Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2001/paper-2/4/solution

At an ordinary point, an order- linear ordinary differential equation has arbitrary constants in its general solution. Determining them uniquely requires independent, consistent scalar conditions. Prescribing at one ordinary point gives uniqueness under the standard continuous-coefficient assumptions. Conditions at different endpoints need an additional nonsingularity check: for example, , leaves every multiple of possible. Thus counting boundary conditions alone does not guarantee uniqueness for a boundary value problem.

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