Ordinary and partial differential equations. With special functions, Fourier series, and boundary value problems (Q952507)

The book comprises 50 class-tested lectures which both the authors have given to engineering and mathematics major students under the titles Boundary Value Problems and Methods of Mathematical Physics at various institutions all over the globe over a period of almost 35 years. The main topics covered in these lectures are power series solutions, special functions, boundary value problems for ordinary differential equations, Sturm-Liouville problems, regular and singular perturbation techniques, Fourier series expansion, partial differential equations, Fourier series solutions to initial-boundary value problems, and Fourier and Laplace transform techniques. The prerequisite for this book is calculus, so it can be used for a senior undergraduate course. It should also be suitable for a beginning graduate course because, in undergraduate courses, students do not have any exposure to various intricate concepts, perhaps due to an inadequate level of mathematical sophistication. The content in a particular lecture, together with the problems therein, provides fairly adequate coverage of the topic under study. These lectures have been delivered in one year courses and provide flexibility in the choice of material for a particular one-semester course. Throughout this book, the mathematical concepts have been explained very carefully in the simplest possible terms, and illustrated by a number of complete workout examples. The book contains some theorems and their proofs. Two types of exercises are included in the book, those which illustrate the general theory, and others designed to fill out text material. These exercises form an integral part of the book. The answers or hints to almost all the exercises are provided for the convenience of the reader.