Paper 2, Section I, B
Part II, 2011
A population with variable growth and harvesting is modelled by the equation
where and are positive constants.
Given that , show that a non-zero steady state exists if , where is to be determined.
Show using a cobweb diagram that, if , a non-zero steady state may be attained only if the initial population satisfies , where should be determined explicitly and should be specified as a root of an algebraic equation.
With reference to the cobweb diagram, give an additional criterion that implies that is a sufficient condition, as well as a necessary condition, for convergence to a non-zero steady state.