Exercise · ZW-STABILITY-OF-AN-EQUILIBRIUM-002 · ★☆☆ Basic

The origin of \(\mathbf x'=A\mathbf x\) with \(A=\begin{pmatrix}2&1\\0&-1\end{pmatrix}\) is:

Choose one option.

Show answer
  • A. Unstable

Explanation

It is triangular, so the eigenvalues are \(2\) and \(-1\). One eigenvalue with positive real part is enough for some solutions to move away: it is unstable (a saddle).

Study Differential equations in ZWMath →

Review the concept: Stability of an equilibrium

An equilibrium \(\mathbf x^*\) is stable if, for every tolerance \(\varepsilon\), there is a radius \(\delta\) such that solutions starting within \(\delta\) of it never move farther than \(\varepsilon\).

\[\|\mathbf x(0)-\mathbf x^*\|<\delta\;\Longrightarrow\;\|\mathbf x(t)-\mathbf x^*\|<\varepsilon\quad\text{for all }t\ge0\]

More practice problems: stability of an equilibrium

← ZW-STABILITY-OF-AN-EQUILIBRIUM-001 ZW-STABILITY-OF-AN-EQUILIBRIUM-003 →