Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2026/ii/paper-1/32b/a/solution

The required properties are those of a strict Lyapunov function; the domain of stability is the set of initial states whose forward trajectories converge to the fixed point.
For ,
Thus when , proving that disc lies in the basin. On , (with the tangency points checked from the vector field), so trajectories outside cannot enter the basin through that boundary. Hence the basin is contained in .

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