The iterative solutions of 2nth-order nonlinear multi-point boundary value problems

The aim of this paper is to investigate the existence of iterative solutions for a class of 2nth-order nonlinear multi-point boundary value problems. The multi-point boundary condition under consideration includes various commonly discussed boundary conditions, such as three- or four-point boundary condition, (n + 2)-point boundary condition and 2(n − m)-point boundary condition. The existence problem is based on the method of upper and lower solutions and its associated monotone iterative technique. A monotone iteration is developed so that the iterative sequence converges monotonically to a maximal solution or a minimal solution, depending on whether the initial iteration is an upper solution or a lower solution. Two examples are presented to illustrate the results.     

On fourth-order elliptic boundary value problems with nonmonotone nonlinear function

This paper is concerned with the fourth-order elliptic boundary value problems with nonmonotone nonlinear function. The existence and uniqueness of a solution is proven by the method of upper and lower solutions. A monotone iteration is developed so that the iteration sequence converges monotonically to a maximal solution or a minimal solution, depending on whether the initial iteration is an upper solution or a lower solution.     

Local existence and non-relativistic limits of shock solutions to a multidimensional piston problem for the relativistic Euler equations

The multidimensional piston problem is a special initial-boundary value problem. The boundary conditions are given in two conical surfaces: one is the boundary of the piston, and the other is the shock whose location is to be determined later. In this paper, we are concerned with spherically symmetric piston problem for the relativistic Euler equations. A local shock front solution with the state equation p = a ² ρ, a is a constant and has been established by the Newton iteration. To overcome the difficulty caused by the free boundary, we introduce a coordinate transformation to fix it and employ the linear iteration scheme to establish a sequence of approximate solutions to the auxiliary problems by iteration. In each step, the value of the solution of the previous problem is taken as the data to determine the solution of the next problem. We obtain the existence of the original problem by establishing the convergence of these sequences. Meanwhile, we establish the convergence of the local solution as c → ∞ to the corresponding solution of the classical non-relativistic Euler equations.     

A two-phase method for selecting IMRT treatment beam angles: Branch-and-Prune and local neighborhood search

This paper presents a new two-phase solution approach to the beam angle and fluence map optimization problem in Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) planning. We introduce Branch-and-Prune (B&P) to generate a robust feasible solution in the first phase. A local neighborhood search algorithm is developed to find a local optimal solution from the Phase I starting point in the second phase. The goal of the first phase is to generate a clinically acceptable feasible solution in a fast manner based on a Branch-and-Bound tree. In this approach, a substantially reduced search tree is iteratively constructed. In each iteration, a merit score based branching rule is used to select a pool of promising child nodes. Then pruning rules are applied to select one child node as the branching node for the next iteration. The algorithm terminates when we obtain a desired number of angles in the current node. Although Phase I generates quality feasible solutions, it does not guarantee optimality. Therefore, the second phase is designed to converge Phase I starting solutions to local optimality. Our methods are tested on two sets of real patient data. Results show that not only can B&P alone generate clinically acceptable solutions, but the two-phase method consistently generates local optimal solutions, some of which are shown to be globally optimal.     

The approximate and exact solutions of the space- and time-fractional Burgers equations with initial conditions by variational iteration method

In this paper, a scheme is developed to study numerical solution of the space- and time-fractional Burgers equations with initial conditions by the variational iteration method (VIM). The exact and numerical solutions obtained by the variational iteration method are compared with that obtained by Adomian decomposition method (ADM). The results show that the variational iteration method is much easier, more convenient, and more stable and efficient than Adomian decomposition method. Numerical solutions are calculated for the fractional Burgers equation to show the nature of solution as the fractional derivative parameter is changed.     

Higher-order Lidstone boundary value problems for elliptic partial differential equations

The aim of this paper is to show the existence and uniqueness of a solution for a class of 2nth-order elliptic Lidstone boundary value problems where the nonlinear functions depend on the higher-order derivatives. Sufficient conditions are given for the existence and uniqueness of a solution. It is also shown that there exist two sequences which converge monotonically from above and below, respectively, to the unique solution. The approach to the problem is by the method of upper and lower solutions together with monotone iterative technique for nonquasimonotone functions. All the results are directly applicable to 2nth-order two-point Lidstone boundary value problems.     

Some analytic approximations for neutral stochastic functional differential equations

We consider an analytic iterative method to approximate the solution of a neutral stochastic functional differential equation. More precisely, we define a sequence of approximate equations and we give sufficient conditions under which the approximate solutions converge with probability one and in pth moment sense, p ? 2, to the solution of the initial equation. We introduce the notion of the Z-algorithm for this iterative method and present some examples to illustrate the theory. Especially, we point out that the well-known Picard method of iterations is a special Z-algorithm.     

An iteration regularization for a time-fractional inverse diffusion problem

In the present paper we consider a time-fractional inverse diffusion problem, where data is given at x = 1 and the solution is required in the interval 0 < x < 1. This problem is typically ill-posed: the solution (if it exists) does not depend continuously on the data. We give a new iteration regularization method to deal with this problem, and error estimates are obtained for a priori and a posteriori parameter choice rules, respectively. Furthermore, numerical implement shows the proposed method works effectively.     

Asymptotic behavior for nonlocal dispersal equations

This paper is concerned with the existence and asymptotic behavior of solutions of a nonlocal dispersal equation. By means of super-subsolution method and monotone iteration, we first study the existence and asymptotic behavior of solutions for a general nonlocal dispersal equation. Then, we apply these results to our equation and show that the nonnegative solution is unique, and the behavior of this solution depends on parameter λ in equation. For λ≤λ₁(Ω), the solution decays to zero as t→∞; while for λ>λ₁(Ω), the solution converges to the unique positive stationary solution as t→∞. In addition, we show that the solution blows up under some conditions.     

