Singular boundary value problems for ODEs

This paper is concerned with the numerical solution of a system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs), y' = Sy/t + f (t, y, p), on an interval [0, b] subject to boundary conditions 0 = g(y(0),y(b),p). The ODEs have a coefficient that is singular at t = 0, but it is assumed that the boundary value problem (BVP) has a smooth solution. Some popular methods for BVPs evaluate the ODEs at t = 0. This paper deals with the practical issues of solving this class of singular BVPs with such a method. The bvp4c solver Of MATLAB has been modified accordingly so that it can solve a class of singular BVPs as effectively as it previously solved non-singular BVPs. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.