Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2004/ia/paper-2/8b/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 ia Paper 2 8B Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Write the linear differential equation as , withIts characteristic polynomial is . Thus a choice of eigenvalues and eigenvectors isThe distinct eigenvalues give two linearly independent solutions, and the general complex solution isReal solutions have . Equivalently,They spiral counterclockwise towards the origin, which is a stable spiral.
In a forced linear differential equation, resonance in a differential equation occurs when exponential forcing excites a mode with the same exponent as its eigenvalue, producing a polynomial factor such as multiplying that exponential. Merely matching an exponent is not enough: its projection onto that mode must be nonzero. Here still decays in absolute magnitude because the real part of is negative; resonance refers to this extra factor, not necessarily to unbounded growth.
For each forcing vector, resolve it in the eigenvector basis:If is the coefficient of the th eigenvector, its scalar equation is . Multiplying by and integrating shows that the contribution is , whereas a contribution is . Therefore the exact conditions for no resonant response areUnder these conditions one particular solution iswhich contains no factor of . For a real forcing, and , and the two boxed conditions are conjugate to each other.
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