Universal differential equation

Summary

A universal differential equation (UDE) is a non-trivial differential algebraic equation with the property that its solutions can approximate any continuous function on any interval of the real line to any desired level of accuracy.

Precisely, a (possibly implicit) differential equation is a UDE if for any continuous real-valued function and for any positive continuous function there exist a smooth solution of with for all .[1]

The existence of an UDE has been initially regarded as an analogue of the universal Turing machine for analog computers, because of a result of Shannon that identifies the outputs of the general purpose analog computer with the solutions of algebraic differential equations.[1] However, in contrast to universal Turing machines, UDEs do not dictate the evolution of a system, but rather sets out certain conditions that any evolution must fulfill.[2]

Examples edit

  • Rubel found the first known UDE in 1981. It is given by the following implicit differential equation of fourth-order:[1][2]  
  • Duffin obtained a family of UDEs given by:[3]
  and  , whose solutions are of class   for n > 3.
 , where n > 3.
  • Bournez and Pouly proved the existence of a fixed polynomial vector field p such that for any f and ε there exists some initial condition of the differential equation y' = p(y) that yields a unique and analytic solution satisfying |y(x) − f(x)| < ε(x) for all x in R.[2]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Rubel, Lee A. (1981). "A universal differential equation". Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society. 4 (3): 345–349. doi:10.1090/S0273-0979-1981-14910-7. ISSN 0273-0979.
  2. ^ a b c Pouly, Amaury; Bournez, Olivier (2020-02-28). "A Universal Ordinary Differential Equation". Logical Methods in Computer Science. 16 (1). arXiv:1702.08328. doi:10.23638/LMCS-16(1:28)2020. S2CID 4736209.
  3. ^ Duffin, R. J. (1981). "Rubel's universal differential equation". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 78 (8): 4661–4662. Bibcode:1981PNAS...78.4661D. doi:10.1073/pnas.78.8.4661. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 320216. PMID 16593068.
  4. ^ Briggs, Keith (2002-11-08). "Another universal differential equation". arXiv:math/0211142.

External links edit

  • Wolfram Mathworld page on UDEs