The two methods constitute the basis of a variety of numerical techniques for solving a range of problems in the physical sciences and applied mathematics, says Vastya, but explanations of them are scattered hither and yon, and tend to focus on their mathematical niceties and neglect their link with the physical phenomenon that they can actually help analyze. He offers a more practical introduction developed from notes for an course in applied analysis he taught at York University to graduate and undergraduate students of the physical sciences and mathematics. For foundations, he explains integration and vector spaces, operators in vector spaces, variational methods, and perturbation methods. Then he surveys applications in matrices, atomic systems, and miscellaneous realms. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Variational and perturbation methods, together with their hybrids, are the most widely used techniques employed by applied mathematicians, physical scientists and engineers. This book presents the topic as a unified and coherent discipline encompassing the problem specific procedures.
