Wazwaz Integral Equations: Section 3.2.

3 - Exercise 12 Page 1 of 1

Exercise 12
Use the noise terms phenomenon to solve the following Volterra integral equations:
ˆ x
2
u(x) = −x + tan x + tan x − u(t) dt
0

Solution

Assume that u(x) can be decomposed into an infinite number of components.

∞
X
u(x) = un (x)
n=0

Substitute this series into the integral equation.

∞
X ˆ ∞
xX
2
un (x) = −x + tan x + tan x − un (t) dt
n=0 0
ˆ x n=0
u0 (x) + u1 (x) + u2 (x) + · · · = −x + tan x + tan2 x − [u0 (t) + u1 (t) + · · · ] dt
ˆ 0x ˆ x
u0 (x) + u1 (x) + u2 (x) + · · · = −x + tan x + tan2 x + [−u0 (t)] dt + [−u1 (t)] dt + · · ·
|0 } |0
| {z }
u0 (x) {z {z }
u1 (x) u2 (x)

If we set u0 (x) equal to the function outside the integral, then the rest of the components can be
deduced in a recursive manner.

u0 (x) = −x + tan x + tan2 x

ˆ x ˆ x
1
−t + tan t + sec2 t − 1 dt = x + x2 + ln |cos x| − tan x


u1 (x) = [−u0 (t)] dt = −
0 0 2
..
.

The noise terms, ∓x and ± tan x, appear in both u0 (x) and u1 (x). Cancelling −x and tan x from
u0 (x) leaves tan2 x. Now we check to see whether u(x) = tan2 x satisfies the integral equation.
ˆ x
2 ? 2
tan x = −x + tan x + tan x − tan2 t dt
0
2 ?
tan x = −
x +X
tan
XXx + tan2 x − (X
tan
XXx −
x)
tan2 x = tan2 x

Therefore,
u(x) = tan2 x.

www.stemjock.com