Solving a system of equations without having to define exact
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg112528] Solving a system of equations without having to define exact
- From: "Michael A. Gilchrist" <mikeg at utk.edu>
- Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2010 07:27:44 -0400 (EDT)
Hi,
I'm working with a model that consists of a series of coupled ODEs and I am
trying to study their equilibrium behavior. Below is
the code I use to define the equations and solve for the equilibrium state.
(*-----------------------------------------------------*)
(*define the variables *)
imax = 3;
valsI = Table[m[i], {i, 0, imax}];
valsII = Table[ms[i], {i, 0, imax}];
(*generate the equations *)
eqnsI = Join[{lambda + t m[1] - (k + mu) m[0]},
Table[k m[i - 1] - km[i] + t (m[i + 1] (i + 1) - m[i] i ) -
mu m[i], {i, imax}] /. {m[imax + 1] -> 0}] ;
eqnsII = Join[{mu m[0] + t ms[1] - delta ms[0]},
Table[ t (ms[i + 1] (i + 1) - ms[i] i ) + mu m[i], {i,
imax}] /. {ms[imax + 1] -> 0}] ;
(*solve the equation *)
sol = Solve[Map[0 == # &, Join[eqnsI, eqnsII]],
Join[valsI, valsII]]// Simplify;
(*------------------------------------------------*)
If I set imax to a small integer value such as 2 to 8, Mathematica crunches
out a solution quickly. As imax gets bigger, Mathematica still comes up with
a solution, but it gets ever more complex and difficult to calculate.
Based on this behavior, I surmise there is a general solution to these
equations but it is sufficiently complex that I cannot intuit it from looking
at the solutions with imax = 2, 3, 4, .... I would love it if I could get
Mathematica to give me a general solution such that the variable imax does not
need to be explicitly defined.
Does anyone know of a way to pose such a problem (i.e. solve a set of
equations where the exact number is unspecified) to Mathematica? Or is this
impossible? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for your attention to this matter.
Mike