Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2006

Publication Source

The Rocky Mountain Journal of Mathematics

Abstract

Calculus on time scales plays a crucial role in unifying the continuous and discrete calculus. In this paper, we apply the time scales calculus methods to study qualitatively properties of the numerical solution of second order ordinary differential equations via different finite difference schemes. The properties become particularly interesting in the case when the computational grids are nonuniform, on which the finite difference operators do not commute. To investigate the solution properties, we introduce the graininess function, and express the numerical solution as functions of the variable grid steps, that is, functions of the graininess and its dynamic derivatives implemented by using the time scales analysis. It is found in the study that a linear combination of the consecutive numerical solutions following the pattern of the nonuniform grid used may improve the accuracy of the numerical solution. We validate our results with several constructive computational experiments.

Inclusive pages

115-133

ISBN/ISSN

0035-7596

Document Version

Published Version

Comments

This document is made available in compliance with the publisher's policy on self-archiving or with the express permission of the publisher. Permission documentation is on file.

Volume

36

Issue

1

Peer Reviewed

yes

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