An introduction to numerical methods and analysis / James F. Epperson

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Cover; Half Title page; Title page; Copyright page; Dedication; Preface; Chapter 1: Introductory Concepts and Calculus Review; 1.1 Basic Tools of Calculus; 1.2 Error, Approximate Equality, and Asymptotic Order Notation; 1.3 A Primer on Computer Arithmetic; 1.4 A Word on Computer Languages and Software; 1.5 Simple Approximations; 1.6 Application: Approximating the Natural Logarithm; 1.7 A Brief History of Computing; 1.8 Literature Review; References; Chapter 2: A Survey of Simple Methods and Tools; 2.1 Horner's Rule and Nested Multiplication; 2.2 Difference Approximations to the Derivative. 2.3 Application: Euler's Method for Initial Value Problems2.4 Linear Interpolation; 2.5 Application-The Trapezoid Rule; 2.6 Solution of Tridiagonal Linear Systems; 2.7 Application: Simple Two-Point Boundary Value Problems; Chapter 3: Root-Finding; 3.1 The Bisection Method; 3.2 Newton's Method: Derivation and Examples; 3.3 How to Stop Newton's Method; 3.4 Application: Division Using Newton's Method; 3.5 The Newton Error Formula; 3.6 Newton's Method: Theory and Convergence; 3.7 Application: Computation of the Square Root; 3.8 The Secant Method: Derivation and Examples; 3.9 Fixed-Point Iteration. 3.10 Roots of Polynomials, Part 13.11 Special Topics in Root-Finding Methods; 3.12 Very High-Order Methods and the Efficiency Index; 3.13 Literature and Software Discussion; References; Chapter 4: Interpolation and Approximation; 4.1 Lagrange Interpolation; 4.2 Newton Interpolation and Divided Differences; 4.3 Interpolation Error; 4.4 Application: Muller's Method and Inverse Quadratic Interpolation; 4.5 Application: More Approximations to the Derivative; 4.6 Hermite Interpolation; 4.7 Piecewise Polynomial Interpolation; 4.8 An Introduction to Splines. 4.9 Application: Solution of Boundary Value Problems4.10 Tension Splines; 4.11 Least Squares Concepts in Approximation; 4.12 Advanced Topics in Interpolation Error; 4.13 Literature and Software Discussion; References; Chapter 5: Numerical Integration; 5.1 A Review of the Definite Integral; 5.2 Improving the Trapezoid Rule; 5.3 Simpson's Rule and Degree of Precision; 5.4 The Midpoint Rule; 5.5 Application: Stirling's Formula; 5.6 Gaussian Quadrature; 5.7 Extrapolation Methods; 5.8 Special Topics in Numerical Integration; 5.9 Literature and Software Discussion; References. Chapter 6: Numerical Methods for Ordinary Differential Equations6.1 The Initial Value Problem: Background; 6.2 Euler's Method; 6.3 Analysis of Euler's Method; 6.4 Variants of Euler's Method; 6.5 Single-Step Methods: Runge-Kutta; 6.6 Multistep Methods; 6.7 Stability Issues; 6.8 Application to Systems of Equations; 6.9 Adaptive Solvers; 6.10 Boundary Value Problems; 6.11 Literature and Software Discussion; References; Chapter 7: Numerical Methods for the Solution of Systems of Equations; 7.1 Linear Algebra Review; 7.2 Linear Systems and Gaussian Elimination; 7.3 Operation Counts.

"The objective of this book is for readers to learn where approximation methods come from, why they work, why they sometimes don't work, and when to use which of the many techniques that are available, and to do all this in an environment that emphasizes readability and usefulness to the numerical methods novice. Each chapter and each section begins with the basic, elementary material and gradually builds up to more advanced topics. The text begins with a review of the important calculus results, and why and where these ideas play an important role throughout the book. Some of the concepts required for the study of computational mathematics are introduced, and simple approximations using Taylor's Theorem are treated in some depth. The exposition is intended to be lively and "student friendly". Exercises run the gamut from simple hand computations that might be characterized are "starter exercises", to challenging derivations and minor proofs, to programming exercises. Eleven new exercises have been added throughout including: Basins of Attraction; Roots of Polynomials I; Radial Basis Function Interpolation; Tension Splines; An Introduction to Galerkin/Finite Element Ideas for BVPs; Broyden's Method; Roots of Polynomials, II; Spectral/collocation methods for PDEs; Algebraic Multigrid Method; Trigonometric interpolation/Fourier analysis; and Monte Carlo methods. Various sections have been revised to reflect recent trends and updates in the field"-- Provided by publisher.