Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 ia Paper 2 7A Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
Write the linear system of differential equations asA homogeneous power solves this Cauchy-Euler differential system precisely when . The eigenvalues are and , with eigenvectors and . The homogeneous solution is therefore .
For a particular solution, put . Then , which gives . At , the two initial conditions become and , so . ThusThe two powers correspond to the two eigenvalues; the lower-degree particular term accounts for the constant forcing. Substitution gives both original right sides and the zero initial data.