Partial Differential Equations

Telegraph Equation
Problems and Solutions
Thanks

D’Alembert’s principle

Dr. A. Vanav Kumar

Mathematics Division, Department of Basic and Applied Science,

National Institute of Technology, Arunachal Pradesh-791112, India.

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Dr. A. Vanav Kumar Partial Differential Equations

 Partial Differential Equations
Telegraph Equation Wave Equation
Problems and Solutions
Thanks

Wave Equation

The Wave equations describe the physical phenomena such as

Sound waves, Ripples, Ocean Waves, Electromagnetic waves,
Vibration of strings or beams, etc. Characteristics of wave are

they travel at finite speed through the medium in which

they occur,
without causing any permanent change.
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We try to explore this properties through Mathematics of Wave

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equations and try to find the solution of wave equations.

Dr. A. Vanav Kumar Partial Differential Equations

 Partial Differential Equations
Telegraph Equation
Telegraph Equation
General Solution
Problems and Solutions
Thanks

Telegraph Equation

Consider the Telegraph’s equation

∂2φ 2
2∂ φ
= c (1)
∂t 2 ∂x 2

subject to the Cauchy conditions

φ(x, 0) = h(x), φt (x, 0) = k(x) (2)

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where c is the speed of the wave, h, k are arbitrarily assigned

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differentiable functions for −∞ < x < ∞.

Dr. A. Vanav Kumar Partial Differential Equations
 Partial Differential Equations
Telegraph Equation
Telegraph Equation
General Solution
Problems and Solutions
Thanks

General Solution

To obtain the solution of the Initial Value Problem (1) and (2),
we consider the general solution of the (1)

φ(x, t) = f (x − ct) + g(x + ct) (3)

Setting t = 0, in equation (3) we get

φ(x, 0) = f (x) + g(x) = h(x) (4)beamer-tu-lo

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by using the first condition in equation (2).

Dr. A. Vanav Kumar Partial Differential Equations

 Partial Differential Equations
Telegraph Equation
Telegraph Equation
General Solution
Problems and Solutions
Thanks

General Solution

Now differentiating the equation (3) with respect to t we get

φt (x, t) = (−c)f (x − ct) + (c)g(x + ct) (5)

Setting t = 0, in equation (5) we get

φt (x, 0) = (−c)f ′ (x) + (c)g ′ (x) = k(x),

(6)beamer-tu-lo
−cf ′ (x) + cg ′ (x) = k(x)

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by using the second condition in equation (2).

Dr. A. Vanav Kumar Partial Differential Equations

 Partial Differential Equations
Telegraph Equation
Telegraph Equation
General Solution
Problems and Solutions
Thanks

General Solution

Integrating (6) with respect to x from an arbitrary point a to x

we get Z x
1
k(s)ds = f (x) − f (a) + g(x) − g(a) (7)
c a

Solving for f (x) and k(x) using (4) and (7) we get,
Z x
1 1 1
f (x) = h(x) − k(s)ds − [g(a) − f (a)] (8)beamer-tu-lo
2 2c a 2

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Dr. A. Vanav Kumar Partial Differential Equations

 Partial Differential Equations
Telegraph Equation
Telegraph Equation
General Solution
Problems and Solutions
Thanks

General Solution

And
Z x
1 1 1
g(x) = h(x) + k(s)ds + [g(a) − f (a)] (9)
2 2c a 2

Replacing x in (8) with x − ct we get

Z x−ct
1 1 1
f (x − ct) = h(x − ct) − k(s)ds − [g(a) − f (a)] (10)beamer-tu-lo
2 2c a 2

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Dr. A. Vanav Kumar Partial Differential Equations

 Partial Differential Equations
Telegraph Equation
Telegraph Equation
General Solution
Problems and Solutions
Thanks

General Solution

And replacing x in (9) with x + ct we get

Z x+ct
1 1 1
g(x + ct) = h(x + ct) + k(s)ds + [g(a) − f (a)] (11)
2 2c a 2

Adding equations (10) and (11), we get using (3),


1
φ(x, t) = h(x − ct) + h(x + ct)
2
(12)beamer-tu-lo
1 x−ct 1 x+ct
Z Z 
− k(s)ds + k(s)ds
c a c a
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Dr. A. Vanav Kumar Partial Differential Equations

 Partial Differential Equations
Telegraph Equation
Telegraph Equation
General Solution
Problems and Solutions
Thanks

General Solution

Reversing the limits and combining the integrals the term

highlighted in equation (12), we get,

1
φ(x, t) = h(x − ct) + h(x + ct)
2
(13)
1 x+ct
Z 
+ k(s)ds
c x−ct
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1 x+ct
 Z 
1
φ(x, t) = h(x − ct) + h(x + ct) + k(s)ds (14)
2 c x−ct beamer-ur-log

Dr. A. Vanav Kumar Partial Differential Equations

 Partial Differential Equations
Telegraph Equation
Telegraph Equation
General Solution
Problems and Solutions
Thanks

General Solution

The solution in (14) is called as the D’Alembert’s solution of

homogeneous wave equation (1) and initial conditions (2).

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Dr. A. Vanav Kumar Partial Differential Equations

 Partial Differential Equations
Telegraph Equation Excercise
Problems and Solutions
Thanks

Practice Exercise

Q. Substitute
Z x
1 1
φ(x) = f (x) − g(ξ)dξ (15)
2 2c x0

Z x
1 1
ψ(x) = f (x) + g(ξ)dξ (16)
2 2c x0

into
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u(x, t) = φ(x − ct) + ψ(x + ct) (17)
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to get the D’Alembert’s solution.

Dr. A. Vanav Kumar Partial Differential Equations

 Partial Differential Equations
Telegraph Equation
Problems and Solutions
Thanks

TO BE CONTINUED...

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Dr. A. Vanav Kumar Partial Differential Equations