[MP2 2014]

B.Sc. and M.Sci. EXAMINATIONS 2014

SECOND YEAR STUDENTS OF PHYSICS

MATHEMATICAL METHODS

Date Monday 2nd June 2014 2.00 pm - 4.00 pm

DO NOT OPEN THIS PAPER UNTIL THE INVIGILATOR TELLS YOU TO.

Answer ALL of Question 1 and TWO questions out of Questions 2, 3, 4 and 5.

A mathematical formulae sheet is provided

[Before starting, please make sure that the paper is complete; there should be 6 pages, with
a total of FIVE questions. Ask the invigilator for a replacement if your copy is faulty.]

c 2014 Imperial College London

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1. (i) Consider the complex exponential function f (z) = ez . Show that f is differen-
tiable for all z ∈ C .
(ii) Determine the residue at z = 0 of
ez − 1
f (z) =
z4

(iii) Determine the Fourier transform fˆ(k) of the function

2
f (x) = e−αx for all x ∈ R and α > 0.

Z ∞ √
(You may use without proof the fact that exp(−u2 ) du = π)
−∞

(iv) Use contour integration to compute the integral

Z ∞
dx
I= 2 )(4 + x2 )
.
−∞ (1 + x

(v) Consider the sequence

1 + n2
an = ∈ Q. (1)
n2
Use the standard absolute value norm and show that the sequence is a Cauchy
sequence.

Consider the sequence

1+n n

bn = ∈ Q. (2)
n
 x n
From the fact that ex = lim 1 + explain why bn must be a Cauchy
n→∞ n
sequence and also explain why bn cannot be strongly convergent in Q given
that e ∈
/ Q.
(vi) Consider the two dimensional plane. Use the calculus of variations to show that
the shortest path between two points in the plane is a straight line.
(vii) Show that for a 3 × 3 matrix A
det A = ijk a1i a2j a3k .

(viii) Explain the Newton-Raphson algorithm and find the real positive root to two
decimal places of
cos(x) = x2 .

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2. (i) Consider the two functions

1
z2 + 4
f1 (z) =
1 2


z z− 2

 
1
f2 (z) = exp .
z−1

Identify the singularities, and determine their nature, for both functions.

(ii) Compute the residues of the poles of f1 and f2 .

(iii) Let C denote a circle of radius 2 with centre at the origin and positive orienta-
tion. Compute the integral
Z
[f1 (z) + f2 (z)] dz.
C

(iv) Suppose the Fourier transform of a function g(x) is given by

1
ĝ(k) = .
k−i
Find the function g(x) for all values of x ∈ R including x = 0 .

(v) The double Fourier transform

Z ∞ Z ∞
ˆ
f (k, ω) = dx dt f (x, t)e−i(kx+ωt)
−∞ −∞

of a function f (x, t) satisfies the equation

i ω fˆ + k 2 fˆ − 1 = 0.

Find the corresponding differential equation satisfied by f (x, t) .

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3. (i) Use suffix notation and the permutation symbol to show that for any two vectors
a and b ∈ R3
a × b · a = 0.

(ii) Explain if the following sets, A, B and C, of vectors constitutes a basis for R3 .

A: a1 = (1, 0, 0), a2 = (1, 1, 1), a3 = (0, 0, 1), a4 = (−1, 0, 1)

1 1 1
B: b1 = ( , 1, −1), b2 = (0, −1, 2), b3 = (− , − , 0),
2 2 2

1
C: c1 = (1, 1, 1), c2 = (0, 1, 1), c3 = (− , 0, 0)
2

(iii) Consider R∞ with the l1 norm and show, using  formalism, that the sequence
an ∈ R∞ given by  
1 1 1 1
an = 1, , , , ..., n , 0, 0, ...
2 4 8 2
is a Cauchy sequence.

(iv) Show that a strongly convergent series is always a Cauchy sequence.

(v) Use the Schwarz inequality

|hx, yi| ≤ hx, xi1/2 hy, yi1/2

to show that
∞
X 1 √
√ ≤ 2e.
n=0 2n n!

(Hint: You may want to consider sequences constructed from the power series represen-
tations of ex and (1 − x)−1 .)

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4. (i) Derive the Euler-Lagrange equation for the functional

Z x1
J[y] = f (y, y 0 , x) dx
x0

where y ∈ C 2 ([x0 , x1 ], R) and is subject to the boundary conditions y(x0 ) = y0

and y(x1 ) = y1 .
(ii) Show that if the kernel f does not explicitly depend on x, then the Euler-
Lagrange equation implies
∂f
f − y0 = constant.
∂y 0

(iii) Use the calculus of variations to derive Newton’s second law for a particle moving
along the x axis in a potential U (x) .

(iv) Let p
2
1 + (y 0 )2
Z
J[y] = dx.
0 y
Consider curves starting at (0,1) and ending at (2,3) . Determine the curve
that minimises the functional J[y] .
R1
(v) Consider functions y(x) for which y(0) = 0, y(1) = 1/2 and 0 2y dx = 1/6 .
Amongst this set of functions determine y(x) such that it makes the functional
Z 1
J[y] = {(y 0 )2 + 2y} dx
0
stationary.

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5. (i) Define the Kronecker delta symbol δij .

(ii) Define the permutation symbol ijk .

(iii) Use suffix notation to show that

a × (b × c) = (a · c)b − (a · b)c.

You may use without proof that ijk pqk = δip δjq − δiq δjp .

(iv) Consider the transformation between two orthonormal systems S and S 0 . Show
that the square length of a vector transforms as a tensor of rank zero.

(v) Consider the differential equation

dy
= f (x, y(x))
dx
and derive the Runge-Kutta scheme
h
yn+1 = yn + [f (xn , yn ) + f (xn+1 , yn + f (xn , yn )h)].
2

(vi) Consider the equation

dy
= x tanh(xy).
dx
Use the Runge-Kutta scheme to estimate, to one significant decimal, the value
of y(x) at x = 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 given that y(1) = 1 .

END OF PAPER