MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS 17

dx
1. The solution of the differential equation x 2 with the initial condition x(0) =1 will blow up as t tend to
dt
[CSIR June -2013]
(a) 1 (b) 2 (c) 1/2 (d)
n 2n 1
1 x
2. The function f x satisfies the differential equation [CSIR Dec -2014]
n 0 n! n 1 ! 2

2 d2 f df
(a) x 2 d f x
df
x2 1 f 0 (b) x 2 2x x2 1 f 0
dx 2 dx dx 2 dx

d2 f df d2 f df
(c) x 2 x x2 1 f 0 (d) x 2 x x2 1 f 0
dx 2 dx dx 2 dx
d2x dx
3. Consider the differential equation 2 3 2x 0 . If x = 0 at t = 0 and x = 1 at t = 1, the value
dt dt
of x at t =2 , will be [CSIR June -2015]
2 2
(a) e 1 (b) e e (c) e 2 (d) 2e

dy cos x
4. The function y ( x) satisfies the differential equation x 2y . If y (1) 1 , the value of y (2) is
dx x
(a) (b) 1 (c) 1/2 (d) 1/4 [CSIR June -2017]


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 MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS 18

GA TIONS
dy
1. Consider the linear differential equation xy . If y = 2 at x = 0, then the value of y at x = 2 is
dx
[GATE 2016]
2 2 2 2
(a) e (b) 2e (c) e (d) 2e

2. The points, where the series solut ion of the Legendre differential equation
d2y dy 3 3
1 x2 2x 1 y 0 will diverge, are located at: [GATE 2007]
dx 2 dx 2 2
3 5
(a) 0 and 1 (b) 0 and –1 (c) –1 and 1 (d) and
2 2
dy
3. Solution of the differential equation x y x 4 , with the boundary condition that y 1 at x 1 , is
dx
[GATE 2007]
x4 4x 4 x4 1 x4 4
(a) y 5x 4 4 (b) y (c) y (d) y
5 5 5 5x 5 5x
Statement for Linked Answer Q. 4 and Q. 5:
d2y dy
For the differential equaiton 2
2 y 0 [GATE 2005]
dx dx

4. One of the solutions is:

2
x2
(a) ex (b) 1n x (c) e (d) e x
5. The second linearly independent solution is:
(a) e–x (b) xex (c) x2ex (d) x2e–x

d 2x dx dx
6. Consider the differential equation 2
2 x 0 . At time t = 0, it is given that x = 1 and 0 . At t =
dt dt dt
1, the value of x is given by: [GATE 2003]
(a) 1/e (b) 2/e (c) 1 (d) 3/e

dy
7. Consider the differetial equation y.tan x cos x . If y 0 0, y is .......................................
dx 3

(upto two decimal places) [GATE 2017]

1.(d)

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 MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS 19

d2y dy
1. The differential equation 2
2 y 0 has the complete solution, in terms of arbitrary constants A
dx dx
and B as [TIFR 2013]
(a) A exp x Bx exp x (b) A exp x B exp( x)
(c) A exp x Bx exp( x) (d) x{ A exp x B exp( x)}



South Delhi : 28-A/11, Jia Sarai, Near-IIT Metro Station, New Delhi-16, Ph : 011-26851008, 26861009
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 MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS 20

1. What are the solutions to f " x 2f ' x f x 0? [JEST 2014]

(a) c1e x / x (b) c1 x c2 / x (c) c1 xe x c2 (d) c1e x c2 xe x



South Delhi : 28-A/11, Jia Sarai, Near-IIT Metro Station, New Delhi-16, Ph : 011-26851008, 26861009
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 MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS 56

1. Let pn x (where n = 0,1,2, .....) be ploynomial of order ‘n’ wirh real co-efficients defined in the interval
4
2 x 4 . If pm x pn x dx mn , then [CSIR June -2011]
2

