Past exam of the topics in applied mathematics course of the University of Oxford / 2010 / A / 1 / b / i

A steady population $N_{\ast }$ is a root $h(N_{\ast })=0$. To linearize one needs $h$ differentiable near that root, an extra local regularity assumption beyond the source's continuity. Setting $N=N_{\ast }+\eta$ gives $\dot{\eta }=h^{\prime }(N_{\ast })\eta +o(\eta )$, hence $\eta (t)=\eta (0)e^{h^{\prime }(N_{\ast })t}$ at linear order.

Thus $h^{\prime }(N_{\ast })<0$ gives linear asymptotic stability and $h^{\prime }(N_{\ast })>0$ gives instability. If $h^{\prime }(N_{\ast })=0$, linearization is inconclusive. In a one-dimensional phase line, the more general nonlinear test is whether the vector field points towards the root from both sides. At the physical boundary $N=0$, only the right-hand side matters. Continuity alone does not guarantee uniqueness of trajectories, so a standard well-defined flow also presumes a local uniqueness condition, such as local Lipschitz continuity.