Although there are many variations of finite-difference methods of obtaining approximate numerical solutions to ordinary differential equations they share the common feature that they tend to treat an equation of a given type as a standard problem and take no account of any special characteristics the wanted solution may have. We here suggest an alternative procedure when the wanted solution exhibits exponential characteristics. In essence the idea is that if a differential equation has an exponential type solution y(x) it is useful to solve numerically, instead of the equation for y, the equation for u = logey. The error-building and stability characteristics are then those of u rather than y and consequently the accuracy of the solutions may be improved. Although there is nothing basically new in this, of course, the point that we demonstrate is that the differential equation in y can be solved numerically in such a manner that the transformation from y to u is not actually carried out, i.e. we retain the original dependent variable but take account of the exponential variation by modifying the integration formula. Consider for example, in the usual notation, the first-order equationwith a given initial condition y(x0) = y0. If x0, x1, …, xr, xn is a set of pivotal values of x;, usually assumed equally spaced so that xr+1 − xr = h, the usual approach replaces (1) by the formulawhich, once the integral is expressed in terms of pivotal values of f using a difference series, represents a step-by-step formula for constructing successive values of y.
On a Differential Equation and the Construction of Milner's Lamp
