Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2015/ii/paper-3/11e/c/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 ii Paper 3 11E c Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Assume first and . The nonnegative equilibrium points areand, when both coordinates are nonnegative,The Jacobian matrix at has eigenvalues , so cannot attract an initially positive uninfected population. At the eigenvalues are . At , for , they are and . At an interior , the equilibrium equations reduce the Jacobian matrix toThus the coexistence equilibrium is asymptotically stable precisely when .
For positive initial populations these local results identify the global outcome. The relation bounds all trajectories. With the Dulac function , the divergence of the rescaled vector field is , excluding interior periodic orbits. Boundary saddles cannot attract an interior trajectory except at the merging thresholds. The resulting long-term outcomes areAt , merges into ; at , it merges into . The merged equilibria still attract interior trajectories, but convergence along the zero-eigenvalue direction is algebraic. For example at , put , . The local centre manifold has , and . At the other threshold, using , , gives and .
The invariant axes also matter: leads to whenever ; leads to for and to extinction for . At , coincides with . If , disease declines for and any initially positive tends to . If also , every point is an equilibrium and the initial population proportions are preserved.
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