Since the 1980s, the study of difference equations has acquired a new significance, due in large part to their use in the formulation and analysis of discrete-time systems, the numerical integration of differential equations by fininte-difference schemes, and the study of deterministic chaos.

This book provides a summary of the work of the author on the construction of non-standard finite difference schemes for the numerical integration of differential equations. The major thrust of the book is to show that discrete models of differential equations exist such that the elementary types of numerical instabilities do not occur. A consequence of this result is that in general, bigger step-sizes can often be used in actual calculations and/or finite difference schemes can be constructed that are conditionally stable in many instances where using standard techniques no such schemes...

The main purpose of this book is to provide a concise introduction to the methods and philosophy of constructing nonstandard finite difference schemes and illustrate how such techniques can be applied to several important problems. Chapter 1 gives an overview of the subject and summarizes previous work. Chapters 2 and 3 consider in detail the construction and numerical implementation of schemes for physical problems involving convection-diffusion-reaction equations that arise in groundwater pollution and scattering of electromagnetic waves using Maxwell's equations. Chapter 4 examines certain...

This book provides a variety of methods required for the analysis and solution of equations which arise in the modeling of phenomena from the natural and engineering sciences. It can be used productively by both undergraduate and graduate students, as well as others who need to learn and understand these techniques. A detailed discussion is also presented for several topics that are usually not included in standard textbooks at this level: qualitative methods for differential equations, dimensionalization and scaling, elements of asymptotics, difference equations, and various perturbation...

This volume provides a concise introduction to the methodology of nonstandard finite difference (NSFD) schemes construction and shows how they can be applied to the numerical integration of differential equations occurring in the natural, biomedical, and engineering sciences. These methods had their genesis in the work of Mickens in the 1990's and are now beginning to be widely studied and applied by other researchers. The importance of the book derives from its clear and direct explanation of NSFD in the introductory chapter along with a broad discussion of the future directions needed to...

This unique book provides a concise presentation of many of the fundamental strategies for calculating approximations to the oscillatory solutions of "truly nonlinear" (TNL) oscillator equations. The volume gives a general overview of the author's work on harmonic balance, iteration and combined linearization-averaging methods. However, full discussions are also presented on parameter expansion procedures and a first-order averaging technique for TNL oscillators. The calculational basis of each method is clarified by applying them to a set of standard TNL oscillator equations. This allows a...

Difference Equations: Theory, Applications and Advanced Topics, Third Edition provides a broad introduction to the mathematics of difference equations and some of their applications. Many worked examples illustrate how to calculate both exact and approximate solutions to special classes of difference equations. Along with adding several advanced topics, this edition continues to cover general, linear, first-, second-, and n-th order difference equations; nonlinear equations that may be reduced to linear equations; and partial difference equations.

New to the...