B3.25
Part II, 2002
Consider the equation
Find the dispersion relation for waves of frequency and wavenumber . Do the wave crests move faster or slower than a packet of waves?
Write down the solution with initial value
where is real and .
Use the method of stationary phase to obtain an approximation to for large , with having the constant value . Explain, using the notion of group velocity, the constraint that must be placed on .