Physics Letters A 365 (2007) 439447 www.elsevier.

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Solutions of a class of singular second-order IVPs by homotopy-perturbation method

M.S.H. Chowdhury, I. Hashim
School of Mathematical Sciences, National University of Malaysia, 43600 Bangi Selangor, Malaysia Received 5 December 2006; received in revised form 30 January 2007; accepted 2 February 2007 Available online 8 February 2007 Communicated by A.R. Bishop

Abstract In this Letter, solutions of a class of singular initial value problems (IVPs) in the second-order ordinary differential equations (ODEs) by homotopy-perturbation method (HPM) are presented. HPM yields solutions in convergent series forms with easily computable terms, and in some cases, yields exact solutions in one iteration. Comparisons with the exact solutions and the solutions obtained by the decomposition method show the potential of HPM in solving singular problems. 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Homotopy-perturbation method; LaneEmden equation; Singular IVPs

1. Introduction Many problems in mathematical physics and astrophysics can be modelled by the so-called initial value problems (IVPs) of LaneEmden-type equation, cf. [1,2], 2 y + y + f (y) = 0, x subject to the conditions y(0) = A, 0<x 1, (1)

y (0) = B,

(2)

where A and B are constants and f (y) is a real-valued continuous function. Eq. (1) with specied f (y) was used to model several phenomena in mathematical physics and astrophysics such as the theory of stellar structure, the thermal behavior of a spherical cloud of gas, isothermal gas sphere and theory of thermionic currents [13]. Another important class of singular IVPs of the LaneEmden type is 2 y + y + f (x, y) = g(x), 0 < x 1, (3) x subject to condition (2), where f (x, y) is a continuous real-valued function and g C[0, 1]. The approximate solutions to the above problems were presented by Shawagfeh [4] and Wazwaz [57] using the Adomian decomposition method (ADM) [8]. Sometimes it is a very intricate problem to calculate the so-called Adomian polynomials involved in ADM. Another powerful and more convenient analytical technique, called the homotopy-perturbation method (HPM), was rst developed by He [9]. Some of his work on HPM can be found in [1016]. Further applications of HPM have been presented in
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +603 8921 5758; fax: +603 8925 4519.

E-mail address: ishak_h@ukm.my (I. Hashim). 0375-9601/$ see front matter 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.physleta.2007.02.002

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[1727]. Very recently, some attractive results have been obtained applying this method for solving various nonlinear problems [21,2830]. In this Letter, we apply the HPM to obtain exact and approximate analytical solutions of the LaneEmden-type equations. Comparisons with the exact solutions and the solutions obtained by the decomposition method [4,5] shall be made. 2. Basic ideas of HPM To illustrate the basic ideas of this method, we consider the following general nonlinear differential equation: A(y) f (r) = 0, with boundary conditions B(y, y/n) = 0, r , (5) r , (4)

where A is a general differential operator, B ia a boundary operator, f (r) is a known analytic function, and is the boundary of the domain . The operator A can be generally divided into two parts L and N , where L is linear, while N is nonlinear. Therefore Eq. (4) can be written as follows: L(y) + N(y) f (r) = 0. We construct a homotopy of Eq. (4) y(r, p) : [0, 1] which satises p [0, 1], r , (7) (6)

H (y, p) = (1 p) L(y) + L(y0 ) + p A(y) f (r) = 0, which is equivalent to H (y, p) = L(y) L(y0 ) + pL(y0 ) + p N (y) f (r) = 0,

(8)

where p [0, 1] is an embedding parameter and y0 is an initial approximation which satises the initial conditions. It follows from Eqs. (7) and (8) that H (y, 0) = L(y) L(y0 ) = 0 and H (y, 1) = A(y) f (r) = 0. (9)

Thus, the changing process of p from 0 to 1 is just that of y(r, p) from y0 (r) to y(r). In topology this is called deformation and L(y) L(y0 ) and A(y) f (r) are called homotopic. Here the embedding parameter is introduced much more naturally, unaffected by articial factors; further it can be considered as a small parameter for 0 p 1. So it is very natural to assume that the solution of (7) and (8) can be expressed as y(x) = u0 (x) + pu1 (x) + p 2 u2 (x) + . According to HPM, the approximate solution of Eq. (4) can be expressed as a series of the power of p, i.e., y = lim y = u0 + u1 + u2 + .
p1

(10)

(11)

The convergence of series (11) has been proved by He in his paper [9]. 3. Applications of HPM In order to assess both the applicability and the accuracy of HPM, we apply HPM to several singular LaneEmden equations as indicated in the following examples. We shall consider both linear and nonlinear problems separately. 3.1. Linear problems 3.1.1. Problem 1 First we consider the following linear, homogeneous LaneEmden equation, 2 y + y 2 2x 2 + 3 y = 0, x subject to the initial conditions y(0) = 1, y (0) = 0. (12)

