Computational Methods For Integral Equations

This textbook provides a readable account of techniques for numerical solutions.

This book presents numerical methods and computational aspects for linear integral equations. Such equations occur in various areas of applied mathematics, physics, and engineering. The material covered in this book, though not exhaustive, offers useful techniques for solving a variety of problems. Historical information cover ing the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is available in fragments in Kantorovich and Krylov (1958), Anselone (1964), Mikhlin (1967), Lonseth (1977), Atkinson (1976), Baker (1978), Kondo (1991), and Brunner (1997). Integral equations are encountered in a variety of applications in many fields including continuum mechanics, potential theory, geophysics, electricity and mag netism, kinetic theory of gases, hereditary phenomena in physics and biology, renewal theory, quantum mechanics, radiation, optimization, optimal control sys tems, communication theory, mathematical economics, population genetics, queue ing theory, and medicine. Most of the boundary value problems involving differ ential equations can be converted into problems in integral equations, but there are certain problems which can be formulated only in terms of integral equations. A computational approach to the solution of integral equations is, therefore, an essential branch of scientific inquiry.

Integral Equation Methods for Electromagnetic and Elastic Waves is an outgrowth of several years of work. There have been no recent books on integral equation methods. There are books written on integral equations, but either they have been around for a while, or they were written by mathematicians. Much of the knowledge in integral equation methods still resides in journal papers. With this book, important relevant knowledge for integral equations are consolidated in one place and researchers need only read the pertinent chapters in this book to gain important knowledge needed for integral equation research. Also, learning the fundamentals of linear elastic wave theory does not require a quantum leap for electromagnetic practitioners. Integral equation methods have been around for several decades, and their introduction to electromagnetics has been due to the seminal works of Richmond and Harrington in the 1960s. There was a surge in the interest in this topic in the 1980s (notably the work of Wilton and his coworkers) due to increased computing power. The interest in this area was on the wane when it was demonstrated that differential equation methods, with their sparse matrices, can solve many problems more efficiently than integral equation methods. Recently, due to the advent of fast algorithms, there has been a revival in integral equation methods in electromagnetics. Much of our work in recent years has been in fast algorithms for integral equations, which prompted our interest in integral equation methods. While previously, only tens of thousands of unknowns could be solved by integral equation methods, now, tens of millions of unknowns can be solved with fast algorithms. This has prompted new enthusiasm in integral equation methods. Table of Contents: Introduction to Computational Electromagnetics / Linear Vector Space, Reciprocity, and Energy Conservation / Introduction to Integral Equations / Integral Equations for Penetrable Objects / Low-Frequency Problems in Integral Equations / Dyadic Green's Function for Layered Media and Integral Equations / Fast Inhomogeneous Plane Wave Algorithm for Layered Media / Electromagnetic Wave versus Elastic Wave / Glossary of Acronyms

Linear and Nonlinear Integral Equations: Methods and Applications is a self-contained book divided into two parts. Part I offers a comprehensive and systematic treatment of linear integral equations of the first and second kinds. The text brings together newly developed methods to reinforce and complement the existing procedures for solving linear integral equations. The Volterra integral and integro-differential equations, the Fredholm integral and integro-differential equations, the Volterra-Fredholm integral equations, singular and weakly singular integral equations, and systems of these equations, are handled in this part by using many different computational schemes. Selected worked-through examples and exercises will guide readers through the text. Part II provides an extensive exposition on the nonlinear integral equations and their varied applications, presenting in an accessible manner a systematic treatment of ill-posed Fredholm problems, bifurcation points, and singular points. Selected applications are also investigated by using the powerful Padé approximants. This book is intended for scholars and researchers in the fields of physics, applied mathematics and engineering. It can also be used as a text for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in applied mathematics, science and engineering, and related fields. Dr. Abdul-Majid Wazwaz is a Professor of Mathematics at Saint Xavier University in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

During the past 20 years, there has been enormous productivity in theoretical as well as computational integration. Some attempts have been made to find an optimal or best numerical method and related computer code to put to rest the problem of numerical integration, but the research is continuously ongoing, as this problem is still very much open-ended. The importance of numerical integration in so many areas of science and technology has made a practical, up-to-date reference on this subject long overdue. The Handbook of Computational Methods for Integration discusses quadrature rules for finite and infinite range integrals and their applications in differential and integral equations, Fourier integrals and transforms, Hartley transforms, fast Fourier and Hartley transforms, Laplace transforms and wavelets. The practical, applied perspective of this book makes it unique among the many theoretical books on numerical integration and quadrature. It will be a welcomed addition to the libraries of applied mathematicians, scientists, and engineers in virtually every discipline.