For the differential equation:
\begin{equation} y'''-y''-y'+y=0 \end{equation}
We assume that $y = e^{rt}$.
Therefore, we must solve the characteristic equation:
\begin{equation} r^3 - r^2 - r + 1 = 0 \end{equation}
We find:
$
r^3 - r^2 - r + 1 = 0 \implies (r^2-1)(r-1) = 0 \implies (r+1)(r-1)^2 = 0
$
This means the roots of this equation are:
$
r_1 = 1, r_2=1, r_3=-1
$
(We have a repeated root at r = 1)
So the general solution to (1) is:
\begin{equation} y(t) = c_1e^{t} + c_2e^{t}t + c_3e^{-t} \end{equation}