Mindscrape
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I need to solve the differential equation
\mathbf{x'} = \left( <br /> \begin{array}{ccc}<br /> 3 & 0 & -1\\<br /> 0 & -3 & -1\\<br /> 0 & 2 & -1<br /> \end{array}<br /> \right) \mathbf{x}
solving for the eigenvalues by taking the determinate and using the "basketweave" yields
(3 - \lambda)(-3-\lambda)(-1-\lambda) + 2(3-\lambda) = 0
and further simplification shows that
-\lambda^3 - \lambda^2 +7\lambda +15 = 0
guessing roots, I found that 3 is one and divided the polynomial by the root
(\lambda - 3)(-\lambda^2 - 4\lambda -5)=0
so the eigenvalues are (solving for both eqns in the brackets)
\lambda = 3
\lambda = 2 + i
\lambda = 2 - i
The thing is that when I put in the real eigenvalue, it doesn't seem to have an eigenvector. Is this right? I think it would be because I don't have any idea how to get the solution for a mixture of real and complex eigenvalues. The solutions I know how to solve are when the eigenvectors are of the form v1,v2=p±iq. Though I imagine that if the real eigenvalue made an eigenvector I could just take the general solution of that and add it to the general solution of the complex eigenvectors.
Basically what I want to know is, what do I do know?
\mathbf{x'} = \left( <br /> \begin{array}{ccc}<br /> 3 & 0 & -1\\<br /> 0 & -3 & -1\\<br /> 0 & 2 & -1<br /> \end{array}<br /> \right) \mathbf{x}
solving for the eigenvalues by taking the determinate and using the "basketweave" yields
(3 - \lambda)(-3-\lambda)(-1-\lambda) + 2(3-\lambda) = 0
and further simplification shows that
-\lambda^3 - \lambda^2 +7\lambda +15 = 0
guessing roots, I found that 3 is one and divided the polynomial by the root
(\lambda - 3)(-\lambda^2 - 4\lambda -5)=0
so the eigenvalues are (solving for both eqns in the brackets)
\lambda = 3
\lambda = 2 + i
\lambda = 2 - i
The thing is that when I put in the real eigenvalue, it doesn't seem to have an eigenvector. Is this right? I think it would be because I don't have any idea how to get the solution for a mixture of real and complex eigenvalues. The solutions I know how to solve are when the eigenvectors are of the form v1,v2=p±iq. Though I imagine that if the real eigenvalue made an eigenvector I could just take the general solution of that and add it to the general solution of the complex eigenvectors.
Basically what I want to know is, what do I do know?