Solution techniques of partial differential equations

Abstract

Abstract We saw in the previous chapter that the motion of a fluid particle can be described by partial differential equations. In the study of potential wave theory, partial differential equations play a central role. We have seen, for example, how the velocity potential and the stream function, in fluid flow, are described by Laplace’s equation. In the following chapters the main topics will be gravity waves and tidal waves. Here again, the physics of the problems will be described by a set of partial differential equations. Thus, for the proper study of the above phenomena, it is imperative that we master the solution techniques of partial differential equations.