The object of this note is to indicate a numerical method for finding periodic solutions of a number of important problems in conduction of heat in which the boundary conditions are periodic in the time and may be linear or non-linear. One example is that of a circular cylinder which is heated by friction along the generators through a rotating arc of its circumference, the remainder of the surface being kept at constant temperature; here the boundary conditions are linear but mixed. Another example, which will be discussed in detail below, is that of the variation of the surface temperature of the moon during a lunation; in this case the boundary condition is non-linear. In all cases the thermal properties of the solid will be assumed to be independent of temperature. Only the semi-infinite solid will be considered here, though the method applies equally well to other cases.

Let θ be an algebraic number of degree n, with conjugates θ(1), …, θ(n), where θ(1), …, θ(r) are real and θ(r+j), θ(r+s+j) are complex conjugates for j = 1, …, s. [Here r ≥ 0, s ≥ 0, r + 2s = n.] Let ω1, …, ωn be a basis for the integers of k(θ), and set

This note is concerned with the problem of the slow motions of an inviscid, incompressible rotating fluid, and in particular with the motion of a sphere along the axis of rotation. This problem was studied recently by Stewartson (2), who overcomes the principal mathematical difficulty, viz. that of formulating the problem in a coordinate system in which the appropriate differential equation can be solved simply and in which the sphere is a coordinate surface, by a very elegant transformation of independent variables. Stewartson, however, uses inappropriate initial conditions. It is the purpose of this note to discuss the question of initial conditions in the light of results previously obtained by the writer (1).

Theorem 1. Let ξ = αx + βy, η = γx + δy be two homogeneous linear forms in x, y with real coefficients and determinant αδ − βγ = Δ ≠ 0. Then for any real constants p, q there are integers x, y such that