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Full-Text Articles in Mathematics
When A Mechanical Model Goes Nonlinear, Lisa D. Humphreys, P. J. Mckenna
When A Mechanical Model Goes Nonlinear, Lisa D. Humphreys, P. J. Mckenna
Faculty Publications
This paper had its origin in a curious discovery by the first author in research performed with an undergraduate student. The following odd fact was noticed: when a mechanical model of a suspension bridge (linear near equilibrium but allowed to slacken at large distance in one direction) is shaken with a low-frequency periodic force, several different periodic responses can result, many with high-frequency components.
Pursuing Analogies Between Differential Equations And Difference Equations, David L. Abrahamson
Pursuing Analogies Between Differential Equations And Difference Equations, David L. Abrahamson
Faculty Publications
The study of ordinary differential equations has long been a staple in mathematics at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Recently, instruction in the study of difference equations has widened, primarily due to the expanded role of the digital computer in mathematics. The two topics are inextricably linked at all levels, from elementary techniques through current research questions. Pursuing the analogies between these fields of study can only deepen the understanding of each. In particular, the study of many elementary topics in difference equations, requiring not even the use of calculus, can serve as a founda- tion for intuition and …