Lecture 7
Text: Sections 1.3, 1.4
Direction Fields. A useful technique that can be used to visualize solutions of the first order DE
is the use of the direction field of the equation which consists of a short line segment of slope f(x,y) centered at the point (x,y). For example,
is the direction field of the differential equation
.
Using this direction field one can sketch solutions of the DE. For example, the solution with y(0)=.5 has the graph
A systematic way
to construct the direction field is to draw a short line segment
of slope m at various points of the curve f(x,y)=m for a selected
range of values of m. These curves are the isoclines for the
differential equation . For the above DE the isoclines are the curves
.
The
Phase Line. The first order DE
is called
autonomous since the independent variable does not appear
explicitly. The isoclines are made up of horizonal lines y=f(m).
The DE has the constant solution y=m if and only if f(m)=0. These
values of m are the equilibrium or
stationary points of the
DE. The equilibrium point y=m is called a
source if
f(y) changes sign from - to + as y increases from just below y=m
to just above y=m and is called a sink if f(y) changes
sign from + to - as y increases from just below y=m to just above
y=m; it is called a node
if there is no change in sign.Solutions y of
the DE appear to be attracted by the line the line y=m if m is a
sink and move away if m is a source. The y-axis on which is
plotted the equilibrium points of the DE with arrows between these
points to indicate when the solution y is increasing or decreasing
is called the phase line
of the DE.
The autonomous
DE has 0
and 1 as equilibrium points. The point y=0 is a source and y=2 is
a sink. The direction field of this DE is
This DE is a logistic model for a population having 2 as the size of a stable population. If the population is reduced at a constant rate s>0, the DE becomes
.
which has a source at the
larger of the two roots of the equation for s<2. If s>2 there
is no equilibrium point and the popuation dies out as y is always
decreasing. The point s=2 is called a bifurcation point of
the DE.