Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-year-1-of-the-computer-science-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2016/discrete-mathematics-continuous-mathematics-and-probability-resit/4/a/solution

Write , so . The chain rule gives
Hence and the Cauchy-Euler equation becomes
Its characteristic equation is . The distinct roots give . Returning to the original independent variable gives
The same form holds on any negative interval avoiding , using ; the stated substitution covers the positive interval. At the differential equation is singular, so crossing it is a separate extension problem.

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