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Handbook of Integral Equations, Second Edition > Preface
Preface to the new editionHandbook of Integral Equations, Second Edition, a unique reference for engineers and scientists, contains over 2,500 integral equations with solutions, as well as analytical and numerical methods for solving linear and nonlinear equations. It considers Volterra, Fredholm, Wiener–Hopf, Hammerstein, Urysohn, and other equations, which arise in mathematics, physics, engineering sciences, economics, etc. In total, the number of equations described is an order of magnitude greater than in any other book available. The second edition has been substantially updated, revised, and extended. It includes new chapters on mixed multidimensional equations, methods of integral equations for ODEs and PDEs, and about 400 new equations with exact solutions. It presents a considerable amount of new material on Volterra, Fredholm, singular, hypersingular, dual, and nonlinear integral equations, integral transforms, and special functions. Many examples were added for illustrative purposes. The new edition has been increased by a total of over 300 pages. Note that the first part of the book can be used as a database of test problems for numerical and approximate methods for solving linear and nonlinear integral equations. We would like to express our deep gratitude to Alexei Zhurov and Vasilii Silvestrov for fruitful discussions. We also appreciate the help of Grigory Yosifian in translating new sections of this book and valuable remarks. The authors hope that the handbook will prove helpful for a wide audience of researchers, college and university teachers, engineers, and students in various fields of applied mathematics, mechanics, physics, chemistry, biology, economics, and engineering sciences. |
Preface to the first edition
Integral equations are encountered in various fields of science and numerous applications (in elasticity, plasticity, heat and mass transfer, oscillation theory, fluid dynamics, filtration theory, electrostatics, electrodynamics, biomechanics, game theory, control, queuing theory, electrical engineering, economics, medicine, etc.).
Exact (closed-form) solutions of integral equations play an important role in the proper understanding of qualitative features of many phenomena and processes in various areas of natural science. Lots of equations of physics, chemistry, and biology contain functions or parameters which are obtained from experiments and hence are not strictly fixed. Therefore, it is expedient to choose the structure of these functions so that it would be easier to analyze and solve the equation. As a possible selection criterion, one may adopt the requirement that the model integral equation admits a solution in a closed form. Exact solutions can be used to verify the consistency and estimate errors of various numerical, asymptotic, and approximate methods.
More than 2,100 integral equations and their solutions are given in the first part of the book (Chapters 1–6). A lot of new exact solutions to linear and nonlinear equations are included. Special attention is paid to equations of general form, which depend on arbitrary functions. The other equations contain one or more free parameters (the book actually deals with families of integral equations); it is the reader's option to fix these parameters. In total, the number of equations described in this handbook is an order of magnitude greater than in any other book currently available.
The second part of the book (Chapters 7–14) presents exact, approximate analytical, and numerical methods for solving linear and nonlinear integral equations. Apart from the classical methods, some new methods are also described. When selecting the material, the authors have given a pronounced preference to practical aspects of the matter; that is, to methods that allow effectively ``constructing'' the solution. For the reader's better understanding of the methods, each section is supplied with examples of specific equations. Some sections may be used by lecturers of colleges and universities as a basis for courses on integral equations and mathematical physics equations for graduate and postgraduate students.
For the convenience of a wide audience with different mathematical backgrounds, the authors tried to do their best, wherever possible, to avoid special terminology. Therefore, some of the methods are outlined in a schematic and somewhat simplified manner, with necessary references made to books where these methods are considered in more detail. For some nonlinear equations, only solutions of the simplest form are given. The book does not cover two-, three-, and multidimensional integral equations.
The handbook consists of chapters, sections, and subsections. Equations and formulas are numbered separately in each section. The equations within a section are arranged in increasing order of complexity. The extensive table of contents provides rapid access to the desired equations.
For the reader's convenience, the main material is followed by a number of supplements, where some properties of elementary and special functions are described, tables of indefinite and definite integrals are given, as well as tables of Laplace, Mellin, and other transforms, which are used in the book.
The first and second parts of the book, just as many sections, were written so that they could be read independently from each other. This allows the reader to quickly get to the heart of the matter.
We would like to express our deep gratitude to Rolf Sulanke and Alexei Zhurov for fruitful discussions and valuable remarks. We also appreciate the help of Vladimir Nazaikinskii and Alexander Shtern in translating the second part of this book, and are thankful to Inna Shingareva for her assistance in preparing the camera-ready copy of the book.
The authors hope that the handbook will prove helpful for a wide audience of researchers, college and university teachers, engineers, and students in various fields of mathematics, mechanics, physics, chemistry, biology, economics, and engineering sciences.
Andrei D. Polyanin
Alexander V. Manzhirov
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