1 3 1
(a) p0 x and p1 x 3 x (b) p0 x and p1 x 3 3 x
2 2 2

1 3 1 3
(c) p0 x and p1 x 3 x (d) p0 x and p1 x 3 x
2 2 2 2

2. The genarating function F x, t Pn x t n for Legendre polynomials Pn x is

n 0

1/2
F x, t 1 2 xt t 2 . The value of P3 1 is [CSIR Dec -2011]
(a) 5/2 (b) 3/2 (c) 1 (d) -1
3. Let x1 t and x2 t be two linearly independent solutions of the differential equation

d 2x dx dx2 t dx1 t
2
2 f t x 0 . Let, w t x1 t x2 t . If w 0 1 , then w 1 is given by
dt dt dt dt
[CSIR Dec -2011]
(a) 1

(b) e2 (c) (d) 1/ e21/ e
4. Let y(x) be a continuous real function in the range of 0 to 2 , satisfying the inhomogeneous differential

d2y dy dy
equation: sin x cos x x . The value of at the point x
dx 2
dx 2 dx 2
[CSIR June -2012]
(a) is continuous (b) has a discontinuity of 3
(c) has a discontinuity of 1/3 (d) has a discontinuity of 1
d2 f
5. A function f x obeys the differential equation 3 4i f 0 and satisfies the condition f 0 1
dx 2
and f x 0 as x . The value of f is [CSIR Dec -2012]
2 2 2
(a) e2 (b) e (c) e (d) e

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 MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS 57
6. The graph of the function f(x) shown below is best described by [CSIR Dec -2012]

(a) The bessel function J 0 x (b) cos x

x
cos x
(c) e cos x (d)
x

tn t 2 2tx
7. Given that Hn x e , the value of H 4 0 is [CSIR June -2013]
n 0 n!
(a) 12 (b) 6 (c) 24 (d) -6
8. Consider the differential equation
d 2x dx
2
2 x 0 [CSIR June -2014]
dt dt
with initial conditions x 0 0 and x 0 1 . The solution x t attains its maximum value when ‘t’ is
(a) 1/2 (b) 1 (c) 2 (d)
1/2
9. GIven, Pn x t n 1 2 xt t 2 for t 1 , the value of P5 1 is [CSIR June -2014]
n 0
(a) 0.26 (b) 1 (c) 0.5 (d) -1
dx
10. The solution of the differential equation 2 1 x 2 , with initial condition x 0 at t 0 is
dt

[CSIR Dec -2015]

sin 2t , 0 t sin 2t , 0 t
(a) x 4 (b) x 2
sinh 2t , t 1, t
4 2

sin 2t , 0 t
(c) x 4 (d) x 1 cos 2t , t 0
1, t
4

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 MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS 58

11. The Hermite polynomial H n x satisfies the differential equation

d 2 Hn dH n
2x 2nH n x 0 [CSIR Dec -2015]
dx 2 dx
1
The corresponding generating function G t , x H n x t n satisfies the equation
n 0 n!

2 2
G G G G G G
(a) 2
2x 2t 0 (b) 2
2x 2t 2 0
x x t x x t
2 2 2
G G G G G G
(c) 2
2x 2 0 (d) 2
2x 2 0
x x t x x x t
12. A ball of mass m is dropped from a tall building with zero initial velocity. In addition to gravity, the ball
experiences a damping force of the form – , where  is its instantaneous velocity and is a constant.
Given the values m 10 kg, 10 kg/s, and g 10 m/s2, the distance travelled (in metres) in time t in
seconds, is [CSIR Dec -2016]
(a) 10 (t 1 e t ) (b) 10 (t 1 e t ) (c) 5t 2 (1 et ) (d) 5t 2

13. The generating function G (t , x) for the Legendre polynomials Pn (t ) is [CSIR Dec -2017]

1
G (t , x ) x n Pn (t ), for x 1.
2
1 2 xt x n 0
If the function f ( x) is defined by the integral equation
x
f ( x ) dx xG (1, x),
0
it can be expressed as
1
(a) xn m
Pn (1) Pm (b) xn m
Pn (1) Pm (1)
n, m 0 2 n, m 0

