Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations

This is a book about numerically solving partial differential equations occurring in technical and physical contexts and we (the authors) have set ourselves a more ambitious target than to just talk about the numerics. Our aim is to show the place of numerical solutions in the general modeling process and this must inevitably lead to considerations about modeling itself. Partial differential equations usually are a consequence of applying first principles to a technical or physical problem at hand. That means, that most of the time the physics also have to be taken into account especially for validation of the numerical solution obtained. This book in other words is especially aimed at engineers and scientists who have ‘real world’ problems and it will concern itself less with pesky mathematical detail. For the interested reader though, we have included sections on mathematical theory to provide the necessary mathematical background.