Solution of a nonlinear integral equation arising in particle transport theory (Q1067403)

Two iterative schemes for the solution of the following nonlinear integral equation \[ (*)\quad k(v)f(v)+f(v)\int_{0}^{\infty}K(v,v')f(v')dv'=S(v),\quad v\in (0,\infty) \] arising in certain problems of particle transport theory (in particular, when studying the chemical and biological effects of radiation or the annihilation of low energy positrons with free electrons at rest) are investigated. In (*), v(v') denotes the particle speed, f(v) is the distribution function of the test particles, k(v) and K(v,v') are suitable nonnegative functions related to the removal frequencies of the test particles colliding with the field particles, resp. with the other test particles, and S(v) represents the source. The convergence of the schemes is studied in the \(L_ 1\) space; a rather extensive set of numerical results is given for some specializations of k(v) and K(v,v') which are of interest for applications (an easily detectable misprint affects the indexes of eqs. (19 a,b)).