(c) xn m
Pn (1) Pm (1) (d) xn m
Pn (0) Pm (1)
n, m 0 n, m 0

14. Consider the following ordinary differential equation : [CSIR June 2018]

d x 1 dx dx2
0
2

dt 2 x dt dt
with the boundary conditions x (t 0) 0 and x (t 1) 1 . The value of x (t ) at t 2 is

(a) e 1 (b) e2 1 (c) e 1 (d) e2 1

2
15. In the function Pn ( x) e x of a real variable x, Pn ( x) is a polynomial of degree n. The maximum number of
extrema that this function can have is [CSIR June 2018]
(a) n 2 (b) n 1 (c) n 1 (d) n
16. The polynomial f ( x ) 1 5 x 3 x 2 is written as a linear combination of the Legendre polynomials
1
P0 ( x) 1, P1 ( x) x, P2 ( x) (3x 2 1)
2
as c P ( x) .
n n n
The value of c0 is [CSIR Dec. 2018]
(a) 1/4 (b) 1/2 (c) 2 (d) 4
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 MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS 59

17. A particle of mass m, moving along the x-direction, experiences a damping force v 2 , where is a constant
and v is its instantaneous speed. If the speed at t 0 is v0 , the speed at time t is

[CSIR Dec. 2018]

v0t
m
v0 mv0 2v0
(a) v0 e (b) (c) (d)
v0t
v0t m v0t
1 ln 1 1 e m
m
18. In terms of arbitrary constant A and B, the general solution to the differential equation
d2y dy
x2 5x 3y 0, is [CSIR Dec. 2018]
dx 2 dx
A B A B
(a) y Bx3 (b) y Ax (c) y Ax Bx 3 (d) y
x x3 x x3
dy x
19. The solution of the differential equation x (1 x) y e with the boundary condition y ( x 1) 0 , is
dx
[CSIR June 2019]
( x 1) x ( x 1) x (1 x) x
(a) e (b) e (c) e (d) ( x 1) 2 e x
x x2 x2



South Delhi : 28-A/11, Jia Sarai, Near-IIT Metro Station, New Delhi-16, Ph : 011-26851008, 26861009
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 MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS 60
GA TIONS

" 1 ' m2
1. A function y z satisfies the ordinary differential equation y y y 0 , where m 0,1, 2,3.......
z z2
Consider the four statements P, Q, R, S as given below: [GATE 2015]
m m
P: z and z are linearly independent solutions for all values of m.
m
Q: z and z m are linearly independent solutions for all values of m > 0.
R: ln z and 1 are linearly independent solutions for m = 0.
m
S: z and ln z are linearly independent solutions for all values of m.
The correct option for the combination of valid statements is
(a) P, R and S only (b) P and R only (c) Q and R only (d) R and S only
d2y
2. The solution of the differential equation y 0
dt 2
subject to the boundary conditions y 0 1 and y 0 , is [GATE 2014]
(a) cos t sin t (b) cosh t sinh t (c) cos t sin t (d) cosh t sinh t
dy x
3. The solutions to the differential equation are a family of [GATE 2011]
dx y 1
(a) Circles with different radii (b) Circles with different centres.
(c) Straight lines with different slopes (d) Straight lines with different intercepts on the y-axis
d2y
4. The solution of the differential equation for y(t): y 2 cosh t , subject to the initial conditions
dt 2
dy
y 0 0 and 0 is [GATE 2010]
dt t 0

1
(a) cosh t t sinh t (b) sinh t t cosh t
2
(c) t cosh t (d) t sinh t
5. Given the recurrence relation for the Legendre polynomials:
2n 1 xPn x n 1 Pn 1 x nPn 1 x
Which of the following integrals has a non-zero value? [GATE 2010]

