Home page for accesible maths Math 101 Chapter 4: Taylor series and complex numbers

Style control - access keys in brackets

Font (2 3) - + Letter spacing (4 5) - + Word spacing (6 7) - + Line spacing (8 9) - +

4.45 Homogeneous second-order differential equation

Theorem

Let a,b,ca,b,c be real constants with a>0a>0, and let the differential equation a⁢d2⁢yd⁢x2+b⁢d⁢yd⁢x+c⁢y=0a{{d^{2}y}\over{dx^{2}}}+b{{dy}\over{dx}}+cy=0 have auxiliary equation a⁢s2+b⁢s+c=0.as^{2}+bs+c=0.

(i) If there are distinct real roots pp and qq, then the general solution is

y⁢(x)=A⁢ep⁢x+B⁢eq⁢x;y(x)=Ae^{px}+Be^{qx};

(ii) if there is a double real root pp, then the general solution is

y⁢(x)=A⁢ep⁢x+B⁢x⁢ep⁢x;y(x)=Ae^{px}+Bxe^{px};

(iii) if there is a pair of complex conjugate roots α±i⁢β\alpha\pm i\beta, then

y⁢(x)=A⁢eα⁢x⁢cos⁡β⁢x+B⁢eα⁢x⁢sin⁡β⁢x.y(x)=Ae^{\alpha x}\cos\beta x+Be^{\alpha x}\sin\beta x.