Using triangular orthogonal functions for solving Fredholm integral equations of the second kind

The present work proposes a method for solving Fredholm integral equations. This is demonstrated by using a complementary pair of orthogonal triangular functions set derived from the well-known block pulse functions set. The operational matrices for integration, product of two triangular functions and some formulas for calculating definite integral of them are derived and utilized to reduce the solution of Fredholm integral equation to the solution of algebraic equations. Illustrative examples are included to show the high accuracy of the estimation, and to demonstrate validity and applicability of the method. (c) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.