Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2015/prelims/mathematics-iii/1/b/solution

For the given matrix , the characteristic polynomial is
For , the eigenvector equation gives ; for , it gives . Thus the eigenvalues and their corresponding eigenspaces are
For any eigenvector with eigenvalue , the vector-valued function satisfies , since its derivative is . The two displayed eigenvectors are linearly independent, so the general solution of the linear system of ordinary differential equations is

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