How To Determine If A Pde Is Parabolic. T j e λ as a superposition. Parabolic pdes have one real repeated characteristic path.

Parabolic pdes have one real repeated characteristic path. Parabolic and hyperbolic pdes often model time dependent processes involving initial data. So, for the heat equation a = 1, b = 0, c = 0 so b2 ¡4ac = 0 and so the heat equation is parabolic.