application of existence and uniqueness theorem

ghost_writer

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Feb 10, 2010
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Question: Find the interval of existence of the following:
y ' = 2(1 - t^2 - y^2)^(1/2); y(0) = 0

I don't understand how my prof explains how to apply the existence and uniqueness theorem for DEs here. I know you have to find where f(t,y) and df/dy (partial derivative of f w/ respect to y) are both continuous first:

f(t,y) is continuous for t^2 + y^2 <= 1
df/dy =(1 - t^2 - y^2)^(-1/2)(2y) so continuous for t^2 + y^2 < 1

But I'm not sure what my prof is doing after that. It has something to do with how the function is symmetric or f(t,y) = f(y,t) and the definition h >= min{a, a/m} where m = max|f| and you need to solve for a to maximize h using right triangles, but my prof frequently switches a's and b's in this definition for the region (-a, a) x (-b, b). I'm just completely lost after checking the continuity. :(

I've been searching online for problems that match this but most resources go right to series approximation for this theorem w/o using the application above. Any help to understanding this is much appreciated.
 
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