Determine using determinants the range of values of a (if any) such that
f(x,y,z)=4x^2+y^2+2z^2+2axy-4xz+2yz
has a minimum at (0,0,0).

From the theory, I understand that if the matrix corresponding to the coefficients of the function is positive definite, the function has a local min at the point. But, how do I get the range of values of a such that f is a min? Is this equivalent to finding a such that det(A) > 0?

2.

Now modify the function to also involve a parameter b: g(x,y,z)=bx^2+2axy+by^2+4xz-2a^2yz+2bz^2. We determine conditions on a and b such that g has a minimum at (0,0,0).
By plotting each determinant (using implicitplot perhaps, we can identify the region in the (a,b) plane where g has a local minimum.

Which region corresponds to a local minimum?

Now determine region(s) in the (a,b) plane where g has a local maximum.

I don't understand this part at all..

I've got the following matrix :

A:=[<a,a-1,-b>|<a-1,a,-b>,<b,b,2a-1>] where <> are the column elements of A, a is  a real number defined on [0,1] and b^2=2a(1-a) 

a) to show A is an orthogonal matrix, I understand that I need A.Transpose(A)=Identity(3*3) but is there a way in which I can let a take a random real numbered value between 0 and 1? The rand() only returns an integer within a range. Directly multiplying A and Transpose(A) will return an expression in a, so what's the right approach?

b) from a) we can infer that A is a matrix that describes a rotation in e1,e2,e3 where these are the standard bases vectors in R3. How can I determine the rotation axis? The hint I've been given says I need to consider the Eigenvalues and eigen vectors but I don't quite understand how.

Consider the problem of a hard-hit baseball. The air-friction drag on a baseball is approximately given by the following formula

and subsequent differential equations : 

F:=-((C_d)*rho*Pi*(r)^2*v*v)/2;
m:=0.145;
v0:=65;
g:=9.81;
v_x:=diff(x(t),t);
v_y:=diff(y(t),t);
d2v_x:=-((C_d)*rho*Pi*(r^2)*(v_x)*sqrt((v_x)^2 +(v_y)^2))/(2*m);
d2v_y:=-((C_d)*rho*Pi*(r^2)*(v_y)*sqrt((v_x)^2 +(v_y)^2))/(2*m)-g;

where

C[d] is the drag coefficient (about 0.35 for a baseball)

•
rho[air] is the density of air (about 1.2 kg/
3m
)
•
r is the radius of the ball (about 0.037 m)

v is the vector velocity of the ball

Then if given that : 

Power hitters in baseball say they would much rather play in Coors Field in Denver than in sea-level stadiums because it is so much easier to hit home runs. The air pressure in Denver is about 10% lower than it is at sea level. The field dimensions at Coors Field are:

Left Field - 347 feet (106 m)
Left-Center - 390 feet (119 m)
Center Field - 415 feet (126 m)
Right-Center - 375 feet (114 m)
Right Field - 350 feet (107 m)

 1. Overlay two plots: one at sea level and one in Denver to show why power hitters prefer Coors field.

2. Find the initial magnitude of velocity, v0

needed to hit a home run to Right-Center, where v_x(0)=v0/sqrt(2) and v_y(0)=v0/sqrt(2)

I don't quite understand how to use the field dimensions for both 1 and 2 and am pretty clueless as to how to approach this question using the ordinary differential equations mentioned above.

I've got the following four differential equations :

v_x:=diff(x(t),t);
v_y:=diff(y(t),t);
d2v_x:=-((C_d)*rho*Pi*(r^2)*(v_x)*sqrt((v_x)^2 +(v_y)^2))/(2*m);
d2v_y:=-((C_d)*rho*Pi*(r^2)*(v_y)*sqrt((v_x)^2 +(v_y)^2))/(2*m)-g;

and the following initial value conditions:

x(0)=0,y(0)=0,v_x(0)=v0/sqrt(2),v_y(0)=v0/sqrt(2) given v0=65 

I need to solve these using the numeric type and then draw overlaid plots

(i) setting C_d=0

(ii) leaving C_d as a variable

before plotting y(t) vs x(t). The hint for this last part is that the path can be seeing using [x(t),y(t)] instead of [t,y(t)]

I've tried to do it but seemed to have several syntax errors.

I've got the following diff.eq

y'(x)=sin(x*y(x)) given y(0)=1 

and need to solve it numerically which is why I've used:

dy4:=diff(y(x),x);
eqn4:=dy4=sin(x*y(x));
ic1:=y(0)=1;
ans3:=dsolve({eqn4,ic1},y(x),type=numeric);

This code doesn't return a value though and in fact, ans3 is being displayed as a procedure

"ans3:=proc(x_rkf45) ... end proc"

I don't quite understand why and what I need to do to get the required numerical solution