The solution of a singular integral equation with some applications in potential theory (Q1380977)

The singular integral equation \[ \sum^{n-1}_{k=0} \int^\alpha_{-\alpha} I (\varphi) \left[q+ \log\left |\sin \Biggl({1\over 2} \Bigl(\theta- \varphi- {2k\pi \over n}\Bigr) \Biggr) \right| \right] d\varphi= F(\theta) \] with logarithmic singularities is studied, where \(q\) and \(\alpha\) are constants and \(F(\theta)\) is a differentiable function for \(| \theta- {2k \pi\over n} | <\alpha\), \(k=1, \dots,n\). The integral equation, containing \(n\) terms, is reduced to a simpler form interchanging the summation with the integration and separating the even and the odd parts in the functions \(I(\varphi)\) and \(F(\theta)\). It is reduced to a system of decoupled singular equations which are solved separately. The obtained theoretical results are applied to an illustrative example from electrostatics.