I have been struggling with a problem for a long time. I need to solve the second order partial differential equation
Gzx1∂2y∂2ϕ(x,y)+Gzy1∂2x∂2ϕ(x,y)=−2θ
where Gzx, Gzy, θ, a, and b are constants and with BCs ϕ(0,y)=ϕ(a,y)=0 and ϕ(x,−b)=ϕ(x,b)=0. The solution that I have sets ϕ(x,y)=k=1,3,5...∑∞Y(y)sin(aπkx) and expands −2θ in a Fourier sine series in the interval between 0 and a so we end up with a second order differential equation,
GzxY′′(y)−a2Gzyπ2k2Y(y)=−πk8θ
I tried several times to solve it by hand but end up making mistakes. Therefore I resorted to Mathematica and it gives me the following solution,
ϕmine(x,y)=−k=1,3,5,...∑∞π3k38a2Gzyθ(sech(2aπbkGzyGzx)cosh(aπkyGzyGzx)−1)sin(aπkx)
This is almost exactly what is written in the solution that I have, which is
ϕsol(x,y)=π38Gzya2k=1,3,5,...∑∞k3(−1)(k−1)/2⎝⎛1−cosh(2abπkμ)cosh(aπkμy)⎠⎞cos(aπkx)
where μ=GzyGzx. ϕsol(x,y) is missing \theta but I suspect that it might be a typo.
I know that unfortunately ϕmine(x,y) is wrong because the next step in the process involves working out a constant β where
β=Gzxab32∫−b/2b/2(∫0aϕ(x,y)dx)dy
When I work out β I get that ϕsol(x,y) converges to a value while ϕmine(x,y) goes to infinity. Therefore I'm doing something wrong but I'm not sure what. I've been trying to figure out the difference between my answer and the solution and all I can find is that somehow
sin(aπkx)=cos(aπkx)(−1)(k−1)/2
for k=1,3,5,... Is it possible to change sin(aπkx) into cos(aπkx)(−1)(k−1)/2 when only odd values of k are used? I've never seen this and when I plot them they give different curves so they don't seem to be equivalent.


Gzx1∂2y∂2ϕ(x,y)+Gzy1∂2x∂2ϕ(x,y)=−2θ
where Gzx, Gzy, θ, a, and b are constants and with BCs ϕ(0,y)=ϕ(a,y)=0 and ϕ(x,−b)=ϕ(x,b)=0. The solution that I have sets ϕ(x,y)=k=1,3,5...∑∞Y(y)sin(aπkx) and expands −2θ in a Fourier sine series in the interval between 0 and a so we end up with a second order differential equation,
GzxY′′(y)−a2Gzyπ2k2Y(y)=−πk8θ
I tried several times to solve it by hand but end up making mistakes. Therefore I resorted to Mathematica and it gives me the following solution,
ϕmine(x,y)=−k=1,3,5,...∑∞π3k38a2Gzyθ(sech(2aπbkGzyGzx)cosh(aπkyGzyGzx)−1)sin(aπkx)
This is almost exactly what is written in the solution that I have, which is
ϕsol(x,y)=π38Gzya2k=1,3,5,...∑∞k3(−1)(k−1)/2⎝⎛1−cosh(2abπkμ)cosh(aπkμy)⎠⎞cos(aπkx)
where μ=GzyGzx. ϕsol(x,y) is missing \theta but I suspect that it might be a typo.
I know that unfortunately ϕmine(x,y) is wrong because the next step in the process involves working out a constant β where
β=Gzxab32∫−b/2b/2(∫0aϕ(x,y)dx)dy
When I work out β I get that ϕsol(x,y) converges to a value while ϕmine(x,y) goes to infinity. Therefore I'm doing something wrong but I'm not sure what. I've been trying to figure out the difference between my answer and the solution and all I can find is that somehow
sin(aπkx)=cos(aπkx)(−1)(k−1)/2
for k=1,3,5,... Is it possible to change sin(aπkx) into cos(aπkx)(−1)(k−1)/2 when only odd values of k are used? I've never seen this and when I plot them they give different curves so they don't seem to be equivalent.

