Ebook: Integral Equations: Theory and Numerical Treatment

The theory of integral equations has been an active research field for many years and is based on analysis, function theory, and functional analysis. On the other hand, integral equations are of practical interest because of the «boundary integral equation method», which transforms partial differential equations on a domain into integral equations over its boundary. This book grew out of a series of lectures given by the author at the Ruhr-Universitat Bochum and the Christian-Albrecht-Universitat zu Kiel to students of mathematics. The contents of the first six chapters correspond to an intensive lecture course of four hours per week for a semester. Readers of the book require background from analysis and the foundations of numeri­ cal mathematics. Knowledge of functional analysis is helpful, but to begin with some basic facts about Banach and Hilbert spaces are sufficient. The theoretical part of this book is reduced to a minimum; in Chapters 2, 4, and 5 more importance is attached to the numerical treatment of the integral equations than to their theory. Important parts of functional analysis (e. g. , the Riesz-Schauder theory) are presented without proof. We expect the reader either to be already familiar with functional analysis or to become motivated by the practical examples given here to read a book about this topic. We recall that also from a historical point of view, functional analysis was initially stimulated by the investigation of integral equations.

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Volterra and Fredholm integral equations form the domain of this book. Special chapters are devoted to Abel's integral equations and the singular integral equation with the Cauchy kernel; others focus on the integral equation method and the boundary element method (BEM). While a small section affords some theoretical grounding in integral equations (covering existence, regularity, etc.), the larger part of the book is devoted to a description and analysis of the discretisation methods (Galerkin / collocation / Nystr?m). Also the multigrid method for the solution of discrete equations is analysed. The most prominent application of integral equations occurs in the use of the boundary element method, which here is discussed from the numerical point of view in particular. New results about numerical integration and the panel clustering technique are included. Many chapters have an introductory character, while special subsections give more advanced information. Intended readers are students of mathematics as well as postgraduates.

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Volterra and Fredholm integral equations form the domain of this book. Special chapters are devoted to Abel's integral equations and the singular integral equation with the Cauchy kernel; others focus on the integral equation method and the boundary element method (BEM). While a small section affords some theoretical grounding in integral equations (covering existence, regularity, etc.), the larger part of the book is devoted to a description and analysis of the discretisation methods (Galerkin / collocation / Nystr?m). Also the multigrid method for the solution of discrete equations is analysed. The most prominent application of integral equations occurs in the use of the boundary element method, which here is discussed from the numerical point of view in particular. New results about numerical integration and the panel clustering technique are included. Many chapters have an introductory character, while special subsections give more advanced information. Intended readers are students of mathematics as well as postgraduates.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xiv
Introduction....Pages 1-24
Volterra Integral Equations....Pages 25-41
Theory of Fredholm Integral Equations of the Second Kind....Pages 42-58
Numerical Treatment of Fredholm Integral Equations of the Second Kind....Pages 59-154
Multi-Grid Methods for Solving Systems Arising from Integral Equations of the Second Kind....Pages 155-200
Abel’s Integral Equation....Pages 201-215
Singular Integral Equations....Pages 216-265
The Integral Equation Method....Pages 266-317
The Boundary Element Method....Pages 318-343
Back Matter....Pages 344-362

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Volterra and Fredholm integral equations form the domain of this book. Special chapters are devoted to Abel's integral equations and the singular integral equation with the Cauchy kernel; others focus on the integral equation method and the boundary element method (BEM). While a small section affords some theoretical grounding in integral equations (covering existence, regularity, etc.), the larger part of the book is devoted to a description and analysis of the discretisation methods (Galerkin / collocation / Nystr?m). Also the multigrid method for the solution of discrete equations is analysed. The most prominent application of integral equations occurs in the use of the boundary element method, which here is discussed from the numerical point of view in particular. New results about numerical integration and the panel clustering technique are included. Many chapters have an introductory character, while special subsections give more advanced information. Intended readers are students of mathematics as well as postgraduates.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xiv
Introduction....Pages 1-24
Volterra Integral Equations....Pages 25-41
Theory of Fredholm Integral Equations of the Second Kind....Pages 42-58
Numerical Treatment of Fredholm Integral Equations of the Second Kind....Pages 59-154
Multi-Grid Methods for Solving Systems Arising from Integral Equations of the Second Kind....Pages 155-200
Abel’s Integral Equation....Pages 201-215
Singular Integral Equations....Pages 216-265
The Integral Equation Method....Pages 266-317
The Boundary Element Method....Pages 318-343
Back Matter....Pages 344-362
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