MA 222 Proof of the Principle of Superposition K. Rotz Theorem (known as the Principle of Superposition): Consider the second-order, linear, homogeneous ordinary differential equation p(x)y 00 (x) + q(x)y 0 (x) + r(x)y(x) = 0. (∗) If y1 and y2 are both solutions to (∗), then for any two constants c1 and c2 , y = c1 y1 + c2 y2 is also a solution to (∗). Proof : The fact that y1 and y2 are solutions to (∗) imply that p(x)y100 (x) + q(x)y10 (x) + r(x)y1 (x) = 0 p(x)y200 (x) + q(x)y20 (x) + r(x)y2 (x) = 0. and (1) (2) Since c1 and c2 are constants, we have y 0 (x) = c1 y10 (x) + c2 y20 (x), y 00 (x) = c1 y100 (x) + c2 y20 (x). and Inserting these into (∗), we see that y 0 (x) y 00 (x) }| { z }| { z p(x)y 00 (x) + q(x)y 0 (x) + r(x)y(x) = p(x)(c1 y100 (x) + c2 y20 (x)) + q(x)(c1 y10 (x) + c2 y20 (x)) + r(x)(c1 y1 (x) + c2 y2 (x)) | {z } (3) y(x) We now regroup the terms in (3) by those terms with c1 ’s and c2 ’s: p(x)y 00 (x) + q(x)y 0 (x) + r(x)y(x) = c1 p(x)y100 (x) + c2 p(x)y20 (x) + c1 q(x)y10 (x) + c2 q(x)y20 (x) + c1 r(x)y1 (x) + c2 r(x)y2 (x) = c1 [p(x)y100 (x) + q(x)y10 (x) + r(x)y1 (x)] + c2 [p(x)y200 (x) + q(x)y20 (x) + r(x)y2 (x)] By equations (1) and (2), the right-hand side of (4) is zero. In other words, p(x)y 00 (x) + q(x)y 0 (x) + r(x)y(x) = 0, so that y is a solution to (∗). 1 (4)