Find a general solution for the following PDE: $u_{yx}-u_x + u_y-u=0$

partial differential equations

the question:
$$u_{yx}-u_x + u_y-u=0$$
my thoughts:
I know that it's a 2nd order linear PDE so I've ruled out characteristic curves, and several ODE tricks. I also noticed that I can use $v = u_x$ and then the equation becomes:
$v_y – v + u_y – u =0$ which I've tried seperating into a system of equations a-la superposition but I'm not sure if I'm right or how to procceed. Any help would be appreciated greatly!
also unrelated but do you have a site where I can check my PDE's? haven't found one.

Best Answer

Observe that you equation can be written as $$ v_x=-v $$ where $v(x,y)=u_y-u$. Solving for $v$ (with $y$ as a parameter): $$ v(x,y)=C(y)e^{-x}. $$ where $C$ is an arbitrary function. So we have $$ u_y-u=C(y)e^{-x}. $$ which is a linear equation for $u$ with $x$ as a parameter. Solving you obtain $$ e^{-y}u=e^{-x}\int C(y)e^{-y} $$ or $$ u(x,y)=e^{y-x}\int C(y)e^{-y}\,dy. $$

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