MATH4525 Spring 2015

Homework 8 Solutions

1. Sec 4.2, Prob 5

Z

1
(3y 2 + x)dx + (y(0))2
2
0
on [0,1]. Compute the first variation where y = x and h(x) = x + 1.
J[y] =

Solution:


1
3(y + h) + x dx + (y(0))2
J[y + h] =
2
0

Z 1
1
=
3(x2 + 2yh + 2 h2 ) + x dx + (y(0))2
2
0
Z 1
Z 1
1 1
= 1 + 6
x(x + 1)dx + 32
(x + 1)2 dx + + (y(0))2
2 2
0
0
Z 1
Z 1
dJ
(x + 1)2 dx
x(x + 1)dx + 6
=6
d
0
0
Z 1
x(x + 1)dx = 5.
[y; h] = 6
Z

2. Sec 4.3 Problem 2(b) Find the extremal of


Z b
2
0 2
x
y + (y ) + 2ye dx.
a

Solution: Here

L
= 2y + 2ex
y
L
= 2y 0
y 0


d L
= 2y 00
dx y 0

The E-L equation becomes

y 00 y = ex
The homogeneous solution is
yh = Aex + Bex .
Guess yp = Cxex and substitute in the ODE to get C = 12 . So,
1
y = Aex + Bex + xex .
2

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Apr 7, 2015

MATH4525 Spring 2015

Hw 7 Solutions Contd.

3. Extra Problem

Solution:
The E-L equation for the extremal reduces to
 
L
d L
= 0 =
= A.
dt y
y
Here

L
2y
=
,
y
t + t3

so we get
dy
A
2y
=
A
=
=
(t + t3 ).
3
t+t
dt
2
Integration gives
A 2 A 4
t + t + B.
4
8
Using the given boundary conditions, we get B = 0 and A = 43 .
y(t) =

4. Sec 4.4 Prob 5(c)

Solution:
Here

1
L = (y 0 )2 + y 0 y + y 0 + y,
2

and
L
= y0 + 1
y
L
= y0 + y + 1
y 0


d L
= y 00 + y 0
0
dx y
The E-L equation becomes
y 00 = 1.
Integration gives
1
y(x) = x2 + Ax + B.
2

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MATH4525 Spring 2015

Hw 7 Solutions Contd.

The boundary condition at x = 0 gives B = 12 . At x = 1, the natural boundary

condition is



L 
0

=
0
=
(y
+
y
+
1)
= 0.

y 0 x=1
x=1
This gives





1 2
x + Ax + B + 1 
(x + A) +
= 0,
2
x=1


1 2
x + A + B + 1 = 0,
= (1 + A) +
2
3
= A = .
2
So,
1
3
1
y(x) = x2 x + .
2
2
2
5. Prob 8
Solution:
The functional can be written as
Z

L(x, y, y 0 )dx,

J[y] = F (y(2)) +
0

where
F (y(2)) = (1 3y(2))2 ,
and
L(x, y, y 0 ) = (x + 1)2 (y 0 )2 + xy 0 y 2 .
The first variation is given by
F
J[y; h] =
(2)h(2) +
y


L
L dh
h+ 0
dx.
y
y dx

Integration by parts gives




2 Z 2 
F
L
L
d L
J[y; h] =
(2)h(2) +
h +

hdx
y
y 0 0
y
dx y 0
0
F
L
L
=
(2)h(2) + 0 (2)h(2) 0 (0)h(0) +
y
y
y

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Z
0



L
d L

hdx,
y
dx y 0

MATH4525 Spring 2015

Hw 7 Solutions Contd.




Z 2
L
L
d L
F
L
(2) + 0 (2) h(2) 0 (0)h(0) +

hdx,
=
y
y
y
y
dx y 0
0


Set J[y; h] = 0. For admissible variations with h(0) = h(2) = 0, the boundary
terms above vanishes and the standard E-L equations result. If the BC at x = 2 is
free then the coefficient of h(2) also vanishes and we get
L
F
(2) + 0 (2) = 0.
y
y
For our problem
F
(2) = 6(1 3y(2)) = 18y(2) 6,
y
L
L
2 0
=
2(x
+
1)
y
+
x
=
(2) = 18y 0 (2) + 2.
y 0
y 0
Hence

F
L
(2) + 0 (2) = 18y 0 (2) + 18y(2) 4,
y
y

which means
9y 0 (2) + 9y(2) = 2.
6. Sec 4.6 Prob 2
Solution:
We introduce the total functional
Z
F [y, ] = J[y] + K[y] =

[(y 0 )2 + x2 + y 2 ]dx 2.

We now extremize this unconstrained functional with respect to the path y and the
variable .
We introduce the Lagrangian
L = (y 0 )2 + x2 + y 2
The E-L equation gives


L
d L

= 0.
y
dx y 0
Here

L
= 2y,
y

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MATH4525 Spring 2015

Hw 7 Solutions Contd.

L
= 2y 0 ,
y 0


d L
= 2y 00 .
dx y 0
The E-L equation becomes
y 00 y = 0.
As we saw in the example in class there is no extremal for > 0 in this case. When
< 0, we get an oscillatory solution. The BC gives y(0) = B = 0.
The condition at x = 1 becomes
y(1) = A sin() = 0.
where =

Here A 6= 0, so
= n for some integer n 6= 0.
Thus the extremals are given by the eigenfunctions
yn (x) = An sin(nx),

for some integer n 6= 0.

To fix the constants An , we apply the isoperimetric constraint

Z 1
Z 1
2
2
yn dx = An
sin2 (nx)dx = 2 = A2n = 4 = An = 2.
0

Thus
yn (x) = 2 sin(nx),

n 6= 0.