2015 August ODE/PDE Preliminary Examination

Part I: ODE. Do 3 of the following 4 problems. You must clearly indicate which
3 are to be graded. Problems 1, 2, and 3 will be graded if no indication is given.
Strive for clear and detailed solutions.

1. Find a fundamental matrix for the time-variant system

x 1 = x1 x3
x 2 = 2x2 + 2tx3
x 3 = x3
2. Let E Rn be open and f : E 7 Rn be continuously differentiable on E. Prove that
f is locally Lipschitz on E.
3. Investigate the stability of the origin of the system
x 1 = 2x1 3x2 + 2x23 + x21 2x1 x3
x 2 = x1 + x2
x 3 = x23 + x21 2x1 x3
by using the center manifold theorem.
4. Show that the following systems have no periodic orbit
a)
x 1 = x1 + x2
x 2 = 2x1 + x2 + (x1 + x2 )(x1 x2 )
b)
x 1 = x1 + x32 ,
x 2 = x2 (1 x21 )

AUGUST 2015. PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION

Partial Differential Equations
Do three out of four problems below. Clearly indicate in the following boxes
which three problems to be graded; otherwise problems 1, 2, and 3 will be used
for grading:

1. Let D be a bounded domain in Rn with C 1 -boundary, and U = D (0, ). Let

denote the parabolic boundary of U .
Let 1 , 2 be two positive numbers.
Let u1 (x, t) and u2 (x, t) with (x, t) U be two functions in C 2 (U ).
Suppose
u2
u1
1 u1 =
2 u2
t
t

on U,

and
u1 = u2

on .

Assume there is M > 0 such that

Z 

|u1 (x, t)|2 + |u2 (x, t)|2 dx M

t > 0.

Prove that there exists a constant C > 0 such that

Z
|u1 (x, t) u2 (x, t)|2 dx C|1 2 |2

t 0.

(Note: Poincares inequality can be used without proof.)

2. Let D be a bounded domain in Rn and U = D (0, ). Let denote the parabolic
boundary of U . Suppose u(x, t) is a classical solution of the problem
ut (x, t) u(x, t) = 1 (x, t) U,
and
u(x, t) = 1 (x, t) .
Prove that for any > 1 and x D one has


u(x, t)
lim
= 0.
t
t

3
3. Let u(x, t) be the classical solution of the wave equation
utt (x, t) uxx (x, t) = 0 in R (0, )
satisfying the initial conditions
u(x, 0) = g(x) and ut (x, 0) = h(x),
where g(x) and h(x) are given functions on R.
Assume
lim g(x) = 0,

h(x) 0 x R and

h(x)dx < .

Prove for any fixed t > 0 that

lim u(x, t) = 0.

4. Suppose u(x) is a classical, bounded solution of the Laplace equation in Rn , that is,
u C 2 (Rn ), |u(x)| C and u(x) = 0 for all x Rn , where C is a positive constant.
Prove that u = constant on Rn .