(13)

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Formally in HPM, we construct a homotopy y(r, p) : [0, 1]

which satises (14)

2 2 2 y + y 6 + 4x 2 y y0 y0 + 6 + 4x 2 y0 + p y0 + y0 6 + 4x 2 y0 = 0. x x x Suppose the solution of (12) has the form, y(x) = u0 (x) + pu1 (x) + p 2 u2 (x) + . Substituting (15) into (14) and collecting terms with the same powers of p gives 2 2 u0 + u0 y0 y0 6 + 4x 2 u0 + 6 + 4x 2 y0 = 0, x x 2 2 u1 + u1 + y0 + y0 6 + 4x 2 u1 6 + 4x 2 y0 = 0, x x 2 u2 + u2 6 + 4x 2 u2 = 0, u2 (0) = 0, u2 (0) = 0, x 2 u3 + u3 6 + 4x 2 u3 = 0, u3 (0) = 0, u3 (0) = 0. x u0 (0) = 1, u0 (0) = 0, u1 (0) = 0, u1 (0) = 0,

(15)

(16) (17) (18) (19)

Solving system (16)(19) with the initial approximation y0 (x) = 1 we have, u0 (x) = 1, u1 (x) = ex 1,
2

u2 (x) = 0,

u3 (x) = 0,

....

(20)

Hence the exact solution of (12)(13) is obtained in one iteration only, cf. [31], y(x) = ex . 3.1.2. Problem 2 Now consider the linear, nonhomogeneous LaneEmden equation, 2 y + y + y = 6 + 12x + x 2 + x 3 , x subject to the initial conditions y(0) = 0, y (0) = 0. which satises (24) (23) (22)
2

(21)

According to the HPM, we now construct a homotopy y(r, p) : [0, 1]

2 2 2 y + y + y y0 y0 y0 + p y0 + y0 + y0 6 12x x 2 x 3 = 0. x x x By applying the standard procedures of HPM and assuming the initial approximation y0 (x) = 0, we have 2 2 u0 + u0 y0 y0 + u0 y0 = 0, u0 (0) = 0, u0 (0) = 0, x x 2 2 u1 + u1 + y0 + y0 + u1 + y0 6 12x x 2 x 3 = 0, u1 (0) = 0, u1 (0) = 0, x x 2 u2 + u2 + u2 = 0, u2 (0) = 0, u2 (0) = 0, x 2 u3 + u3 + u3 = 0, u3 (0) = 0, u3 (0) = 0. x Solving system (25)(28) we have, u0 (x) = 0, u1 (x) = x 2 (1 + x), u2 (x) = 0, u3 (x) = 0.

(25) (26) (27) (28)

(29)

Again, in this case we obtain the exact solution [31] in one iteration only, y(x) = x 2 + x 3 . (30)

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3.2. Nonlinear problems 3.2.1. LaneEmden equation of index n The rst nonlinear problem we shall consider is the LaneEmden equation of index n, 2 y + y + y n = 0, x subject to the conditions y(0) = 1, y (0) = 0, (32) 0<x 1, (31)

where y is the function of x and for physical interest the polytropic index n lies between 0 and 5, cf. [2,4,5]. The LaneEmden equation of index n is a basic equation in the theory of stellar structure [4]. The thermal behavior of a spherical cloud of gas acting under the mutual attraction of its molecules and subject to the classical laws of thermodynamics is modelled by the well known LaneEmden equation. Unfortunately, analytical solutions to (31)(32) in closed form are possible only for values of the polytropic index n = 0, 1 and 5. For other values of n between 0 and 5 only numerical solutions are available in the literature. Notice that Eq. (31) is linear for n = 0 and 1, and nonlinear otherwise. According to the HPM, we now construct a homotopy v(y, p) : [0, 1] which satises the following equation: 2 2 2 y + y y0 y0 + p y0 + y0 + y n = 0. x x x By the same manipulations as in the previous examples and by assuming the initial approximation y0 (x) = 1, we have 2 2 u0 + u0 y0 y0 = 0, u0 (0) = 1, u0 (0) = 0, x x 2 2 u1 + u1 + y0 + y0 + un = 0, u1 (0) = 0, u1 (0) = 0, 0 x x 2 u2 + u2 + nu1 un1 = 0, u2 (0) = 0, u2 (0) = 0, 0 x 2 n(n 1) n2 2 u0 u1 = 0, u3 (0) = 0, u3 (0) = 0. u3 + u3 + nu2 un1 + 0 x 2 Solving system (34)(37) we have, u0 (x) = 1, u1 (x) = 1 2 x , 6 u2 (x) = 1 nx 4 , 120 u3 (x) = 1 n(8n 5)x 6 . 15120 (38) (34) (35) (36) (37) (33)

