Irregular frequencies and iterative methods in the solution of steady surface-wave problems in hydrodynamics (Q1060904)

A popular technique in studying free surface flows is the boundary- integral method, in which the free surface is represented in terms of source and vortex singularities, leading to an integral equation. Using, as an example, two problems of linearized free surface flows, which can be reduced to a Fredholm integral equation of the second kind by this method, it is shown that the Neumann-type iteration schemes will diverge because of the existence of a continuum of irregular frequencies i.e. eigenvalues of the homogeneous integral equation. Ramifications of this for other problems are discussed.