Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-differential-equations-and-applications-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2008/a/1/b/solution
Past exam of the differential equations and applications course of the University of Oxford 2008 A 1 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
Use the Poincaré-Lindstedt method. Introduce and . The leading equation gives and , after fixing the arbitrary phase. At order ,Here . Periodicity requires the two resonant coefficients to vanish. With , this givesTherefore the leading limit cycle is , with frequency . For example the nonresonant first correction contains ; its homogeneous sine/cosine pieces depend on phase and amplitude conventions. The absence of a first-order frequency shift is a solvability condition, not an assumption.
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