Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2008 / ia / Paper 4 / 4B / Solution

Introduce $v=\dot{x}$. The phase plane system for the damped pendulum isAt an equilibrium point, $v=0$ and $\sin x=0$, so all equilibrium points are $\boxed{(x,v)=(n\pi ,0),n\in \mathbb{Z}}$. Angles identified modulo $2\pi$ give one downward and one upward equilibrium point.

The linearization of a dynamical system at $(n\pi ,0)$ has Jacobian matrix and eigenvaluesWhen $n$ is even and $k>\omega$, both eigenvalues are real and strictly negative, since $0<\sqrt{k^2-{\omega }^2}<k$. These downward equilibrium points are stable nodes. When $n$ is even and $k<\omega$, the eigenvalues are $-k\pm i\sqrt{{\omega }^2-k^2}$, so the downward equilibrium points are stable foci, approached with decaying oscillations.

When $n$ is odd, $\sqrt{k^2+{\omega }^2}>k$, so one eigenvalue is positive and one is negative in either parameter range. Every upward equilibrium point is consequently an unstable saddle equilibrium. All these equilibrium points are hyperbolic equilibria in the two requested cases, so their linearization of a dynamical system gives their local nonlinear classification.