English

An explicit numerical algorithm to the solution of Volterra integral equation of the second kind

Numerical Analysis 2019-08-09 v1 Numerical Analysis

Abstract

This paper considers a numeric algorithm to solve the equation \begin{align*} y(t)=f(t)+\int^t_0 g(t-\tau)y(\tau)\,d\tau \end{align*} with a kernel gg and input ff for yy. In some applications we have a smooth integrable kernel but the input ff could be a generalised function, which could involve the Dirac distribution. We call the case when f=δf=\delta, the Dirac distribution centred at 0, the fundamental solution EE, and show that E=δ+hE=\delta+h where hh is integrable and solve \begin{align*} h(t)=g(t)+\int^t_0 g(t-\tau)h(\tau)\,d\tau \end{align*} The solution of the general case is then \begin{align*} y(t)=f(t)+(h*f)(t) \end{align*} which involves the convolution of hh and ff. We can approximate gg to desired accuracy with piecewise constant kernel for which the solution hh is known explicitly. We supply an algorithm for the solution of the integral equation with specified accuracy.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1908.02862,
  title  = {An explicit numerical algorithm to the solution of Volterra integral equation of the second kind},
  author = {Leanne Dong and John van der Hoek},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1908.02862},
  year   = {2019}
}

Comments

5 figures. This paper will be submitted to Journal publication by December. It also serves as the theoretical basis for an upcoming publication of the author

R2 v1 2026-06-23T10:42:32.905Z