The most basic type of integral equation is called a Fredholm equation of the first type, The notation follows Arfken. Here is an unknown function, is a known function, and is another known function of two variables, often called the kernel function. Note that the limits of integration are constant: this is what characterizes a Fredholm equation. If the unknown function occurs both inside and outside of the integral, the equation is known as a Fredholm equation of the second type, The parameter is an unknown factor, which plays the same role as the eigenvalue in linear algebra. If one limit of integration is a variable, the equation is called a Volterra equation. The following are called Volterra equations of the first and second types, respectively, In all of the above, if the known function is identically zero, the equation is called a homogeneous integral equation. If is nonzero, it is called an inhomogeneous integral equation.
Numerical solution
It is worth noting that integral equations often do not have an analytical solution, and must be solved numerically. An example of this is evaluating the Electric-Field Integral Equation or Magnetic-Field Integral Equation over an arbitrarily shaped object in an electromagnetic scattering problem. One method to solve numerically requires discretizing variables and replacing integral by a quadrature rule Then we have a system with equations and variables. By solving it we get the value of the variables
Classification
Integral equations are classified according to three different dichotomies, creating eight different kinds: ;Limits of integration
both fixed: Fredholm equation
one variable: Volterra equation
;Placement of unknown function
only inside integral: first kind
both inside and outside integral: second kind
;Nature of known function
identically zero: homogeneous
not identically zero: inhomogeneous
Integral equations are important in many applications. Problems in which integral equations are encountered include radiative transfer, and the oscillation of a string, membrane, or axle. Oscillation problems may also be solved as differential equations. Both Fredholm and Volterra equations are linear integral equations, due to the linear behaviour of under the integral. A nonlinear Volterra integral equation has the general form: where is a known function.
Wiener–Hopf integral equations
Originally, such equations were studied in connection with problems in radiative transfer, and more recently, they have been related to the solution of boundary integral equations for planar problems in which the boundary is only piecewise smooth.
In many cases, if the Kernel of the integral equation is of the form and the Mellin transform of exists, we can find the solution of the integral equation in the form of a power series where are the -transform of the function, and is the Mellin transform of the Kernel.
Certain homogeneous linear integral equations can be viewed as the continuum limit of eigenvalue equations. Using index notation, an eigenvalue equation can be written as where is a matrix, is one of its eigenvectors, and is the associated eigenvalue. Taking the continuum limit, i.e., replacing the discrete indices and with continuous variables and, yields where the sum over has been replaced by an integral over and the matrix and the vector have been replaced by the kernel and the eigenfunction. This gives a linear homogeneous Fredholm equation of the second type. In general, can be a distribution, rather than a function in the strict sense. If the distribution has support only at the point, then the integral equation reduces to a differential eigenfunction equation. In general, Volterra and Fredholm integral equations can arise from a single differential equation, depending on which sort of conditions are applied at the boundary of the domain of its solution.
