Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2018 / ib / Paper 2 / 5C (Methods)

Along a curve $s\mapsto (x(s),y(s))$, the chain rule givesTogether with the second-order partial differential equation, these form a linear system for $(u_{xx},u_{xy},u_{yy})$ whose coefficient matrix isA characteristic curve is precisely one along which this system is singular, equivalently where the principal symbol vanishes on a normal covector. Taking the determinant yields