Basic approximation and numerical methods

Abstract

There exists such a vast literature on the subjects of approximation and numerical methods that it is only possible to include a very small portion in this book. The contents of this chapter will be concerned with only some of the techniques which will be found most useful in applications to device modelling. Later, some sections of programme code written in the C programming language (with a small subset of C++) are given to illustrate the theory, and Sect. 7.1 contains an explanation of some aspects of this language for readers whose first programming language is not C. Later sections cover finite differences, solution of simultaneous equations, time discretisation, phase plane methods, and other techniques which will be useful specifically for device modelling.