Past exam of the year 1 of the computer science course of the University of Oxford / 2018 / Discrete mathematics, continuous mathematics, and probability / 5 / c / Solution

The gradient vanishes exactly when $x^2/4-1=0$ and $y^2/4-1=0$, giving the four points $(\pm 2,\pm 2)$. The Hessian matrix is $\mathrm{diag}(x/2,y/2)$. It is positive definite at $(2,2)$, negative definite at $(-2,-2)$, and indefinite at the two mixed-sign points. Thus $(2,2)$ is a strict local minimum, $(-2,-2)$ a strict local maximum, and $(2,-2),(-2,2)$ are saddle points by the second-derivative test. Their respective function values are $-8/3$, $8/3$, and zero at both saddle points.