Does the equation cos(sinx)=sin(cosx) have at least one real solution?
Solution
Rewrite the equation as cos(sinx)=cos(2π−cosx). This implies that 2π−cosx=±sinx+2kπ for some k∈Z, so cosx±sinx=2π−2kπ. Since ∣cosx±sinx∣≤∣cosx∣+∣sinx∣≤2, we have k=0, and so cosx±sinx=2π. Squaring both sides of the equation we get cos2x±2cosxsinx+sin2x=4π2 or ±sin2x=4π2−1. Since 4π2−1>49−1>1, this equation has no real solutions, so the initial equation does not have any real solutions either.
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Source: MathNet,
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