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Polar Coordinates Differential Equation - Mathematics Stack Exchange

The document describes solving a system of differential equations by changing to polar coordinates. The original system is given as ẋ = −y(x2 + y2), ẏ = x(x2 + y2). By taking polar coordinates x = rcosθ, y = rsinθ, the system becomes r' = 0 and θ' = r2. The solution to this system is r(t) = r0 (a constant) and θ(t) = tr02. This corresponds to a phase portrait of concentric circles centered at the origin, indicating a stable center.

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Hector Triana
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503 views2 pages

Polar Coordinates Differential Equation - Mathematics Stack Exchange

The document describes solving a system of differential equations by changing to polar coordinates. The original system is given as ẋ = −y(x2 + y2), ẏ = x(x2 + y2). By taking polar coordinates x = rcosθ, y = rsinθ, the system becomes r' = 0 and θ' = r2. The solution to this system is r(t) = r0 (a constant) and θ(t) = tr02. This corresponds to a phase portrait of concentric circles centered at the origin, indicating a stable center.

Uploaded by

Hector Triana
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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4/6/2018 dynamical systems - Polar coordinates differential equation - Mathematics Stack Exchange

Polar coordinates differential equation

I have the following ODE:


2 2 2 2
ẋ = −y(x + y ), ẏ = x(x + y )

I want to sketch the phase portrait (manually) and I want to find the flow ϕt , the orbit O(x 0
) and the limit set ω(x 0
)

I start by taking polar coordinates and change the system to ṙ = −r


3 ˙ 3
sin θ, θ = r cos θ

The phase portrait then looks like the one a stable centre, right?

How can I continue to find the flow of the function, i.e the solution of the differential equation?

(differential-equations ) (dynamical-systems ) (systems-of-equations )

edited Feb 4 '1 4 at 4 :1 0 asked Oct 2 7 '1 3 at 1 9 :3 8


Harry Peter Ulrich Otto
5,370 1 13 38 132 1 1 9

1 Answer

We are given:
2 2 2 2
ẋ = −y(x + y ), ẏ = x(x + y )

Recall, when we are doing polar coordinates, we have


2 2 2
x = r cos θ, y = r sin θ, x + y = r

When we differentiate this, we have:


′ ′ ′
2xx + 2yy = 2rr

This gives us:


′ 2 2 2 2 ′
rr = x(−y(x + y )) + y(x(x + y )) = 0 → r = 0

To find the angle, we take:

r sin θ y
= tan θ =
r cos θ x

Using the quotient rule gives us:


′ ′ 2 2 2 2 2 2 4
xy − yx x (x + y ) + y (x + y ) r
′ 2
θ = = = = r
2 2 2
r r r

Thus in polar coordinates, the original system becomes


′
r = 0

′ 2
θ = r

Can you now solve this system and draw the phase portrait?

The phase portrait should look like:

https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/541889/polar-coordinates-differential-equation 1/2
4/6/2018 dynamical systems - Polar coordinates differential equation - Mathematics Stack Exchange

edited Oct 2 7 '1 3 at 2 1 :58 answered Oct 2 7 '1 3 at 2 0:4 7


Amzoti
50.2k 12 50 96

Thanks for your answwer. As solution I get r(t) = r0 which is simply some constant, therefore for
θ(t) = tr + θ 0 . The phase portrait is then just on point in the centre and some circles around this centre, right?
2
0

– Ulrich Otto Oct 27 '13 at 21:04

Do you also have an idea about the orbit and the limit set? – Ulrich Otto Oct 28 '13 at 0:40

Thanks again, I will try to find a way to identify the orbit and the limit. My last question relats to stability: What
about stability of the solution x(t) with x(0) = x0 with repsect to small perturbations of the initial value x0 ? –
Ulrich Otto Oct 28 '13 at 15:57

https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/541889/polar-coordinates-differential-equation 2/2

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