(a)
1
x 2 Pn x Pn

x dx
1
(b) xP x P x dx
1 n n 2
1 1
1 1
2
(c) x Pn x dx (d) x 2 Pn x Pn 2 x dx
1 1

dx
6. Which one of the following curves gives the solution of the differential equation k1 k2 x k3 , where k1,
dt
k2 and k3 are positive real constants with initial conditions x = 0 at t = 0? [GATE 2009]

x x
(a) (b)

t t

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 MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS 61

x
x
(c) (d)

t t

d 2 y 1 dy
7. Consider the bessel equation: y 0 v 0
dz 2 z dz
Which of the following statements is correct? [GATE 2008]
(a) Equation has regular singular points at z 0 and z .
(b) Equation has 2 linearly independent solutions that are entire.
(c) Equation has an entire solution and a second linearly independent solution is singular at z = 0.
(d) Limit z , taken along X- axis, exists for both the linearly independent solutions.

8. The solution of the differential equation,

d2y x dy x
1 x x y x 0 is: [GATE 2002]
dx2 dx

(a) Ax2 + B (b) Ax + Be–x (c) Ax + Bex (d) Ax + Bx2

where A and B are constants.
9. The solution of the system of differential equations,
dy dz
y z and 4y z
dx dx
is given by (for A and B are arbitrary constants) [GATE 2001]
(a) y(x) = Ae + Be ; z(x) = –2Ae + 2Be (b) y(x) = Ae + Be ; z(x) = 2Ae + 2B–x
3x –x 3x –x 3x –x 3x

(c) y(x) = Ae3x + Be–x; z(x) = 2Ae3x – 2Be–x (d) y(x) = Ae3x + Be–x; z(x) = –2Ae3x – 2Be–x
d 2 f ( x) d f ( x)
10. Given : 2
2 f ( x ) 0, and boundary conditions f (0) 1 and f (1) 0 , the value of f (0.5)
dx dx
is ________ (up to two decimal places). [GATE 2018]

d2y
n(n 1)
y
0
11. For the differential equation , where n is a constant, the product of its two independent
dx 2 x2
solution is [GATE 2019]
1 1
(a) (b) x (c) x n (d) n 1
x x

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 MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS 62

x
1. The solution of the integral equation f x x dt f t
0

has the graphical form [TIFR 2014]

1

0.8 0.8

0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4
(a) 0.2
(b) 0.2

00 00 1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
x x

1.2 1
1
0.8 0.8
0.6 0.6
(c) (d)
0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

00 00 1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5 x
x

d2y dy 1
2. Consider the differential equation 4 y with the boundary conditions that y x 0 at x .
dx 2 dx 5
When plotted as a function of x , for x 0 , we can say with certainity that the value of y
(a) first increases, then decreases to zero. [TIFR 2015]
(b) first decreases, then increases to zero.
(c) has an extremum in the range 0 < x < 1.
(d) oscillates from positive to neagtive with amplitude decreasing to zero.
3. The generating function for a set of polynomials in x is given by
1
f x, t 1 2 xt t 2
The third polynomial (order x2 ) in this set is [TIFR 2015]

(a) 2 x 2 1 2
(b) 4 x 12
(c) 2x 2 x (d) 4 x 1
dy
4. The function y x satisfies the differential equation x y ln y ln x 1 with the initial condition
dx
y 1 3 . What will be the value of y 3 ? [TIFR 2015]

5. Write down x(t ) , where x(t ) is the solution of the following differential equation
d d
2 1 x 1,
dt dt

dx 1
with the boundary conditions 0, x(t ) t . [TIFR 2017]
dt t 0 2
0

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 MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS 63

6. If y( x) satisfies the differential equation y 4y 4y 0 with boundary conditions y (0) 1 and

1
y (0) 0 , then y 2 [TIFR 2018]

2 1 1 1 e
(a) (b) e (c) (d)
e 2 e e 2
7. A set of polynomials of order n are given by the formula [TIFR 2019]
2 n 2
x d x
Pn ( x) ( 1)n exp exp
2 dx n 2
The polynomial P7 ( x ) of order n 7 is
(a) x 7 21x 5 105 x 4 35 x3 105 x (b) x 6 21x 5 105 x 4 105 x 3 21x 2 x
(c) x 7 21x5 105 x 3 105 x 21 (d) x 7 21x 5 105 x 3 105 x

dy
8. The differential equation x xy exp ( x ) , where y e 2 at x 1 , has the solution y
dx

