48 research outputs found
Integrating factors for second order ODEs
A systematic algorithm for building integrating factors of the form mu(x,y),
mu(x,y') or mu(y,y') for second order ODEs is presented. The algorithm can
determine the existence and explicit form of the integrating factors themselves
without solving any differential equations, except for a linear ODE in one
subcase of the mu(x,y) problem. Examples of ODEs not having point symmetries
are shown to be solvable using this algorithm. The scheme was implemented in
Maple, in the framework of the "ODEtools" package and its ODE-solver. A
comparison between this implementation and other computer algebra ODE-solvers
in tackling non-linear examples from Kamke's book is shown.Comment: 21 pages - original version submitted Nov/1997. Related Maple
programs for finding integrating factors together with the ODEtools package
(versions for MapleV R4 and MapleV R5) are available at
http://lie.uwaterloo.ca/odetools.ht