University of California

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Spring 2012
Doctoral Preliminary Exam: Mathematics
Name:
Problem #1
A function y(t) is known to satisfy the dierential equation
y 2 y + 5y = 10 sin(t)
where y and y denote the rst and second derivatives, respectively, of the function y(t)
with respect to the independent variable t. If y(0) = 1 and y(0) = 0, nd the value of y(t)
and y(t) for t = .
Problem #2
Let the 2 2 matrix A be given by
A =

1 3
3 1

Find all matrices X that satisfy the equation

X
2
3X = A
How many of such Xs are there?
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
SPRING SEMESTER 2011 Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Materials
NAME
PH.D. PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION
MATHEMATICS
Problem 1: Consider the following denite integral,
I[y] =
1
2

dy
dx

2
+ y
2

dx < ,
where y = y(x) is a continuous real function dened on the domain [0, ].
Obviously, the value of I depends on the function y(x), i.e. I = I[(y(x)]. Consider a real
parameter > 0 and another real function (x), x [0, ] and (0) = () = 0.
(1) Write the explicit expression of I[y(x) + (x)];
(2) Calculate the following limit,
I := lim
0
I(y + ) I(y)

;
(3) Show that
I =

d
2
y
dx
2
y

(x)dx .
Hint: Use integration by parts.
Problem 2. Find the general solution for the following ordinary dierential equation,
d
2
y
dt
2
+ 2
0
dy
dt
+
2
0
y = 0 , with y(0) = 0, y(0) = 1 ;
Discuss your solution for the following cases: (1) > 1, (2) = 1, (3) 0 < < 1, and (4) = 0.
1
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
FALL SEMESTER 2010 Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Materials
NAME
PH.D. PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION
MATHEMATICS
Problem 1:
Find the general solution for the following ordinary dierential equation,
d
2
f
dx
2
+
1
x
df
dx

2
2
x
2
f = 0 (1)
Problem 2:
For the following matrix,
[A] =

3 0 2
0 0 0
2 0 0

(2)
(1) Find all the eigenvalues;
(2) Find all the eigenvectors;
(3) Find a transformation matrix [Q] such that
[B] = [Q]
T
[A][Q]
is a diagonal matrix.
1
Mathematics Preliminary Exam Spring 2010
Structural Engineering, Mechanics, and Materials
1. Consider the following PDE
u
x
+
u
t
= 0,
dened for u(x, t) over x (, ) and t [0, ).
(a) (15 pts) Show that every function u(x, t) = f(x t) qualies as a solution to this
equation, independent of the functional form for f().
(b) (15 pts) Assume that the initial condition is given as u(x, 0) = H(x + 1) H(x 1),
where H() is the Heaviside step function; i.e. u(x, 0) is a square pulse centered about
the origin with a width of 2 units. Accurately sketch the solution at time 2; i.e. sketch
u(x, 2).
2. Consider the quadratic form q = x
T
Ax.
(a) (15 pts) Prove that q is a real number, if A is Hermitian
1
(independent of x).
(b) (15 pts) Prove that q is a pure imaginary number (or zero), if A is skew-Hermitian
2
(independent of x).
3. (40 pts) Consider a region of space = {(x, y, z) | x
2
+y
2
< 25 and x+z < 10 and z +y > 4}
with piecewise smooth boundary . Using the divergence theorem, compute the integral
I =

n(x)dS ,
where n is the outward unit normal vector eld on .
1
Hermitian: A = A

, i.e. Aij =

Aji.
2
skew-Hermitian: A = A

, i.e. Aij =

Aji.
1
Mathematics Preliminary Exam Fall 2009
Structural Engineering, Mechanics, and Materials
1. Consider the linear system of equations Ax = b, where
A =

1 1
1 1
1 1

.
(a) (10pts) What condition must b satisfy for this system to have a solution?
(b) (10pts) Assume that
b =

0
2
0

.
Find x.
(c) (5pts) Outline how you would nd a solution to the system of equations if b did not
satisfy the condition you have outlined in Part 1a.
2. Consider the ordinary dierential equation
d
2
x
dt
2
+ x = sin(t) ,
where x(0) = 1 and
dx
dt
(0) = 0.
(a) (20pts) Find x(t) for t > 0.
(b) (5pts) Qualitatively, sketch your solution.
3. (25pts) Assume (x, y) satises Laplaces equations (
2
= 0) over the domain [0, 1] [0, 1]
and is subject to the boundary conditions (0, y) = (x, 0) = (x, 1) = 0 and

x
(1, y) =
sin(y). Find (x, y) using separation of variables.
1
University of California at Berkeley Spring 2008
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering SEMM
Doctoral Preliminary Examination: Mathematics
Name
Problem 1.
Show that

1 1 1
x
1
x
2
x
3
x
2
1
x
2
2
x
2
3

= (x
2
x
1
)(x
3
x
1
)(x
3
x
2
) (1)
(20 points)
Problem 2. Consider the following differential equation,
EI
d
4
y
dx
4
= w
0
H(x a), 0 < a, x < L (2)
where w
0
is a constant, and H(x a) is the Heaviside function dened as
H(x a) =

1, x > a
0, x a
(3)
The boundary conditions of the differential equation are
y(0) = y(L) = 0 (4)
y

(0) = y

(L) = 0 (5)
Find y(x). (35 points)
Problem 3.
Consider a two-dimensional Laplace equation,

2
f
x
2
+

2
f
y
2
= 0 (6)
in Cartesian coordinate.
Use polar coordinates r and
x = r cos , r
2
= x
2
+ y
2
(7)
y = r sin, tan =
y
x
(8)
and chain rule to show that
(1)

x
= cos

r

sin
r

and

y
= sin

r
+
cos
r

(9)
(2)

2
f
x
2
+

2
f
y
2
=

2
r
2
+
1
r

r
+
1
r
2

f = 0 (10)
(3) If f is independent of r, nd the general solution of f (in terms of and arbitrary constants);
and (4) If f is independent of , nd the general solution of f (in terms of r and arbitrary constants).
(Hint:

2
f
dr
2
+
1
r
df
dr
=
1
r
d
dr

r
df
dr

)
(45 points)