Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Oxford / 2015 / Prelims / Mathematics III / 1 / c / Solution

The function $y_1=x$ solves the linear ordinary differential equation. Apply reduction of order by writing $y=xv(x)$. Substituting $y^{\prime }=v+x{v}^{\prime }$ and $y^{\prime \prime }=2v^{\prime }+x{v}^{\prime \prime }$ and cancelling the terms in $v$ givesFor $w=v^{\prime }$, this becomes a first-order linear ordinary differential equation:A partial fraction decomposition provides the required antiderivative:ThereforeThe logarithm has positive argument on the required interval. The Wronskian of $x$ and $1+x\log ((x-1)/x)$ is $1/(x-1)\ne 0$, proving their linear independence and hence completeness of this general solution.