A New Look at the Airy Equation with Fences and Funnels***
John H. Hubbard, Jean Marie McDill, Anne Noonburg
Beverly H. West
Department of Mathematics
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY
Abstract:
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In this paper we will show how to use fences and funnels to study the
asymptotic behavior of solutions to the equation x''+p(t)x' + q(t)x = 0
These geometric methods, described briefly elsewhere in this issue [3]
and more fully in the book [4], will give a great deal of qualitative
and quantitative information about the solutions without ever requiring
a formula for x(t).
***Previously appeared in the College Mathematics College
November 1994, 419-431.