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Published: 1997

Total Pages: 24

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The major thrust of this proposal was to continue our investigations of so-called non-standard finite-difference schemes as formulated by other authors. These schemes do not follow the standard rules used to model continuous differential equations by discrete difference equations. The two major aspects of this procedure consist of generalizing the definition of the discrete derivative and using a nonlocal model (on the computational grid or lattice) for nonlinear terms that may occur in the differential equations. Our aim was to investigate the construction of nonstandard finite-difference schemes for several classes of ordinary and partial differential equations. These equations are simple enough to be tractable, yet, have enough complexity to be both mathematically and scientifically interesting. It should be noted that all of these equations differential equations model some physical phenomena under an appropriate set of experimental conditions. The major goal of the project was to better understand the process of constructing finite-difference models for differential equations. In particular, it demonstrates the value of using nonstandard finite-difference procedures. A secondary goal was to construct and study a variety of analytical techniques that can be used to investigate the mathematical properties of the obtained difference equations. These mathematical procedures are of interest in their own right and should be a valuable contribution to the mathematics research literature in difference equations. All of the results obtained from the research done under this project have been published in the relevant research/technical journals or submitted for publication. Our expectation is that these results will lead to improved finite difference schemes for the numerical integration of both ordinary and partial differential equations. Section G of the Appendix gives a concise summary of the major results obtained under funding by the grant.