Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-numerical-analysis-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2021/3/b/ii/solution

The Backward Euler method uses the new point:
Writing gives the quadratic equation . Starting from , its two polynomial roots have opposite signs. The positive root, which continues the solution as , is
The other root is negative and does not approach as . Rationalizing the numerator gives an equivalent form that avoids cancellation error when the step size is small:
The defining quadratic equation gives for this root, so positivity is maintained inductively from . The branch choice is part of specifying the Backward Euler method here: the algebraic update alone has two solutions.

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