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Differential equations, whether ordinary or partial, may profitably be classified as linear or nonlinear; linear differential equations are those for which the sum of two solutions is again a solution. The equation giving the shape of a vibrating string is linear, which provides the mathematical reason why a string may simultaneously emit more than one frequency. The linearity of an equation...
A linear differential equation is of first degree with respect to the dependent variable (or variables) and its (or their) derivatives. As a simple example, note dy/dx + Py = Q, in which P and Q can be constants or may be functions of the independent variable, x, but do not involve the dependent variable, y. In the...
one of the oldest and most widely used techniques for solving some types of partial differential equations. A partial differential equation is called linear if the unknown function and its derivatives have no exponent greater than one and there are no cross-terms—i.e., terms such as f f′ or f′f′′ in which the function or its derivatives...
...at the Mining School in Caen before receiving his doctorate from the École Polytechnique in 1879. While a student, he discovered new types of complex functions that solved a wide variety of differential equations. This major work involved one of the first “mainstream” applications of non-Euclidean geometry, a subject discovered by the Hungarian János Bolyai and the...
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