Riccati Differential Equation

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There are a number of equations known as the Riccati differential equation. The most common is

 z^2w^('')+[z^2-n(n+1)]w=0
(1)

(Abramowitz and Stegun 1972, p. 445; Zwillinger 1997, p. 126), which has solutions

 w=Azj_n(z)+Bzy_n(z),
(2)

where j_n(z) and y_n(z) are spherical Bessel functions of the first and second kinds.

Another Riccati differential equation is

 (dy)/(dz)=az^n+by^2,
(3)

which is solvable by algebraic, exponential, and logarithmic functions only when n=-4m/(2m+/-1), for m=0, 1, 2, ....

Yet another Riccati differential equation is

 w^'=P(z)+Q(z)w+R(z)w^2,
(4)

where w^'=dw/dz (Boyce and DiPrima 1986, p. 87). The transformation

 w=-(y^')/(yR(z))
(5)

leads to the second-order linear homogeneous equation

 R(z)y^('')-[R^'(z)+Q(z)R(z)]y^'+[R(z)]^2P(z)y=0.
(6)

If a particular solution w_1 to (4) is known, then a more general solution containing a single arbitrary constant can be obtained from

 w=w_1(z)+1/(v(z)),
(7)

where v(z) is a solution to the first-order linear equation

 v^'=-[Q(z)+2R(z)w_1(z)]v-R(z)
(8)

(Boyce and DiPrima 1986, p. 87). This result is due to Euler in 1760.

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