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D Alembert's Solution

D'Alembert's formula is the general solution to the one-dimensional wave equation. It describes a wave that propagates in two directions along the x-axis at a constant velocity. The formula was derived by Jean le Rond d'Alembert in 1747 as a solution to the vibrating string problem. It can be interpreted as the superposition of two waves moving in opposite directions. The formula can also be generalized to solve inhomogeneous canonical hyperbolic differential equations, where an additional term is included to account for non-zero functions on the right side of the equation.

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77 views3 pages

D Alembert's Solution

D'Alembert's formula is the general solution to the one-dimensional wave equation. It describes a wave that propagates in two directions along the x-axis at a constant velocity. The formula was derived by Jean le Rond d'Alembert in 1747 as a solution to the vibrating string problem. It can be interpreted as the superposition of two waves moving in opposite directions. The formula can also be generalized to solve inhomogeneous canonical hyperbolic differential equations, where an additional term is included to account for non-zero functions on the right side of the equation.

Uploaded by

vijay kumar honnali
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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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.

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