A Numerical Method for Weakly Singular Nonlinear Volterra Integral Equations of the Second Kind

Abstract

This paper presents a numerical iterative method for the approximate solutions of nonlinear Volterra integral equations of the second kind, with weakly singular kernels. We derive conditions so that a unique solution of such equations exists, as the unique fixed point of an integral operator. Iterative application of that operator to an initial function yields a sequence of functions converging to the true solution. Finally, an appropriate numerical integration scheme (a certain type of product integration) is used to produce the approximations of the solution at given nodes. The resulting procedure is a numerical method that is more practical and accessible than the classical approximation techniques. We prove the convergence of the method and give error estimates. The proposed method is applied to some numerical examples, which are discussed in detail. The numerical approximations thus obtained confirm the theoretical results and the predicted error estimates. In the end, we discuss the method, drawing conclusions about its applicability and outlining future possible research ideas in the same area.