Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematical-methods-i-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2021/10/a/solution

Work over the reals with , and put . The algebraic equation implies and
Differentiate this identity and use ; cancellation gives . Hence , with nonzero real , and substitution gives the complete family
There is no extra real singular branch lost in the cancellation, since . At a point with , the permitted constants satisfy , giving
These 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.

New to topics? Read the docs here!