Name and student number:

Physics 228, Winter 2016 Final Exam 3/14/16

This exam is worth 50 points, and consists of 5 problems. You may use but will not need a
calculator. You may not use books, notes or laptop computers. Possibly useful expressions
may be found on the last 2 pages.

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Problem 1. (12 pts) Use contour integration methods to evaluate
Z ∞
eiωt
dω 2 ,
−∞ ω +1
assuming t is a real number, which could be either positive or negative.

2
 Problem 2. (12 pts) Find the general solution to the differential equation

y 00 + e2x y = 0.

Hint: change coordinates to z = ex . You may use the solutions to Bessel’s equation (see
last two pages) and your answer may involve Bessel functions.

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 Problem 3 (15 pts) The heat equation for a steady state (no time dependence) is just
Laplace’s equation. In 2 dimensions in cylindrical (aka polar) coordinates it is:

∂ 2 T (r, φ) 1 ∂T (r, φ) 1 ∂ 2 T (r, φ)

∇2 T = + + =0.
∂r2 r ∂r r2 ∂φ2
Consider a thin disk of radius 1 whose circular edge is being held at a temperature:

T (1, φ) = 10 + sin φ + cos(2φ) .

Find a solution to the steady state heat equation for this disk satisfying the boundary
condition.

4
 Problem 4 (6 pts) Consider the functional
Z 2 p
F [y] = dx 1 + (y 0 )2
0

where the function y(x) is fixed at the endpoints x1 and x2 : y(0) = 0 and y(2) = 2. Find a
differential equation that y must satisfy so that F [y] is stationary. Find a solution to the
differential equation satisfying the conditions y(0) = 0 and y(2) = 2.

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Problem 5 (5 pts) Do the following double integral
Z ∞ Z ∞
4
dt dωeiωt e−t .
−∞ −∞

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 Useful Expressions

df (t) ¨ d2 f (t) 0 df (x) 00 d2 f (x)

f˙(t) = , f (t) = , f (x) = , f (x) = ,
dt R dt2 dx dx2
Euler equations: If I[y] = F (x, y, y 0 )dx is stationary, with y(x) fixed at the endpoints,
then
d ∂F ∂F
0
− = 0.
dx ∂y ∂y
One can also show that if F is independent of x then F − y 0 ∂F/∂y 0 is a constant.
Fuchs theorem: At least one solution to a second order differential equation of the form
y 00 + f (x)y 0 + g(x)y = 0
may be solved by the method of Frobenius, that is expanding in a Frobenius series of the
form ∞
X
y= an (x − x0 )n+s ,
n=0

with a0 6= 0, provided that (x − x0 )f and (x − x0 )2 g are analytic functions (expandable

in a power series) at x0 . The value of s will be determined by the self-consistency of the
requirement that a0 6= 0 and the remaining coefficients determined by a recursion relation
which can be derived by requiring that every term in the series expansion of the left hand
side of the differential equation must vanish since the right hand side is zero. This method
will either yield two independent solutions, with two different values of s, or a single solution
y1 , in which case a second solution may be found by trying
∞
X
y = y1 ln(x − x0 ) + bn (x − x0 )n+r ,
n=0

with b0 6= 0, r a constant to be determined, and the remaining bn to be determined.

Bessel’s equation and solutions:
x2 y 00 + xy 0 + (x2 − p2 )y = 0,
∞
X (−1)n
Jp (x) = (x/2)2n+p
n=0
Γ(n + 1)Γ(n + p + 1)
cos(πp)Jp (x) − J−p (x)
Yp (x) =
sin(πp)
eiθ − e−iθ eiθ + e−iθ
eiθ = cos θ + i sin θ, sin θ = , cos θ = ,
2i 2
R∞ R∞
Integral Fourier transform: f˜(p) = 2π 1
−∞
dxf (x)e −ipx
, Inverse transform: f (x) = −∞
dpf˜(p)eipx .
Analytic functions can be expanded in a power series with a nonzero radius of convergence
about any point in the region in which they are analytic. Meromorphic functions are ana-
lytic except for isolated poles of finite order, and can be expanded in a Laurent Series. For
a meromorphic function
I X
dzF (z) = 2πi (residue of poles enclosed by a counterclockwise contour)

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If f (z) = g(z)/h(z) with g(z) analytic at z0 , h(z0 ) = 0, and h0 (z0 ) 6= 0, then we have a
simple pole whose residue is R(z0 ) = g(z0 )/h0 (z0 ). A general method to find the residue of
(n−1) (z )
a pole of order n at z = z0 : define g(z) = (z − z0 )n f (z), then the residue will be g (n−1)! 0
.
Z b
dxδ(x − x0 )f (x) = f (x0 ) if a ≤ x0 ≤ b else = 0
a

d(δ(x)) δ(x)
δ(x − x0 ) = δ(x0 − x), x = δ(x), xδ(x) = 0, δ(ax) = ,
dx |a|
Z ∞
dα iα(x−y)
e = δ(x − y)
−∞ 2π
Γ(n) = (n − 1)!, n integer
pΓ(p) = Γ(p + 1)

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scratch