Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematical-methods-i-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2021/10/a/solution
Past exam of the mathematical methods I course of the University of Oxford 2021 10 a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Work over the reals with , and put . The algebraic equation implies andDifferentiate this identity and use ; cancellation gives . Hence , with nonzero real , and substitution gives the complete familyThere is no extra real singular branch lost in the cancellation, since . At a point with , the permitted constants satisfy , givingThese are distinct, real and nonzero, so exactly two integral curves pass through each such point. This does not contradict an Picard-Lindelöf theorem: the implicit equation permits two different slopes and is not one specified explicit first-order ordinary differential equation. Each choice of the smooth slope branch separately defines a locally unique curve.
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