The Annihilator Method

The annihilator method is an easier way to solve higher order nonhomogeneous

differential equations with constant coefficients. An annihilator is a linear
differential operator that makes a function go to zero. In other words,
differentiate it a certain amount of times and its derivative is eventually zero.
First we discuss how we find annihilators for different types of functions.
Function
Polynomials of degree m
ex *(polynomial of degree m)
xm 1 ex cosx or xm 1 ex sinx

Annihilator
Dm + 1
(D )m
[(D )2+ 2]m

Examples:
Annihilator: D 3

3x 2 6 x + 1

x2 ex
Annihilator: D 3 ( D 1)
Note: We had to find the annihilator of each function. Then the annihilator
of the whole function will be given by the product of the annihilators.
Annihilator: [( D 3) 2 + 25] 2

xe 3 x cos 5 x
Now we can solve higher order nonhomogeneous differential equations using the
annihilator method.
Example:

y ' '+6 y '+ y = e 3 x sin x
1. Apply the annihilator to both sides. This gives a characteristic
equation in terms of the linear operator D.
A[ y ' '+6 y '+8 y ] = A e 3 x sin x

( D 3)( D + 1)( D + 6 D + 8) = 0
2. Solve the characteristic equation in terms of r.
( D 3)( D 2 + 1)( D 2 + 6 D + 8) = 0
2

(r 3)(r 2 + 1)(r 2 + 6r + 8) = 0
(r 3)(r 2 + 1)(r + 4)(r + 2) = 0
r = 3, r = i, r = 4, r = 2
3. Write the general solution to the differential equation.
y = c1e 3 x + c 2 cos x + c3 sin x + c 4 e 4 x + c5 e 2 x
4. Determine which part of the general solution is the
homogeneous solution by solving the corresponding
homogeneous equation.
y ' '+6 y '+ y = 0 y H = c1e 4 x + c 2 e 2 x

5. Solve for the coefficients of the particular solution.

y P = c3 e 3 x + c 4 cos x + c5 sin x
--Find the first and second derivatives of yP.
y P ' = 3c3 e 3 x c 4 sin x + c5 cos x y P " = 9c3 e 3 x c 4 cos x c5 sin x
--Plug derivatves into the differential equation and solve for the
coefficients.
y ' '+6 y '+ y = e 3 x sin x
9c 3 e
9c 3 e

3x

3x

c 4 cos x c5 sin x + 6 3c3 e

c 4 cos x c5 sin x + 18c3 e

3x

3x

) (

c 4 sin x + c5 cos x + 8 c3 e 3 x + c 4 cos x + c5 sin x = e 3 x sin x

6c 4 sin x + 6c5 cos x + 8c3 e

3x

+ 8c 4 cos x + 8c5 sin x = e 3 x sin x

35c3 e 3 x + 7c 4 cos x 6c 4 sin x + 7c5 sin x + 6c5 cos x = e 3 x sin x

--Equate the coefficients together and solve.
35c 3 = 1
c 3 = 1 35

7c 4 + 6c 5 = 0 c 4 = 7 / 85
6c + 7c = 1 c = 6 65
4
5
5

The general solution to the differential equation is given by

1
7
6
y = c1e 4 x + c 2 e 2 x + e 3 x cos x + sin x .
35
85
65