Thus we go after a maximum near a = 2 and y = b. We set the partial derivatives with respect to a and b equal to zero.

Input := 


va[a_,b_] = D[v[a,b],a]; vb[a_,b_] = D[v[a,b],b];

Input := 


solc = FindRoot[{va[a,b]==0,vb[a,b]==0},{a,2},{b,1}]

Output =


{a -> 2.04789, b -> 1.08581}