Asymptotic Perturbation Methods

Among the theoretical methods for solving many problems of applied mathematics, physics, and technology, asymptotic methods often provide results that lead to obtaining more effective algorithms of numerical evaluation. Presenting the mathematical methods of perturbation theory, Introduction to Asymptotic Methods reviews the most important m

A textbook presenting the theory and underlying techniques of perturbation methods in a manner suitable for senior undergraduates from a broad range of disciplines.

Beneficial to both beginning students and researchers, Asymptotic Analysis and Perturbation Theory immediately introduces asymptotic notation and then applies this tool to familiar problems, including limits, inverse functions, and integrals. Suitable for those who have completed the standard calculus sequence, the book assumes no prior knowledge o

A clear, practical and self-contained presentation of the methods of asymptotics and perturbation theory for obtaining approximate analytical solutions to differential and difference equations. Aimed at teaching the most useful insights in approaching new problems, the text avoids special methods and tricks that only work for particular problems. Intended for graduates and advanced undergraduates, it assumes only a limited familiarity with differential equations and complex variables. The presentation begins with a review of differential and difference equations, then develops local asymptotic methods for such equations, and explains perturbation and summation theory before concluding with an exposition of global asymptotic methods. Emphasizing applications, the discussion stresses care rather than rigor and relies on many well-chosen examples to teach readers how an applied mathematician tackles problems. There are 190 computer-generated plots and tables comparing approximate and exact solutions, over 600 problems of varying levels of difficulty, and an appendix summarizing the properties of special functions.

This book is a revised and updated version, including a substantial portion of new material, of our text Perturbation Methods in Applied Mathematics (Springer Verlag, 1981). We present the material at a level that assumes some familiarity with the basics of ordinary and partial differential equations. Some of the more advanced ideas are reviewed as needed; therefore this book can serve as a text in either an advanced undergraduate course or a graduate-level course on the subject. Perturbation methods, first used by astronomers to predict the effects of small disturbances on the nominal motions of celestial bodies, have now become widely used analytical tools in virtually all branches of science. A problem lends itself to perturbation analysis if it is "close" to a simpler problem that can be solved exactly. Typically, this closeness is measured by the occurrence of a small dimensionless parameter, E, in the governing system (consisting of differential equations and boundary conditions) so that for E = 0 the resulting system is exactly solvable. The main mathematical tool used is asymptotic expansion with respect to a suitable asymptotic sequence of functions of E. In a regular perturbation problem, a straightforward procedure leads to a system of differential equations and boundary conditions for each term in the asymptotic expansion. This system can be solved recursively, and the accuracy of the result improves as E gets smaller, for all values of the independent variables throughout the domain of interest. We discuss regular perturbation problems in the first chapter.

Asymptotic methods are of great importance for practical applications, especially in dealing with boundary value problems for small stochastic perturbations. This book deals with nonlinear dynamical systems perturbed by noise. It addresses problems in which noise leads to qualitative changes, escape from the attraction domain, or extinction in population dynamics. The most likely exit point and expected escape time are determined with singular perturbation methods for the corresponding Fokker-Planck equation. The authors indicate how their techniques relate to the Itô calculus applied to the Langevin equation. The book will be useful to researchers and graduate students.

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Perturbations: Theory and Methods gives a thorough introduction to both regular and singular perturbation methods for algebraic and differential equations. Unlike most introductory books on the subject, this one distinguishes between formal and rigorous asymptotic validity, which are commonly confused in books that treat perturbation theory as a bag of heuristic tricks with no foundation. The meaning of "uniformity" is carefully explained in a variety of contexts. All standard methods, such as rescaling, multiple scales, averaging, matching, and the WKB method are covered, and the asymptotic validity (in the rigorous sense) of each method is carefully proved. First published in 1991, this book is still useful today because it is an introduction. It combines perturbation results with those known through other methods. Sometimes a geometrical result (such as the existence of a periodic solution) is rigorously deduced from a perturbation result, and at other times a knowledge of the geometry of the solutions is used to aid in the selection of an effective perturbation method. Dr. Murdock's approach differs from other introductory texts because he attempts to present perturbation theory as a natural part of a larger whole, the mathematical theory of differential equations. He explores the meaning of the results and their connections to other ways of studying the same problems.