Perturbation methods for differential equations

Publication date 7 January 2003

averaging matched asymptotic expansions multiple scales singular perturbation strained coordinates

Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to ordinary differential equations (34-01) Perturbations, asymptotics of solutions to ordinary differential equations (34E10) Multiple scale methods for ordinary differential equations (34E13) Singular perturbations for ordinary differential equations (34E15) Singular perturbations, turning point theory, WKB methods for ordinary differential equations (34E20) Perturbations in context of PDEs (35B20) Singular perturbations in context of PDEs (35B25)

Review text

This monograph presents an overall introduction to singular perturbation methods. These are bunched together under the headings: the method of strained coordinates or parameters, the method of averaging, the method of matched asymptotic expansions, the method of multiple scales, the quantum-field-theoretic renormalization method. The book is mainly based on the author's works on the subject and aims to describe the procedures and the intuitive ideas underlying the above methods. The author deliberately side-stepped the theoretical aspects and the mathematical proofs. Also, the theory is principally explained from examples. The result is a variety of problems, some of them with a physical background which is briefly described. For each of these problems, the main work is then the carrying of the formal expansion with respect to a small parameter. Whenever relevant, physical conclusions are deduced. The exposition of ideas and computations are quite clear. The mathematics used by the author does not go far beyond an advanced calculus course. This is both the value and the weakness of this work. It is valuable to have a book that can be used as a graduate text for students in applied mathematics, physics and engineering. The present book achieves this goal. It introduces to the subject and will be useful to engineers and applied mathematicians who wish to obtain some, possibly formal, answer to their problems. It can also be used by the mathematician as an overview on the field. Keeping the level of mathematics rather low, the drawback is that it might hide the real mathematical problems. Little comments are made to indicate further readings into the mathematics of these methods. In particular, this is very true for the appendixes. These can help the beginners but might also give them somewhat naive ideas on the topic. As a conclusion, this work can be recommended as a good textbook for a graduate course in applied mathematics. The instructor could complement it by hints to further work on the mathematics of the subject.

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