Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2024 July 8

Computing desk
< July 7	<< Jun | July | Aug >>	July 9 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Computing Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

July 8

Solving heat equation using Fourier series

Do "the boundary conditions u(0,t)=0=u(L,t)" imply the use of instrumentation or mechanics? As part of the solution to u(x,t), D_subscript_n was solved using integration. Afrazer123 (talk) 06:21, 8 July 2024 (UTC)

Boundary conditions would be a an assumption made to make a particular problem solvable and come up with a particular solution rather than just an equation. Perhaps you could assume that the value was measured at 0. But complete measurement time time=-infinity to +infinity will never happen. So you had better imagine it. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 06:55, 8 July 2024 (UTC)

These boundary conditions do not imply the use of either instrumentation or mechanics. They represent nothing but a simple special case for which the heat equation can be solved purely analytically, given also an initial condition of the form $u(x,0)=f(x),x\in [0,L].$  --Lambiam 10:29, 8 July 2024 (UTC)