Cauchy Problem For First-Order Partial Differential Equations
Cauchy Problem For First-Order Partial Differential Equations
u(x; y; z) = c1 ; v(x; y; z) = c2 :
We have seen in the previous section that all surfaces satisfying the partial
di¤erential equation (2) are represented by the equation F (u; v) = 0, which will
be obtained from a relation F (c1 ; c2 ) = 0 between the arbitrary constants c1
and c2 . If there is an integral surface passing through the curve between these
surfaces, its equation will correspond to a special case of the arbitrary function
F . Since the points of the curve are found on this surface, the particular
solution must be such that
Between these two equations in (4), when the parameter t is eliminated, we can
obtain
(c1 ; c2 ) = 0: (5)
Thus the solution of the Cauchy problem, i.e., the equation of the integral
surface passing through the curve of the partial di¤erential equation (2) can
be found
(u; v) = 0: (6)
1
Example 1. Find the solution of the equation 2ux 3uy + 2u = 2x such
x
that u = x2 for y = :
2
Solution: The given partial di¤erential equation is linear and we can write
its general solution as
x
u(x; y) = (x 1) + e f (3x + 2y):
In this case, for f (0) = k, we can …nd the the corresponding solution
x
u(x; y) = (x 1) + e f (3x + 2y):
2
Here the function f is a semi-arbitrary function that has the value f (0) = k.
Since an in…nite number of functions of this type can be taken, the problem in
this case has an in…nite number of di¤erent solutions.
Example 3. Find the equation of the integral surface of the di¤erential
equation
2y (z 3) p + (2x z) q = y (2x 3)
which passes through the circle z = 0; x2 + y 2 = 2x:
Example 4. Find the equation of the integral surface of the di¤erential
equation
(x y) y 2 p + (y x) x2 q = x2 + y 2 z
which passes through the curve xz = 1; y = 0:
Example 5. Find the particular integral of the di¤erential equation