Stability analysis of product \(\theta\)-methods for Abel integral equations of the second kind (Q1820574)

The authors investigate the stability regions of product \(\theta\)-methods in numerical solution of a general Abel integral equation of the second kind. The analysis is based on the test equation \[ y(t)=1-\lambda \int^{t}_{0}y(s)/(t-s)^{\alpha} ds,\quad t\geq 0,\quad 0<\alpha <1. \] It is established that for a fixed \(\alpha\) stability regions increase as \(\theta\) goes from 0 to 1. The behavior of stability regions for a fixed \(\theta\) is found to be more complicated: they may increase as well as decrease when \(\alpha\) goes from 0 to 1, depending on the particular value of \(\theta\). The results are presented in the form of graphs.