d'Alembert's formula

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In mathematics, and specifically partial differential equations, d´Alembert's formula is

the general solution to the one-dimensional wave equation:

for 
It is named after the mathematician Jean le Rond d'Alembert, who derived it in 1747
as a solution to the problem of a vibrating string.[1]
Details[edit]

The characteristics of the PDE are   (where   sign states the two

solutions to quadratic equation), so we can use the change of variables   (for

the positive solution) and   (for the negative solution) to transform the PDE

to  . The general solution of this PDE is   where   and   

are   functions. Back in   coordinates,

 is   if   and   are  .

This solution   can be interpreted as two waves with constant velocity 

 moving in opposite directions along the x-axis.

Now consider this solution with the Cauchy data  .

Using   we get  .

Using   we get  .

We can integrate the last equation to get

Now we can solve this system of equations to get

Now, using
d'Alembert's formula becomes:[2]

Generalization for inhomogeneous canonical hyperbolic differential

equations[edit]
The general form of an inhomogeneous canonical hyperbolic type differential
equation takes the form of:

for  .

All second order differential equations with constant coefficients can be

transformed into their respective canonic forms. This equation is one of these
three cases: Elliptic partial differential equation, Parabolic partial differential
equation and Hyperbolic partial differential equation.
The only difference between a homogeneous and
an inhomogeneous (partial) differential equation is that in the homogeneous

form we only allow 0 to stand on the right side ( ), while the

inhomogeneous one is much more general, as in   could be any

function as long as it's continuous and can be continuously
differentiated twice.
The solution of the above equation is given by the formula:

If  , the first part disappears, if  , the second part disappears,

and if  , the third part disappears from the solution, since integrating
the 0-function between any two bounds always results in 0.