5/9/22, 8:31 PM ordinary differential equations - Wronskian of $x^3$ and $x^2 |x|$ - Mathematics Stack Exchange

Wronskian of x and x 3 2
|x|

Asked
6 years, 11 months ago Modified
1 year, 2 months ago Viewed
11k times

The question is fairly straight forward, given 2 functions y 1 = x

3
and y 2
2
= x |x| determine
whether the functions are linearly dependent or independent.
7
I am conflicted because in my differential equations textbook it states that two functions are
linearly independent if their quotient is a non-constant function for all x. Here it is evident that
y1 y1
for x < 0 the quotient y2
= 1 while for x < 0 , y2
= −1 . This would lead to a conclusion that
7 the functions are linearly independent.

However, in the textbook it is also stated that two linearly dependent functions will have a
Wronskian of zero on the real number line.

∣ y1 (x) y2 (x) ∣
So the Wronskian W (y 1
(x), y2 (x)) = det ∣ ∣ and y ′
1
(x) = 3x
2

′ ′
∣ y (x) 1
y (x) ∣
2

the derivative of y ′
2
(x) is slightly more tricky but checking with wolfram alpha
y ′
2
(x) =
3x

|x|

so the Wronskian is given by:

3
3
3x 2 2
′ ′
W = y1 (x)y (x) − y2 (x)y (x) = x × − x |x| × 3x
2 1
|x|

|x|
Now multiplying the second term by in order to add the terms yields
|x|

2
6
3x |x|
4
W = − 3x ×
|x| |x|

At this point I assume |x|

2 2
= x

which yields:

6 6
3x 3x
W = − = 0
|x| |x|

This would imply the functions are linearly dependent....

The answer provided by the textbook states that the functions are linearly independent. Does
anyone have some words of wisdom for me :)

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Cheers

ordinary-differential-equations

Share Cite Follow edited Mar 11, 2020 at 12:41 asked Jun 1, 2015 at 20:28
K.K.McDonald Filip
2,797 11 24 487 1 5 14

If you simply put dollar signs around your math equations they will format much better.
– Gregory Grant
Jun 1, 2015 at 20:47

Sorted by:
4 Answers
Highest score (default)

The theorem says if the functions are linearly dependent, then the Wronskian is 0. It does not
state that if the Wronskian is 0, the functions are linearly dependent. These functions are an
6 example that shows this. Their Wronskian is 0, and they would be linearly dependent if you just
looked at the interval (−∞, 0) or (0, ∞) , but they are not linearly dependent on the whole real
line
because neither is a constant multiple of the other.

The point (which will probably be made later) is that solutions of homogeneous second-order
linear differential equations are rather special: if they are linearly dependent in some interval, this
same linear dependence holds over the whole interval where the differential equation is defined;
moreover, the value of the Wronskian at one point tells the whole story.

Share Cite Follow answered Jun 1, 2015 at 20:55

Robert Israel
416k 24 301 599

1 Thank you, this was a perfect explanation. I guess this is a downside of the textbook I am using in which it
was written that: "If y1 and y2 are linearly independent, then W(y1, y2) does not equal 0 at each point of I . "
Seems like a rather large error on their part unless I am skimming over the text to fast and missed some
other explanation.
–  Filip
Jun 1, 2015 at 22:16

Such a perfect answer. Thanks a lot sir !!

– llecxe
Mar 25, 2021 at 10:44

@Filip I'm afraid you are skimming over the text too fast. I guess the book which you were referring to was "
Differential Equations and Boundary value problems by Henry Edwards, Penney, Calvis". The theorem does
say " If y1 and y2 are linearly independent then W(y1,y2)≠0 at each point of I" but that's only part of the
theorem. Infact, y1 are y2 are not just some random functions, "they are the two solutions of 2nd order
homogeneous diff eqn. y"+p(x)y'+q(x)y=0 on I and p and q are continuous on I" This hypothesis must also
be true for the conclusion "Wronskian is everywhere nonzero" to follow.
– Aman Kushwaha
Jul 7, 2021 at
15:05

Since you have already found that W(y1,y2)=0 for some point in R which is clear negation of "W(y1,y2)≠0 at
each point of R" without using the theorem, that means the hypotheses(for (b) part of Theorem 3) can't be
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5/9/22, 8:31 PM ordinary differential equations - Wronskian of $x^3$ and $x^2 |x|$ - Mathematics Stack Exchange

true otherwise the theorem would be wrong. Of course, the theorem isn't wrong since the hypotheses is not
satisfied. y1 and y2 being linearly independent does not follow the other hypothesis, i.e x³ and |x³| can

never be solutions of eqn y"+p(x)y'+q(x)y=0 on R where p and q are continuous on R. You may see Q.30
Exercise 3.1 for one such case.@Filip
– Aman Kushwaha
Jul 7, 2021 at 15:25

@AmanKushwaha Do you realize you are replying to a posting from 2015?

– Robert Israel
Jul 7, 2021 at
22:33

Since |x| is not a differentiable function, you get a weird result. If we consider the definition of
linear dependency:
1
3 2
c1 x + c2 x |x| = 0

It is clear that no c 1
, c2 satisfies this expression so the functions are linearly independent.

Share Cite Follow answered Jun 1, 2015 at 20:45

Gappy Hilmore
3,695 13 26

If I consider two functions x and x |x| in the interval [−1, 1], then their wronskian vanishes
3 2

identically, but they are linearly independent in that interval. What is the proper reason behind
0 this? I saw one said that two functions are linearly dependent implies their wronskian vanishes
identically, but the converse is not true...but I want to ask the reference book of this statement
because it violates all the standard books like Ross etc..

Share Cite Follow edited Sep 30, 2020 at 8:39 answered Sep 30, 2020 at 8:15
user235711131 Sounik Raha
35.9k 49 25 46 1

If the Wronskian is not equal to zero for some x in I, then the functions are linearly independent
on the interval. Also if the functions are linearly dependent on I, then the Wronskian is equal to
0 zero for all x in the interval I. But W=0 does not mean the functions are dependent.

Share Cite Follow answered Feb 20, 2021 at 16:15

Rexford Boakye
1

1 This answer does not add anything to Robert Israel's already accepted answer.
– Dylan C. Beck
Feb 20, 2021
at 17:03

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