Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2006/ii/paper-3/13b/a/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 ii Paper 3 13B a Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A homogeneous equilibrium has . Besides , a nonzero equilibrium satisfies , giving . Concentrations are nonnegative, so only nonnegative roots are physically admissible. At a positive equilibrium, the reaction Jacobian matrix isNegative trace and positive determinant are equivalent toThus a positive homogeneous stable branch exists precisely when and , on the upper root . The lower positive branch has negative determinant and is unstable. At the branches meet and have a zero eigenvalue; at the strict linear stability condition also fails.
The trivial equilibrium has eigenvalues , so it is asymptotically stable for . It exists for all , independently of the nonzero branches. If negative were allowed mathematically, the negative branch for would also be homogeneously stable, but it does not represent a chemical concentration.
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