Written in easy to understand language, this self-explanatory guide introduces the fundamentals of finite element methods and its application to differential equations. Beginning with a brief introduction to Sobolev spaces and elliptic scalar problems, the text progresses through an explanation of finite element spaces and estimates for the interpolation error. The concepts of finite element methods for parabolic scalar parabolic problems, object-oriented finite element algorithms, efficient implementation techniques, and high dimensional parabolic problems are presented in different chapters. Recent advances in finite element methods, including non-conforming finite elements for boundary value problems of higher order and approaches for solving differential equations in high dimensional domains are explained for the benefit of the reader. Numerous solved examples and mathematical theorems are interspersed throughout the text for enhanced learning.

The analysis of singular perturbed di?erential equations began early in the twentieth century, when approximate solutions were constructed from asy- totic expansions. (Preliminary attempts appear in the nineteenth century - see[vD94].)Thistechniquehas?ourishedsincethemid-1960sanditsprincipal ideas and methods are described in several textbooks; nevertheless, asy- totic expansions may be impossible to construct or may fail to simplify the given problem and then numerical approximations are often the only option. Thesystematicstudyofnumericalmethodsforsingularperturbationpr- lems started somewhat later - in the 1970s. From this time onwards the - search frontier has steadily expanded, but the exposition of new developments in the analysis of these numerical methods has not received its due attention. The ?rst textbook that concentrated on this analysis was [DMS80], which collected various results for ordinary di?erential equations. But after 1980 no further textbook appeared until 1996, when three books were published: Miller et al. [MOS96], which specializes in upwind ?nite di?erence methods on Shishkin meshes, Morton's book [Mor96], which is a general introduction to numerical methods for convection-di? usion problems with an emphasis on the cell-vertex ?nite volume method, and [RST96], the ?rst edition of the present book. Nevertheless many methods and techniques that are important today, especially for partial di?erential equations, were developed after 1996.

The analysis of singular perturbed di?erential equations began early in the twentieth century, when approximate solutions were constructed from asy- totic expansions. (Preliminary attempts appear in the nineteenth century - see[vD94].)Thistechniquehas?ourishedsincethemid-1960sanditsprincipal ideas and methods are described in several textbooks; nevertheless, asy- totic expansions may be impossible to construct or may fail to simplify the given problem and then numerical approximations are often the only option. Thesystematicstudyofnumericalmethodsforsingularperturbationpr- lems started somewhat later - in the 1970s. From this time onwards the - search frontier has steadily expanded, but the exposition of new developments in the analysis of these numerical methods has not received its due attention. The ?rst textbook that concentrated on this analysis was [DMS80], which collected various results for ordinary di?erential equations. But after 1980 no further textbook appeared until 1996, when three books were published: Miller et al. [MOS96], which specializes in upwind ?nite di?erence methods on Shishkin meshes, Morton's book [Mor96], which is a general introduction to numerical methods for convection-di? usion problems with an emphasis on the cell-vertex ?nite volume method, and [RST96], the ?rst edition of the present book. Nevertheless many methods and techniques that are important today, especially for partial di?erential equations, were developed after 1996.

Numerische Mathematik ist ein zentrales Gebiet der Mathematik, das f r vielf ltige Anwendungen die Grundlage bildet und das alle Studierenden der Mathematik, Ingenieurwissenschaften, Informatik und Physik kennenlernen.
Das vorliegende Lehrbuch ist eine didaktisch exzellente, besonders sorgf ltig ausgearbeitete Einf hrung f r Anf nger. Eines der Ziele dieses Buches ist es, die mathematischen Grundlagen der numerischen Methoden zu liefern, ihre grundlegenden theoretischen Eigenschaften (Stabilit t, Genauigkeit, Komplexit t)zu analysieren, und ihre Leistungsf higkeit an Beispielen und Gegenbeispielen mittels MATLAB zu demonstrieren. Die besondere Sorgfalt, die den Anwendungen und betreffenden Softwareentwicklungen gewidmet wurde, macht das vorliegende Werk auch f r Studenten mit abgeschlossenem Studium, Wissenschaftler und Anwender des wissenschaftlichen Rechnens in vielen Berufsfeldern zu einem unverzichtbaren Arbeitsmittel. Inhalt von Band 2 siehe ToC.