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I have this set of equations and I am trying to find $X(t)$ and $Y(t)$ analytically with initial values known such as $X(0)=X_0$ and $Y(0)=Y_0$. How should I approach to solve it?

$dX/dt=a \times X(t) + b \times Y(t)$

$dY/dt=c \times Y(t) + d \times X(t)$

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    Are $a,b,c,d$ constants?2017-01-05
  • 0
    yes, they are constant values.2017-01-05
  • 1
    Then this is actually a linear system of coupled ODEs.2017-01-05
  • 0
    Thank you for pointing it out, I corrected the title.2017-01-06

3 Answers 3

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Write your system of equations in matrix form:

$$\begin{pmatrix} \frac{dX}{dt} \\ \frac{dY}{dt} \end{pmatrix} =\begin{pmatrix} a & b \\ d & c \end{pmatrix} \begin{pmatrix} X \\ Y \end{pmatrix}$$

You can find the two eigenvalues $\lambda_1$ and $\lambda_2$ by letting $\det(A-\lambda I)=0$, and then evaluate corresponding eigenvectors $\vec{v_1}$ and $\vec{v_2}$ of the matrix $A=\begin{pmatrix} a & b \\ d & c \end{pmatrix}$ to give you the general solution to $X(t)$ and $Y(t)$.

Depending on your values of your eigenvalues $\lambda_1$ and $\lambda_2$ (which ultimately depend on the values of your constants $a,b,c,d$), there will be different general solutions.

There are 3 different solution cases:

Case 1: Real eigenvalues: $\lambda \in \mathbb{R}$

The solution will be of the form:

$$\begin{pmatrix} X(t) \\ Y(t) \end{pmatrix} =k_1 \vec{v_1} e^{\lambda_1 t}+k_2 \vec{v_2} e^{\lambda_2 t}$$

Case 2: Complex eigenvalues.

We denote a complex number by $\lambda=a+bi$.

Since $\lambda_{1,2}$ will both be complex, using $e^{i \theta}=\cos{\theta}+i\sin{\theta}$, we obtain the general solution:

$$\begin{pmatrix} X(t) \\ Y(t) \end{pmatrix}=k_1 \vec{v_1} e^{at} \cos{(bt)} + k_2 \vec{v_2} e^{at} \sin{(bt)}$$

Case 3: Real, repeated roots (i.e. $\lambda_1=\lambda_2$)

$$\begin{pmatrix} X(t) \\ Y(t) \end{pmatrix}=k_1 \vec{v_1} e^{\lambda t}+k_2 \vec{v_2} \cdot t e^{\lambda t}$$

Your initial values can be used to evaluate the constants $k_1$ and $k_2$.

Here is an Youtube video showing an example solve for Case 1.

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Using brute force.

The system being $$X'=aX+bY \tag 1$$ $$Y'=cY+dX \tag 2$$ Form $(1)$ extract $Y$ $$Y=\frac{X'-aX}b\tag 3$$ Differentiate $$ Y'=\frac{X''-aX'}b\tag 4$$ Plug in $(2)$ $$\frac{X''-aX'}b=c\frac{X'-aX}b+dX \tag 5$$ $$X''-(a+c)X'+(ac-bd)X=0\tag 6$$ Solve $(6)$ for $X$ and go back to $(2)$ to get $Y$.

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Rewriting the above as:

$$\begin{bmatrix} X'\\Y'\end{bmatrix}=\begin{bmatrix}a & b \\ d & c\end{bmatrix}\begin{bmatrix}X\\Y\end{bmatrix}$$

Let's assume for the moment that the determinant of the above matrix is nonzero. Then the matrix has two eigenvalues, $r_1$ and $r_2$, with two corresponding eigenvectors, $\vec{v_1}=(v_{1x},v_{1y})$ and $\vec{v_2}=(v_{2x},v_{2y})$. Then the solutions are given by:

$X=C_1v_{1x}e^{r_1t}+C_2v_{2x}e^{r_2t}$

$Y=C_1v_{1y}e^{r_1t}+C_2v_{2y}e^{r_2t}$

where the constants $C_1$ and $C_2$ are determined by initial conditions.

If the determinant of the above square matrix is zero, obtain the single eigenvalue $r$ and the eigenvector $\vec{v}=(v_x,v_y)$, along with the generalized eigenvector $\vec{w}=(w_x,w_y)$. Then the solutions are given by:

$X=C_1v_{x}e^{r_1t}+C_2w_{x}te^{r_2t}$

$Y=C_1v_{y}e^{r_1t}+C_2w_{y}te^{r_2t}$

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    Ah, yeah, the other answer is correct in mentioning complex eigenvalues. In that case, you get two complex solutions (which might be what you want). Using the fact that both the real and the imaginary parts separately solve the original system, just take those parts to be the basis of your solution set.2017-01-06