Numerical methods for special nonlinear boundary-value problems of order \(2m\) (Q2367493)

The authors consider the special nonlinear boundary value problem \(y^{(2m)}(x) = f(x,y)\), \(X_ 0\leq x\leq X_ 1\), \(y^{(2i)}(X_ 0) = A_{2i}\), \(y^{(2i)}(X_ 1) = B_{2i}\), \(i = 0,1,\dots,m-1\). General algorithms (indirect algorithms) based on transforming the problem into a system of \(m\) second-order problems and on finite differencing are compared with those (direct algorithms) treating the original problem to higher order finite approximation. Furthermore, an alternative method, representing approximate solutions by a finite polynomial, is also outlined. Two simple numerical examples of eighth-order and tenth-order problems show the superiority of the indirect methods with respect to the accuracy.