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Green's method can be used to solve linear inhomogeneous differential equations like the one describing a damped oscillator. It defines Green's function as the system's response to a delta function forcing. The Green's function for a damped oscillator is derived. Any forcing function can then be expressed as the sum of impulse functions. The solution is obtained by summing the individual responses to each impulse, which is found by convolving the forcing function with the Green's function. This integral solution gives the exact response of the system to any arbitrary forcing.

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101 views2 pages

Dynamic

Green's method can be used to solve linear inhomogeneous differential equations like the one describing a damped oscillator. It defines Green's function as the system's response to a delta function forcing. The Green's function for a damped oscillator is derived. Any forcing function can then be expressed as the sum of impulse functions. The solution is obtained by summing the individual responses to each impulse, which is found by convolving the forcing function with the Green's function. This integral solution gives the exact response of the system to any arbitrary forcing.

Uploaded by

razvan.curtean5992
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Lisa Larrimore

Physics 111 Seminar 3



Response of an Oscillator to an Impulse and Greens Method

Greens Method can be used to solve linear inhomogeneous differential equations, such
as the equation describing the motion of a damped oscillator:
m
t F
x x x
) (
2
2
0
+ + & & & . (1)
Since this equation is linear, it obeys the principle of superposition: if we have two solutions,
x
1
(t) and x
2
(t) , to two different forcing functions, ) (
1
t F and ) (
2
t F , then ) (
1
t x + ) (
2
t x is a
solution to the forcing function ) (
1
t F + ) (
2
t F .
We can always write ) (t F as a Fourier series, but then our solution is in the form of an
infinite sum. Green discovered a clever way to express ) (t F in terms of the delta function that
results in a nice analytic solution.
Greens Function, G(t, t ), is defined as the solution to the ODE when the forcing
function is equal to the delta function. In the case of the damped oscillator,
m
t t
G G G
) (
2
2
0

+ +
& & &
.
To determine G, first consider the exact response of the system to the Heaviside step function,
a x x x + +
2
0
2 & & & ,
0
t t >
in which a is acceleration. The homogeneous solution (set a = 0) is a cosine and sine sum with
arbitrary constants, and the inhomogeneous solution is just a constant,
2
0
/ a . The constants can
be found by applying initial conditions 0 ) 0 ( x and 0 ) 0 ( x& , giving the solution:
1
]
1



) ( sin ) ( cos 1
) (
) (
0 1
1
) (
0 1
) (
2
0
0
0
0
t t
e
t t e
t H
t x
t t
t t

By subtracting a step function at t , we get an impulse function of width and height a.
x(t)
t
Response of Linear Oscillator to Impulse
a/
0
2
0

= 0.2
0
= 5 (2/
1
)
If we keep the product a constant as we let 0, we get the response to a delta function (see
M&T p. 143-144):
) ( sin
) (
) (
0 1
) (
1
0
t t e
t a
t x
t t


, t > t
0

We can express any forcing function as the sum of impulse functions. If we define F
n
(t) as
a
n
(t) m when t
n
< t < t
n+1
, where t
n+1
t
n
, we can write


t
n
n
t d t t
m
t F
m
t F
m
t F
) (
) ( ) (
lim
) (
0

We know the solution for the nth impulse (it acts over interval t
n+1
t
n
), so we can sum these
to find the solution to the original forcing function:






t
n
n
t t n n
t
n
n
t t e
t a
t x t x ) ( sin
) (
) ( ) (
1
) (
1
0
, t
N
< t < t
N+1
.
Taking the limit as 0 and writing t
n
as t , we get the integral
t d t t e
t a
t x
t t t

) ( sin
) (
) (
1
) (
1
,
and when we say that

'




, 0
), ( sin
1
) , (
1
) (
1
t t e
m t t G
t t

t

t
t < t
(2)
we have



t
t d t t G t F t x ) , ( ) ( ) ( . (3)
Note that while Equation 3 is always true, Equation 2 is specific to this problem: a linear
oscillator initially at rest at equilibrium. The Greens function contains the initial conditions, so
putting any forcing function into Equation 3 will give you an exact solution to the problem.
Though it may be difficult to calculate the integral (as you will see in problem 3-42),
Greens Method always gives you a solution.

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