386 Chapter 6 Laplace Transform
1 + 21 iexp
[
iωt−
√
ω
2 (^1 +i)x
]
−α 2 iexp
[
−iωt−
√
ω
2 (^1 −i)x
]
= 1 +αexp
(
−
√
ω
2
x
)
sin
(
ωt−
√
ω
2
x
)
.
Example 3.
If a steel wire is exposed to a sinusoidal magnetic field, the boundary value–
initial value problem that describes its displacement is
∂^2 u
∂x^2 =
∂^2 u
∂t^2 −sin(ωt),^0 <x<^1 ,^0 <t,
u( 0 ,t)= 0 , u( 1 ,t)= 0 , 0 <t,
u(x, 0 )= 0 ,
∂u
∂t(x,^0 )=^0 ,^0 <x<^1.
The nonhomogeneity in the partial differential equation represents the effect
of the force due to the field. The transformed equation and its solution are
d^2 U
dx^2
=s^2 U− ω
s^2 +ω^2
, 0 <x< 1 ,
U( 0 ,s)= 0 , U( 1 ,s)= 0 ,
U(x,s)= ω
s^2 (s^2 +ω^2 )
cosh(^12 s)−cosh
(
s(^12 −x)
)
cosh(^12 s)
.
Several methods are available for the inverse transformation ofU.Anobvi-
ous one would be to compute
v(x,t)=L−^1
(cosh( 1
2 s)−cosh
(
s(^12 −x)
)
s^2 cosh(^12 s)
)
and writeu(x,t)as a convolution
u(x,t)=
∫t
0
sin
(
ω
(
t−t′
))
v
(
x,t′
)
dt′.
The details of this development are left as an exercise.
We could also use the Heaviside formula. The application is now rou-
tine, except in the interesting case where cosh(iω/ 2 )=0, that is, whereω=
( 2 n− 1 )π, one of the natural frequencies of the wire.
Let us supposeω=π,so
U(x,s)=s (^2) (s 2 π+π (^2) )
cosh(^12 s)−cosh
(
s(^12 −x)
)
cosh(^12 s)