(a) exp (1 x ) (1 ln x ) (b) (1 x ) exp ( x ) exp (1 x) [TIFR 2019]

2
(c) exp ( x ) ln x exp (1 x ) (d) exp ( x x)

1
exp 2t 2 exp t
2



South Delhi : 28-A/11, Jia Sarai, Near-IIT Metro Station, New Delhi-16, Ph : 011-26851008, 26861009
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 MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS 64

1. Consider the differential equation

dG x
kG x x
dx
where k is a constant. Which of the following statement is true? [JEST 2013, 2015]
(a) Both G(x) and G’(x) are continuous at x = 0
(b) G(x) is continuous at x = 0 but G’(x) is not.
(c) G(x) is discontinuous at x = 0
(d) The continuity properties of G(x) and G’(x) at x = 0 depend on the value of k.

x4 x2
2. What is the maximum number of extrema of the function f x Pk x . exp where
4 2
x , and Pk x is an arbitary polynomial of degree k ? [JEST 2015]
(a) k + 2 (b) k + 6 (c) k + 3 (d) k
xe xs xn
3. The Bernouli polynomials Bn s are defined by, Bn s . Which one of the following relations
ex 1 n!
is true? [JEST 2015]
xe x 1 s xn xe x 1 s n xn
(a) x Bn s (b) x Bn s 1
e 1 n 1! e 1 n 1!

xe x 1 s n xn xe x 1 s n xn
(c) Bn s 1 (d) Bn s 1
ex 1 n! ex 1 n!
1

4. For which of the following conditions does the integral Pm x Pn x dx vanish for m n , where Pm x
0

and Pn x are the Legendre polynomials of order m and n respectively? [JEST 2018]

(a) all m, m n (b) m – n is an odd integer

(c) m – n is a non-zero even integer (d) n m 1
5. If y x satisfies [JEST 2018]


dy
y 1 log y
2

dx

and y 0 1 for x 0 , then y is

2

(a) 0 (b) 1 (c) (d) infinity

2
4 2
(x 2x )
6. Consider a function f ( x) Pk ( x) e in the domain x ( , ) , where Pk is any polynomial of
degree k. What is the maximum possible number of extrema of the function ? [JEST 2019]

(a) k 3 (b) k 3 (c) k 2 (d) k 1

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 MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS 65

1. Given the equations H ' aG and G ' bH , G can have oscillatory solutions
(a) a , b (b) for no choice of a, b
(c) If a < 0 and b >0 (d) a <0 and b < 0
2. Consider a forced harmonic oscillator which obeys the differential equation,
d2y
y sin t.
dt 2
Which one of the following is the solution of the differential equation with initial condition y (0) = 0?
t
(a) y t 6sin t (b) y t 12sin t cos t
2
t t
(c) y t 12sin t cos t (d) y t 6cos t cos t
2 2

From the solution of the differential equation: dy 1

3.
dx 1 x2
what can you regarding the following series ?
1 1 1 1
1 ....
3 5 7 9
(a) The series is divergent (b) The series is absolutely convergent

(c) The series converges to (d) The series converges to 0

4
4. Consider the system of differential equations
dx dy
y, x
dt dt
Plotting the various solutions in the x, y-plane one obtains
(a) Hyperbola (b) Parabola (c) Circles (d) Straight lines

d2y dy 2
5. For the differential equation: z 2
z y 0
dz dz

(a) z = is an ordinary point (b) z = 0 is a regular singular and z = is an irregular singular point
(c) z = 0 and z = both are regular singular points (d) z = 0 is an irregular singular point

6. The Legendre polynomial Pn x , where 1 x 1

1

(a) Is singular at x 1 (b) Satisfies dxPn2 x 1

1
1

(c) Satisfies dxPn x 0 for n 1 (d) Is always an even function of x.

1

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