Series Solution around singular point

hadroneater
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Homework Statement



x(2 - x)y'' - (x - 1)y' + 2y = 0
Find the general solution in terms of a polynomial and a series in powers of x - 1.

Homework Equations


The Attempt at a Solution


Does the question basically ask for a series solution of the ODE at the regular point x = 1?
Then y(x) = \sum^{∞}_{n = 0}c_{n}(x - 1)^{n}
If I sub that into the ODE then I get a rather complicated algebraic mess for x(2 - x)y''. Is this the right way to solve this?
 
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Try changing variables from x to u=x-1. That'll simplify the algebra a bit.

I don't see how you're going to get a polynomial solution. Did you type the DE as given?
 
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There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
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