Diffusion Equation PDE: Solving for u(x, t) with Initial Condition e^(-x^2)

StewartHolmes
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Homework Statement


Solve
u_{tt} - 4u_{xx} = 0, x \in \mathbb{R}, t > 0
u(x, 0) = e^{-x^2}, x \in \mathbb{R}

Homework Equations


General solution to the diffusion equation:
u(x, t) = \frac{1}{\sqrt{4\pi kt}} \int\limits_{-\infty}^{\infty} e^\frac{{-(x - y)^2}}{4kt} \varphi(y) \, dy

The Attempt at a Solution


u(x, t) = \frac{1}{\sqrt{4\pi kt}} \int\limits_{-\infty}^{\infty} e^\frac{{-(x - y)^2}}{4kt} e^{-y^2}

That's about as good as I've got. Integration by parts gets me no further. I've tried to combine the exponents in the integrand, but that leaves me with
- \frac{x^2 + y^2 - 2xy + 4kty^2}{4kt}
I have an example in a textbook where they do similar, then complete the square so that they can substitute p, then integrate \int\limits_{-\infty}^{\infty}e^{-p^2} \, dp as \sqrt{\pi}... but I can't complete the square in this case.
 
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Start from scratch, it'll be easier. Take Fourier transforms w.r.t x of the PDE and the initial condition, then look for the inverse transform.
 
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
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