Introduction

Abstract

The material in this book originated from attempts to understand and systemize numerical solution techniques for the partial differential equations governing the physics of fluid flow. As time went on and these attempts began to crystallize, underlying constraints on the nature of the material began to form. The principal such constraint was the demand for unification. Was there one mathematical structure which could be used to describe the behavior and results of most numerical methods in common use in the field of fluid dynamics? Perhaps the answer is arguable, but the authors believe the answer is affirmative and present this book as justification for that belief. The mathematical structure is the theory of linear algebra and the attendant eigenanalysis of linear systems.