Numerical modelling for differential problems. (Q4955546)

This book is quite an unusual text in several respects. Firstly, although its title indicates that it is concerned with numerical solution of partial differential equations (PDEs), it also includes chapters and appendices which cover both the classical theory of PDEs and the theory of weak solutions, with references to the literature for the proofs of the most technical results. Secondly, these aspects of the theory are developed in a very natural way which integrates extremely well with the numerical theory. Thirdly, there are substantial exercises covering both the theory and the numerics, something which is very useful and which one usually only finds in undergraduate texts. The final unusual feature is that this excellent text is written in the author's native language, and is therefore only currently accessible to students with a reading knowledge of Italian. In Italy the topics in this book would probably be taught to undergraduates in Mathematics and in Engineering from the third year onwards. In the US and in the UK, the material would be suitable for a final year undergraduate or first year postgraduate course. The topics covered are elliptic PDEs (mainly Poisson problems) and Galerkin methods for their solution; spectral, pseudo-spectral and collocation methods for elliptic PDEs; transport-diffusion equations, including Petrov-Galerkin methods and upwinding; parabolic equations; hyperbolic equations, finite difference methods and Galerkin methods, artificial diffusion; a very short chapter on Navier-Stokes equations; and two chapters on implementation, one on programming and the other on mesh generation.