Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2025/ii/paper-3/31a/b/i/solution

Put . The system can be written
It therefore vanishes at the origin. The linearization there has eigenvalues
Hence the origin is an asymptotically stable focus for and an unstable focus for .
When the linearization alone is inconclusive. Direct radial reduction gives
which is positive for every sufficiently small . The origin is therefore unstable at as well, although trajectories leave it only at cubic order.

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