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Circular trajectories

The system of ODEs ˙x=xy,˙y=1x2+y22,
has circular trajectories, except those on the y-axis. Click your mouse on the plane, and the circular trajectories with the movement of the points will be shown.

xy


The solution with intial condition x(0)=x0,y(0)=y0 is given by x(t)=2x01+x20+y20+(1x20y20)cost2y0sint,y(t)=(1x20y20)sint+2y0cost1+x20+y20+(1x20y20)cost2y0sint.
(for interested readers) One way to find this explicit solution is to add one new equation ˙z=yz with the initial condition z(0)=1 with the following steps:
  1. Show that xz is conserved, to deduce that xz=x0.
  2. Substitute x=x0/z and y=˙z/z into the equation ˙y=1x2+y22 to get a second order ODE for z.
  3. From the second order ODE for z, show that ˙z2+z2+x20z is invaraint, and hence ˙z2+z2+x20z=1+x20+y20.
    Here you need the equation ˙z=yz to get ˙z(0)=y0.
  4. The solution of the above first order ODE ˙z2+z2+x20z=1+x20+y20 is z(t)=1+x20+y202+Acost+Bsint, for some constants A and B. Use the initial condition for z(0) and ˙z(0) to find the solution z(t), and then x(t),y(t).