Explanation
Boundary value problems are similar to initial value problems. A boundary value problem has conditions specified at the extremes ("boundaries") of the independent variable in the equation whereas an initial value problem has all of the conditions specified at the same value of the independent variable (and that value is at the lower boundary of the domain, thus the term "initial" value).
For example, if the independent variable is time over the domain, a boundary value problem would specify values for at both and, whereas an initial value problem would specify a value of and at time .
Finding the temperature at all points of an iron bar with one end kept at absolute zero and the other end at the freezing point of water would be a boundary value problem.
If the problem is dependent on both space and time, one could specify the value of the problem at a given point for all time the data or at a given time for all space.
Concretely, an example of a boundary value (in one spatial dimension) is the problem
to be solved for the unknown function with the boundary conditions
Without the boundary conditions, the general solution to this equation is
From the boundary condition one obtains
which implies that From the boundary condition one finds
and so One sees that imposing boundary conditions allowed one to determine a unique solution, which in this case is
Read more about this topic: Boundary Value Problem
Famous quotes containing the word explanation:
“My companion assumes to know my mood and habit of thought, and we go on from explanation to explanation, until all is said that words can, and we leave matters just as they were at first, because of that vicious assumption.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The explanation of the propensity of the English people to portrait painting is to be found in their relish for a Fact. Let a man do the grandest things, fight the greatest battles, or be distinguished by the most brilliant personal heroism, yet the English people would prefer his portrait to a painting of the great deed. The likeness they can judge of; his existence is a Fact. But the truth of the picture of his deeds they cannot judge of, for they have no imagination.”
—Benjamin Haydon (1786–1846)
“There is a great deal of unmapped country within us which would have to be taken into account in an explanation of our gusts and storms.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)