Differential problems with the Riesz derivative in space are widely used to model anomalous diffusion. Although the Riesz–Caputo derivative is more suitable for modeling real phenomena, there are few examples in literature where numerical methods are used to solve such differential problems. In this paper, we propose to approximate the Riesz–Caputo derivative of a given function with a cubic spline. As far as we are aware, this is the first time that cubic splines have been used in the context of the Riesz–Caputo derivative. To show the effectiveness of the proposed numerical method, we present numerical tests in which we compare the analytical solution of several boundary differential problems which have the Riesz–Caputo derivative in space with the numerical solution we obtain by a spline collocation method. The numerical results show that the proposed method is efficient and accurate.

Wavelet expansions are a powerful tool for constructing adaptive approximations. For this reason, they find applications in a variety of fields, from signal processing to approximation theory. Wavelets are usually derived from refinable functions, which are the solution of a recursive functional equation called the refinement equation. The analytical expression of refinable functions is known in only a few cases, so if we need to evaluate refinable functions we can make use only of the refinement equation. This is also true for the evaluation of their derivatives and integrals. In this paper, we detail a procedure for computing integrals of wavelet products exactly, up to machine precision. The efficient and accurate evaluation of these integrals is particularly required for the computation of the connection coefficients in the wavelet Galerkin method. We show the effectiveness of the procedure by evaluating the integrals of pseudo-splines.

Numerical simulations with rigid particles, drops, or vesicles constitute some examples that involve 3D objects with spherical topology. When the numerical method is based on boundary integral equations, the error in using a regular quadrature rule to approximate the layer potentials that appear in the formulation will increase rapidly as the evaluation point approaches the surface and the integrand becomes sharply peaked. To determine when the accuracy becomes insufficient, and a more costly special quadrature method should be used, error estimates are needed. In this paper, we present quadrature error estimates for layer potentials evaluated near surfaces of genus 0, parametrized using a polar and an azimuthal angle, discretized by a combination of the Gauss-Legendre and the trapezoidal quadrature rules. The error estimates involve no unknown coefficients, but complex-valued roots of a specified distance function. The evaluation of the error estimates in general requires a one-dimensional local root-finding procedure, but for specific geometries, we obtain analytical results. Based on these explicit solutions, we derive simplified error estimates for layer potentials evaluated near spheres; these simple formulas depend only on the distance from the surface, the radius of the sphere, and the number of discretization points. The usefulness of these error estimates is illustrated with numerical examples.

Numerical simulations with rigid particles, drops or vesicles constitute some examples that involve 3D objects with spherical topology. When the numerical method is based on boundary integral equations, the error in using a regular quadrature rule to approximate the layer potentials that appear in the formulation will increase rapidly as the evaluation point approaches the surface and the integrand becomes sharply peaked. To determine when the accuracy becomes insufficient, and a more costly special quadrature method should be used, error estimates are needed. In this paper we present quadrature error estimates for layer potentials evaluated near surfaces of genus 0, parametrized using a polar and an azimuthal angle, discretized by a combination of the Gauss-Legendre and the trapezoidal quadrature rules. The error estimates involve no unknown coefficients, but complex valued roots of a specified distance function. The evaluation of the error estimates in general requires a one dimensional local root-finding procedure, but for specific geometries we obtain analytical results. Based on these explicit solutions, we derive simplified error estimates for layer potentials evaluated near spheres; these simple formulas depend only on the distance from the surface, the radius of the sphere and the number of discretization points. The usefulness of these error estimates is illustrated with numerical examples.