Tutorial on analytical methods as a complement to numerical computing (Q5903924)

The importance of using analytical methods is discussed in an example from applied mechanics, a partial differential equation. The analytical treatment provides not only a suitable time scale and an asymptotic solution, but also information important for the accuracy of the numerical solution. It is possible, not only to show the convergence of the solution y(x,t) to a constant as the time goes to infinity, but in some cases also to determine its analytical value. This provides an independent check on the accuracy of the numerical calculation. In the process very simple guesses regarding asymptotic behaviour are made, and used to perform changes of variables in the original problem. Series expansion, and identification of terms of the same power, play a major part of the technique. At the numerical computation it is of major importance to preserve the special properties, in this case an invariance is preserved through the use of a special quadrature formula. It is important to note that mathematical rigour is required in the variable substitution process, but not in the asymptotic guessing process.