Fall 2021 Prof.

Jinhoon Choi

Mathematical Methods
in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering III

Final Examination
December 21

1. Consider the system

ẋ = y(1 + x),
ẏ = x(1 + y 3 ).

a) Find the fixed points and classify them by computing the eigenvalues and eigenvec-
tors.
(20 points)

b) Draw the phase portraits with nullclines and eigendirections of the fixed points.
(10 points)

2. Consider
ẋ = y,
q 
ẏ = − x2 + y 2 − µ y − x.

a) Find the fixed point of the system for all µ. Find the eigenvalues of the fixed point
and show that its real parts vanish when µ = 0. Find the type of the fixed point of the
linearized system at µ = 0.
(10 points)

b) Find the system in polar coordinate.

(10 points)

c) Consider an infinitesimal  > 0. Show that, for µ ∈ [0, ) and r ∈ [0, ), the
approximate solution of the θ equation is θ(t) = −t + θ0 . For the r equation, find fixed
points for µ ∈ [0, ) and investigate their stability.
(10 points)

d) Plot the bifurcation diagram, i.e., (µ, r∗ ). Is the bifurcation around µ = 0 a generic
Hopf bifurcation?
(10 points)
3. Consider
xn+1 = µxn + x3n
a) Find all the fixed points of the map and find the interval [µ− , µ+ ] of parameter over
which the fixed points are stable.
(10 points)

b) Show that a period-2 cycle with elements p and q exists for µ = µ− −  where  is a
tiny parameter. Express p and q to lowest order in  by considering the equation for the
period-2 cycle x = f 2 (x) for tiny x, keeping terms up to order  and x3 , and solving the
resulting fixed point equation with relatively negligible coefficients ignored.
(10 points)

c) Draw the bifurcation diagram (µ, x∗ ). What kind of bifurcation takes place for
x = 0 around µ ≈ µ+ ? What kind of bifurcation takes place for x∗ = 0 around µ ≈ µ− ?
∗

(10 points)