Solve (cos x)y''-y'+y=0 Using Reduction Method

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find the general solution of (cos x)y''-y'+y = 0

L[y1] = 0
L[y2] = 0

L[y1] x y2 : (cos x)y1'' y2 - y1'y2 + y1y2 = 0 ...(i)
L[y2] x y1 : (cos x)y2'' y1 - y2'y1 + y1y2 = 0 ...(ii)

(i) -(ii) : (cos x)(y2''y1 - y1''y2) - (y2'y1 - y1'y2) = 0

W = | y1 y2 | = y1y2' - y2y1'
| y1' y2'|

W' = y1'y2'+y1y2''-y2'y1' - y2y1''
= y1y2'' - y2y1''

(cos x) W' - W = 0
W' - (1/cos x) W = 0

miu(x) exp(-integration of (1/cos x dx) = exp(- ln |cos x|)
= 1/cos x

integration of d (W.(1/cos x)) = 0 x integration of (1/cos x) dx
W/cos x = c, c= constant
W = c cos x

Since W = y1y2' - y2y1' ..(*)

let y1 = x^r y1' = r(x^(r-1))thus insert y1 and y2 in (*) : W = x^r(y2')-(rx^(r-1)(y2))
= x^r (y2' - (1/x)y2)
= x^r(y2' -(1/x)y2) = c cos x

===> y1' - (1/x) y2 = (c/(x^r) x cos x) ...(**)

miu(x) = exp (- integration of (1/x) dx) = 1/x

miu(x) x (**) : integration of (y x (1/x)) = integration of (r/(x^r+1) x cos x) dxi get stuck here... how can i integrate the above function since it involves 3 variables - x,y and r... huhuhu... please help me...

is there any other way to solve this problem rather than reduction method? anyone?:cry:
 
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Dunno if I can help you or not because it isn't clear what you are asking. You titled the thread "method of reduction". I would normally take that to mean reducing the order of the DE by using a known solution. But that doesn't seem to be what you are doing since you didn't indicate you have one solution. Could you be a bit more clear about what you are trying to do?
 
LCKurtz said:
Dunno if I can help you or not because it isn't clear what you are asking. You titled the thread "method of reduction". I would normally take that to mean reducing the order of the DE by using a known solution. But that doesn't seem to be what you are doing since you didn't indicate you have one solution. Could you be a bit more clear about what you are trying to do?

find the general solution of (cos x)y''-y'+y = 0

this i so the question, so in my opinion, the method of reduction is the best method to solve the question. is there any other way that much more easier than this?
 
another way of my attempt is

(cos x)y''-y'+y = 0

y''- \frac{ y'}{cos x}+ \frac{y}{cos x} = 0

The roots of the characteristic equation are the solutions to this problem.

\lambda^2 - \frac{ \lambda }{cos x} + \frac{1}{cos x} = 0

If the roots don't present in nice form, like in the case of this equation, you can put them into the quadratic equation.

\frac{ secx +/- \sqrt{ sec^2 x - 4secx } }{2}

Just taking the posative root for now

\frac{ secx + \sqrt{ secx } \sqrt{ secx - 4 } }{2}

Well...I'm not sure how to simplify this but this is one of our solutions (e to the power of this). :confused:
 
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bobey said:
another way of my attempt is

[math](cos x)y''-y'+y = 0[/math]

[math]y''- \frac{ y'}{cos x}+ \frac{y}{cos x} = 0[/math]

The roots of the characteristic equation are the solutions to this problem.

[math]\lambda^2 - \frac{ \lambda }{cos x} + \frac{1}{cos x} = 0[/math]

Stop right there. This is not a constant coefficient differential equation, and you can't solve it with the characteristic equation method used for constant coefficient differential equations.

Also, use tags, not [math] tags to display mathematics. You can alway preview your post to see if it displays correctly.<br /> <br /> As far as solving your DE goes, I don&#039;t know how to solve it. Maybe someone else will see a way.
 
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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