On approximate solution for operator equations of Hammerstein type

The aim of this paper is to investigate a method of approximating a solution of the operator equation of Hammerstein type x + KF(x) = f by solutions of similar finite-dimensional problems which contain operators better than K and F. Conditions of convergence and convergence rate are given and an iteration method to solve the approximative equation is proposed and applied to a concrete example.     

On the convergence of Newton's method when estimating higher dimensional parameters

In this paper, we consider the estimation of a parameter of interest where the estimator is one of the possibly several solutions of a set of nonlinear empirical equations. Since Newton's method is often used in such a setting to obtain a solution, it is important to know whether the so obtained iteration converges to the locally unique consistent root to the aforementioned parameter of interest. Under some conditions, we show that this is eventually the case when starting the iteration from within a ball about the true parameter whose size does not depend on n. Any preliminary almost surely consistent estimate will eventually lie in such a ball and therefore provides a suitable starting point for large enough n. As examples, we will apply our results in the context of M-estimates, kernel density estimates, as well as minimum distance estimates.     

On the values of continued fractions: q-series

Using the Poincaré-Perron theorem on the asymptotics of the solutions of linear recurrences it is proved that for a class of q-continued fractions the value of the continued fraction is given by a quotient of the solution and its q-shifted value of the corresponding q-functional equation.     

反向混合单调算子方程解的存在唯一性定理

运用锥与半序理论和非对称迭代方法,讨论半序Banach空间一类反向混合单调算子方程解的存在唯一性,并给出了迭代序列收敛于解的误差估计,作为其应用着重讨论了非反向混合单调算子方程解的存在唯一性,所得结果改进和推广了混合单调算子方程某些已知相应结果.     

Uniqueness theorem for integral equations and its application

This paper is devoted to answering a question asked recently by Y. Li regarding geometrically interesting integral equations. The main result is to give a necessary and sufficient condition on the parameters so that the integral equation with parameters to be discussed in this paper have regular solutions. In the case such condition is satisfied, we will write down the exact solution. As its application of our method, we should show that the non-existence theory of the solutions of prescribed scalar curvature equation on Sn can be generalized to that of prescribed Branson-Paneitz Q-curvature equations on Sn.     

A simple perturbation approach to Blasius equation

In this paper, we couple the iteration method with the perturbation method to solve the well-known Blasius equation. The obtained approximate analytic solutions are valid for the whole solution domain. Comparison with Howarth’s numerical solution reveals that the proposed method is of high accuracy, the first iteration step leads to 6.8% accuracy, and the second iteration step yields the 0.73% accuracy of initial slop.     

一类增算子不动点定理及其应用

利用锥理论和非对称迭代方法,讨论了不具有连续性和紧性条件的增算子方程解的存在唯一性.作为其应用着重讨论了非增算子方程解的存在唯一性,并给出了迭代序列收敛于解的误差估计,改进和推广了某些已知结果.     

Monotone iterations for numerical solutions of reaction-diffusion-convection equations with time delay

In this article we use the monotone method for the computation of numerical solutions of a nonlinear reaction-diffusion-convection problem with time delay. Three monotone iteration processes for a suitably formulated finite-difference system of the problem are presented. It is shown that the sequence of iteration from each of these iterative schemes converges from either above or below to a unique solution of the finite-difference system without any monotone condition on the nonlinear reaction function. An analytical comparison result among the three processes of iterations is given. Also given is the application of the iterative schemes to some model problems in population dynamics, including numerical results of a model problem with known analytical solution. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 14: 339–351, 1998     

kth Order convergence for a semilinear elliptic boundary value problem in the divergence form

The convergence problem of approximate solutions for a semilinear elliptic boundary value problem in the divergence form is studied. By employing the method of quasilinearization, a sequence of approximate solutions converging with the kth (k ? 2) order convergence to a weak solution for a semilinear elliptic problem is obtained via the variational approach.     

Traveling wavefronts in diffusive and cooperative Lotka-Volterra system with delays

Existence of traveling wave front solutions is established for diffusive and cooperative Lotka-Volterra system with delays. The result is an extension of an existing result for delayed logistic scaler equation to systems, and is somewhat parallel to the existing result for diffusive and competitive Lotka-Volterra systems without delay. The approach used in this paper is the upper-lower solution technique and the monotone iteration recently developed by Wu and Zou (J. Dynam. Differential Equations 13 (2001) 651-687) for delayed reaction-diffusion systems without the so-called quasimonotonicity.     

Wave propagation in RTD-based cellular neural networks

This work investigates the existence of monotonic traveling wave and standing wave solutions of RTD-based cellular neural networks in the one-dimensional integer lattice . For nonzero wave speed c, applying the monotone iteration method with the aid of real roots of the corresponding characteristic function of the profile equation, we can partition the parameter space (γ,δ)-plane into four regions such that all the admissible monotonic traveling wave solutions connecting two neighboring equilibria can be classified completely. For the case of c=0, a discrete version of the monotone iteration scheme is established for proving the existence of monotonic standing wave solutions. Furthermore, if γ or δ is zero then the profile equation for the standing waves can be viewed as an one-dimensional iteration map and we then prove the multiplicity results of monotonic standing waves by using the techniques of dynamical systems for maps. Some numerical results of the monotone iteration scheme for traveling wave solutions are also presented.