematics, the Gibbs phenomenon, discovered by Henry Wilbraham (1848)[1] and rediscovered by J.
Willard Gibbs (1899),[2] is the peculiar manner in which the Fourier series of a piecewise continuously dif-
ferentiable periodic function behaves at a jump discontinuity. The nth partial sum of the Fourier series has
large oscillations near the jump, which might increase the maximum of the partial sum above that of the func-
tion itself. The overshoot does not die out as n increases, but approaches a finite limit.[3] This sort of behavior
was also observed by experimental physicists, but was believed to be due to imperfections in the measuring
apparatuses.[4] This is one cause of ringing artifacts in signal processing.
Problem 2 Diffusion Equation

Imagine a 1D rod that is L long. We will investigate two cases of boundary conditions.
Case 1: The rod is insulated at both ends.
Case 2: The rod is insulated for x = 0, and for x = L it is kept at the temperature T = 0 (Celsius or
otherwise we would be violating the second law of thermodynamics).
For both cases the initial condition is the same (see above),
(
T0 , for 0 6 x 6 L/2
α( x ) = (2)
0, for L/2 < x 6 L

What to do:
1. Solve both cases analytically using separation of variables, eq.3.22, T ( x, t) = φ( x )ψ(t)
2. For case 1, plot the ψn (t) for n = 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 50, 100, 500. Comment on what you are observing.
How do you model time when I haven’t given you a value for the diffusion constant D?
N
3. For case 1, put it all together. Plot T ( x, t) = ∑ bn φn ( x )ψn (t), for N = 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 50, 100, 500.
n =1
Choose time as in the previous part. Discuss the physics, specifically compare with Lab 1 and
n-th order systems. φn ( x ) you already acquired in the warm-up problem.
N
4. For case 2, plot T ( x, t) = ∑ bn φn ( x )ψn (t), for N = 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 50, 100, 500.
n =1
5. Comment on the biggest differences compared to case 1 and show a plot with both the final result
for case 1 and 2.
6. EXTRA: See if you can make a movie of case 1.
[40 points]
Problem 3 Wave Equation

∂2 y 2
Consider the wave equation ∂x2
= v12 ∂∂t2y with boundary conditions y(0, t) = y( L, t) = 0, and initial
∂y( x,0)
conditions y( x, 0) = 0, and ∂t = f ( x ). This is a simple model for a vibrating string that is struck,
rather than plucked as in Ex. 4.1 on p.166, at t = 0.

1. Using separation of variables find the solution for this problem.

2. If the string is struck at position x = rL, (0 < r < 1), the initial velocity may be approximated as
a narrow rectangular pulse centered at x = rL,
(
v0
ε , | x − rL| < ε
2
f (x) = (3)
0, otherwise
Derive expressions for the Fourier coefficients. What property does the solution have if the string
is struck at its center, r = L2 . Explain physically.

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