Similarities, differences, advantages and limitations of perturbation techniques are pointed out concisely. The techniques are described by means of examples that consist mainly of algebraic and ordinary differential equations. Each chapter contains a number of exercises.

This introductory graduate text is based on a graduate course the author has taught repeatedly over the last ten years to students in applied mathematics, engineering sciences, and physics. Each chapter begins with an introductory development involving ordinary differential equations, and goes on to cover such traditional topics as boundary layers and multiple scales. However, it also contains material arising from current research interest, including homogenisation, slender body theory, symbolic computing, and discrete equations. Many of the excellent exercises are derived from problems of up-to-date research and are drawn from a wide range of application areas.

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Perturbation theory is a powerful tool for solving a wide variety of problems in applied mathematics, a tool particularly useful in quantum mechanics and chemistry. Although most books on these subjects include a section offering an overview of perturbation theory, few, if any, take a practical approach that addresses its actual implementation

Perturbations: Theory and Methods gives a thorough introduction to both regular and singular perturbation methods for algebraic and differential equations. Unlike most introductory books on the subject, this one distinguishes between formal and rigorous asymptotic validity, which are commonly confused in books that treat perturbation theory as a bag of heuristic tricks with no foundation. The meaning of "uniformity" is carefully explained in a variety of contexts. All standard methods, such as rescaling, multiple scales, averaging, matching, and the WKB method are covered, and the asymptotic validity (in the rigorous sense) of each method is carefully proved. First published in 1991, this book is still useful today because it is an introduction. It combines perturbation results with those known through other methods. Sometimes a geometrical result (such as the existence of a periodic solution) is rigorously deduced from a perturbation result, and at other times a knowledge of the geometry of the solutions is used to aid in the selection of an effective perturbation method. Dr. Murdock's approach differs from other introductory texts because he attempts to present perturbation theory as a natural part of a larger whole, the mathematical theory of differential equations. He explores the meaning of the results and their connections to other ways of studying the same problems.

Undergraduates in engineering and the physical sciences receive a thorough introduction to perturbation theory in this useful and accessible text. Students discover methods for obtaining an approximate solution of a mathematical problem by exploiting the presence of a small, dimensionless parameter — the smaller the parameter, the more accurate the approximate solution. Knowledge of perturbation theory offers a twofold benefit: approximate solutions often reveal the exact solution's essential dependence on specified parameters; also, some problems resistant to numerical solutions may yield to perturbation methods. In fact, numerical and perturbation methods can be combined in a complementary way. The text opens with a well-defined treatment of finding the roots of polynomials whose coefficients contain a small parameter. Proceeding to differential equations, the authors explain many techniques for handling perturbations that reorder the equations or involve an unbounded independent variable. Two disparate practical problems that can be solved efficiently with perturbation methods conclude the volume. Written in an informal style that moves from specific examples to general principles, this elementary text emphasizes the "why" along with the "how"; prerequisites include a knowledge of one-variable calculus and ordinary differential equations. This newly revised second edition features an additional appendix concerning the approximate evaluation of integrals.

Graduate students receive a stimulating introduction to analytical approximation techniques for solving differential equations in this text, which introduces scientifically significant problems and indicates useful solutions. 1966 edition.