Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematical-methods-i-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2015/1/solution

Use polar coordinates , where . The equation sets , giving an Archimedean spiral. The origin is excluded because the complex argument of zero is undefined. With the principal complex argument in , the locus is
It approaches the excluded origin along the positive real axis, passes through , and ends at . The choice of argument matters: the convention instead gives , while allowing all values of the complex argument gives every turn with .
Figure 1.
The principal-argument spiral and the rotated ellipse obtained from the quadratic form
. Details.

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