A Comparison of Solutions of a Linear Homogeneous Self-Adjoint Differential Equation with Variable Coefficients by the Newton, Stodola and Rayleigh-Ritz Methods.

Abstract

Three techniques for finding the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are investigated. A typical problem involves a linear homogeneous differential equation with variable coefficients of the form P(x) y double primed (x) + P primed (x) y primed (x) + omega (sup 2) M(x) = O. The functions P(x) and M(x) are functions which are positive, or have at most isolated zeroes on the fundamental interval (O,L); omega is a parameter. Appropriate end conditions are specified so that the problem is self-adjoint. The three methods are: Newton's method, Stodola's method, and the Rayleigh-Ritz method. The methods are derived and a computer solution by each method is included in the paper. A second problem involving Bessel's equation of order zero is solved using each method and a comparison of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions is made with tabulated values. The results indicate that Newton's method is to be preferred usually. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 1971
Accession Number
AD0733220

Entities

People

  • William Kent Terrell

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Coefficients
  • Computers
  • Differential Equations
  • Eigenvalues
  • Eigenvectors
  • Equations
  • Intervals
  • Mathematical Analysis
  • Mathematics

Fields of Study

  • Mathematics

Readers

  • Calculus or Mathematical Analysis
  • Linear Algebra