Power series solution to a second order o.d.e.

Vuldoraq
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Homework Statement



Find the terms up to x^5 in the power series solution of the following equation

y''=(1+x^{2})y


Homework Equations



Power series, sum from 0 to infinity

y=\sum a_{n}x^{n}

The Attempt at a Solution



At first I just differentiated each term separately and then equated coefficients,

y=a_{0}+a_{1}x+a_{2}x^{2}+a_{3}x^{3}+a_{4}x^{4}+a_{5}x^{5}+...
y'=a_{1}+2a_{2}x+3a_{3}x^{2}+4a_{4}x^{3}+5a_{5}x^{4}+...
y''=2a_{2}+6a_{3}x+12a_{4}x^{2}+20a_{5}x^{3}+...

After equating and rearranging i ended up with,

y=a_{0}(1+\frac{x^{2}}{2}+\frac{x^{3}}{6}+\frac{x^{4}}{12}+\frac{x^{5}}{40}+...)+a_{1}(x+\frac{x^{2}}{2}+\frac{x^{3}}{3}+\frac{x^{4}}{8}+\frac{x^{5}}{24}+...)

Is this correct?

Also I was wondering how I would go about doing this for the general case, using complete sums and then equating coefficients,

y=\sum a_{n}x^{n}

y'=\sum na_{n}x^{n-1}

y''=\sum n(n-1)a_{n}x^{n-2}

x^{2}y=\sum a_{n}x^{n+2}

Subbing back into the original,

\sum n(n-1)a_{n}x^{n-2}=\sum a_{n}x^{n}+\sum a_{n}x^{n+2}

Equating coefficients,

n(n-1)a_{n}=a_{n-2}+a_{n-4}

But no matter what I do with this relation I can't get it into a helpful form that agrees with my above result?

Please can someone help?
 
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Vuldoraq said:

Homework Statement



Find the terms up to x^5 in the power series solution of the following equation

y''=(1+x^{2})y


Homework Equations



Power series, sum from 0 to infinity

y=\sum a_{n}x^{n}

The Attempt at a Solution



At first I just differentiated each term separately and then equated coefficients,

y=a_{0}+a_{1}x+a_{2}x^{2}+a_{3}x^{3}+a_{4}x^{4}+a_{5}x^{5}+...
y'=a_{1}+2a_{2}x+3a_{3}x^{2}+4a_{4}x^{3}+5a_{5}x^{4}+...
y''=2a_{2}+6a_{3}x+12a_{4}x^{2}+20a_{5}x^{3}+...

After equating and rearranging i ended up with,

y=a_{0}(1+\frac{x^{2}}{2}+\frac{x^{3}}{6}+\frac{x^{4}}{12}+\frac{x^{5}}{40}+...)+a_{1}(x+\frac{x^{2}}{2}+\frac{x^{3}}{3}+\frac{x^{4}}{8}+\frac{x^{5}}{24}+...)

Is this correct?
I don't see that you multiplied your series for y by (1 + x^2). After you do that, equate your series for y'' with the series for (1 + x^2)y, and compare like powers of x to get a relationship involving your series coefficients a_0, a_1, etc.
Vuldoraq said:
Also I was wondering how I would go about doing this for the general case, using complete sums and then equating coefficients,

y=\sum a_{n}x^{n}

y'=\sum na_{n}x^{n-1}

y''=\sum n(n-1)a_{n}x^{n-2}

x^{2}y=\sum a_{n}x^{n+2}

Subbing back into the original,

\sum n(n-1)a_{n}x^{n-2}=\sum a_{n}x^{n}+\sum a_{n}x^{n+2}

Equating coefficients,

n(n-1)a_{n}=a_{n-2}+a_{n-4}

But no matter what I do with this relation I can't get it into a helpful form that agrees with my above result?

Please can someone help?
 
That was a silly mistake to make :blushing:, thankyou for pointing it out :smile:

2a_{2}+6a_{3}x+12a_{4}x^{2}+20a_{5}x^{3}+...=(a_{0}+a_{1}x+a_{2}x^{2}+a_{3}x^{3}+a_{4}x^{4}+a_ {5}x^{5}+...)+(a_{0}x^{2}+a_{1}x^{3}+a_{2}x^{4}+a_{3}x^{5}+a_{4}x^{6}+a_ {5}x^{7}+...)

Equating,

12a_{4}=a_{2}+a_{0}
20a_{5}=a_{3}+a_{1}
30a_{6}=a_{4}+a_{2}

and so on which leads to the relation,

a_{n+1}=(n+2)(n+3)a_{n+3}-a_{n-1}

which agrees with my other relation (with some rearranging).

Now I'm confused as to how this is helpful. What am I supposed to with this relation now that I have found it?
 
Use the relation you found plus the others you showed to get the coefficients a_0 through a_5. You're not given any initial conditions, so that means that a_0 and a_1 will be arbitrary and the other coefficients will be in terms of those two.
 
I'm completley at a loss as to how to get the coefficients in terms of a_0 and a_1. Sorry if I'm being dumb, but I all I've got so far is,

Using these relations

a_{n+1}=(n+2)(n+3)a_{n+3}-a_{n-1}

a_{2}=12a_{3}-a_{0} 1
a_{3}=20a_{4}-a_{1} 2
a_{4}=30a_{5}-a_{2} 3
a_{5}=42a_{6}-a_{3} 4

And,

a_{n}=\frac{a_{n-2}+a_{n-4}}{n(n-1)}

a_{4}=\frac{a_{2}+a_{0}}{12} 5
a_{5}=\frac{a_{3}+a_{1}}{20} 6

By substituting 2 into 1 and then the result of that into 5 I got,

a_{4}=a_{1}/19

But this seems to be a circular way of doing it and sure enough I get, upon subs,

a_{3}=a_{1}/19

I think I'm going the wrong way about this...please could you guide me as to how I can find the coefficients in terms of a_0 and a_1?
 
Equating the series for y'' with x^2 * y + y, I got:
2a_2 = a_0
6a_3 = a_1
12a_4 = a_0 + a_2
20a_5 = a_1 + a_3
and so on.
You always want to solve for the higher-index coefficients in terms of those with lower indexes. In this problem, you'll eventually get back to a_0 and a_1. For example, a_4 is in terms of a_0 and a_2, but a previous equation relates a_2 and a_0.

All you need are a_0 through a_5.
 
With your assistance I now get,

y=a_{0}(1+\frac{x^{2}}{2}+\frac{x^{4}}{8}+...)+a_{1}(x+\frac{x^{3} }{6}+\frac{7x^{5}}{120}+...)

Which seems more reasonable and my realtions all agree. Does this look okay to you?

Thanks a million for your help, I would still be stuck without it! :smile:
 
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