Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ii Paper 3 31E a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
For , take the Logarithmic first integral of the Lotka-Volterra equationsAlong a trajectory,Thus is a first integral. The scalar function is nonnegative for , vanishes only at , and tends to infinity as or . Moreover,is positive definite, so is strictly convex. It follows that is its unique critical point and every level set is a compact smooth simple closed curve in the positive quadrant. The vector field is nonzero on such a level curve, so uniqueness of solutions makes each connected level curve one periodic orbit. The zero level consists of the fixed point . Hence every trajectory in is either periodic or the fixed point .