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A linear differential equation is homogeneous if it is a homogeneous linear equation in the unknown function and its derivatives. It follows that, if φ(x) is a solution, so is cφ(x), for any (non-zero) constant c. In order for this condition to hold, each nonzero term of the linear differential equation must depend on the unknown function or ...
In mathematics (including combinatorics, linear algebra, and dynamical systems), a linear recurrence with constant coefficients [1]: ch. 17 [2]: ch. 10 (also known as a linear recurrence relation or linear difference equation) sets equal to 0 a polynomial that is linear in the various iterates of a variable—that is, in the values of the elements of a sequence.
A linear differential equation or a system of linear equations such that the associated homogeneous equations have constant coefficients may be solved by quadrature, which means that the solutions may be expressed in terms of integrals. This is also true for a linear equation of order one, with non-constant coefficients.
For an arbitrary system of ODEs, a set of solutions (), …, are said to be linearly-independent if: + … + = is satisfied only for = … = =.A second-order differential equation ¨ = (,, ˙) may be converted into a system of first order linear differential equations by defining = ˙, which gives us the first-order system:
Two linear systems using the same set of variables are equivalent if each of the equations in the second system can be derived algebraically from the equations in the first system, and vice versa. Two systems are equivalent if either both are inconsistent or each equation of each of them is a linear combination of the equations of the other one.
In other words, if the input x(t) to a linear system is = where δ(t) represents the Dirac delta function, and the corresponding response y(t) of the system is (=) = (,) then the function h(t 2, t 1) is the time-varying impulse response of the system.
In physics, linearity is a property of the differential equations governing many systems; for instance, the Maxwell equations or the diffusion equation. [3] Linearity of a homogenous differential equation means that if two functions f and g are solutions of the equation, then any linear combination af + bg is, too.
The second-order autonomous equation = (, ′) is more difficult, but it can be solved [2] by introducing the new variable = and expressing the second derivative of via the chain rule as = = = so that the original equation becomes = (,) which is a first order equation containing no reference to the independent variable .