Hence the solution of (31)(32) in series form is given by 1 1 1 nx 4 n(8n 5)x 6 + , y(x) = 1 x 2 + 6 120 15120 (39)

which is in full agreement with exact solutions y(x) = 1 x 2 /3! and y(x) = sin x/x in the cases n = 0 and 1, respectively. In Table 1 we present the difference between the four-term HPM and the exact solutions in the case n = 5. Obviously, increasing the number of terms in series solution (39) yields more accurate solution.
Table 1 Absolute errors between the exact and 4-term HPM solutions in the case n = 5 x 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 Abs. error 1.000E-16 3.366E-11 8.540E-09 2.157E-07 2.111E-06 1.227E-05 5.118E-05 1.697E-04 4.754E-04 1.170E-03 2.599E-03

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3.2.2. General white-dwarf equation The gravitational potential of the degenerate white-dwarf stars can be modelled by the so-called white-dwarf equation [1], 2 y + y + y2 c x subject to the conditions y(0) = 1, y (0) = 0. which satises the following equation: (42) (41)
3/2

= 0,

(40)

If c = 0, Eq. (40) reduces to the LaneEmden equation of index n = 3. According to the HPM, we now construct a homotopy v(y, p) : [0, 1] 2 2 2 y + y y0 y0 + p y0 + y0 + y 2 c x x x
3/2

= 0.

By applying the standard procedures of HPM and assuming the initial approximation y0 (x) = 1, we have 2 2 u0 + u0 y0 y0 = 0, u0 (0) = 1, u0 (0) = 0, x x 2 2 3 3 2 u1 + u1 + y0 + y0 + u3 cu0 + c = 0, u1 (0) = 0, u1 (0) = 0, 0 x x 2 8u0 2 3 u2 + u2 + 3u1 u2 cu1 = 0, u2 (0) = 0, u2 (0) = 0, 0 x 2 3u2 2 3 u3 + u3 + 3u2 u0 + 3u0 u2 cu2 1 c = 0, 1 x 2 4u0 Solving system (43)(46) we have, u0 (x) = 1, u1 (x) = 12c + 8 2 x , 48 3c3 18c2 + 32c 16 4 x , u2 (x) = 640 45c5 648c4 + 3264c3 7248c2 + 7040c 2432 6 x . u3 (x) = 645120 3c2 (47) (48) (49) (50) u3 (0) = 0, u3 (0) = 0. (43) (44) (45) (46)

Hence the four-term series solution is given by y(x) 1 3c2 12c + 8 2 3c3 18c2 + 32c 16 4 45c5 648c4 + 3264c3 7248c2 + 7040c 2432) 6 x x + x . 48 640 645120 (51)

In Table 2 we show the differences between the 4-term HPM and the 6-term decomposition solutions in the case n = 0.
Table 2 Differences between the 6-term ADM and 4-term HPM solutions for the general white-dwarf equation when c = 0 x 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 Diff. 1.000E-16 5.682E-12 1.452E-09 3.709E-08 3.688E-07 2.185E-06 9.326E-06 3.173E-05 9.142E-05 2.318E-04 5.316E-04

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Table 3 Differences between the 6-term ADM and 4-term HPM solutions for the isothermal gas spheres equation x 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 Diff. 1.000E-16 1.000E-16 1.000E-16 3.000E-09 2.500E-08 1.440E-07 6.140E-07 2.089E-06 6.023E-06 1.529E-05 3.508E-05

3.2.3. Isothermal gas spheres equation Isothermal gas spheres equation are modelled by 2 y + y + ey = 0, x subject to the conditions y(0) = 0, y (0) = 0. [0, 1] which satises the following equation: (54) (52)

(53)

According to the HPM, we now construct a homotopy v(y, p) : 2 2 2 y + y y0 y0 + p y0 + y0 + ey = 0. x x x

Applying HPM and assuming the initial approximation y0 (x) = 0, we have 2 2 u0 + u0 y0 y0 = 0, u0 (0) = 0, u0 (0) = 0, x x 2 2 1 1 u1 + u1 + y0 + y0 + 1 + u0 + u2 + u3 = 0, u1 (0) = 0, u1 (0) = 0, 0 x x 2 6 0 2 1 1 u2 + u2 + u1 + u1 u0 + u2 u1 + u3 u1 = 0, u2 (0) = 0, u2 (0) = 0, x 2 0 6 0 2 1 1 1 1 1 u3 + u3 + u2 + u2 + u0 u2 + u0 u2 + u2 u2 + u2 u2 + u3 u2 = 0, u3 (0) = 0, u3 (0) = 0. 1 x 2 1 2 2 0 4 0 1 6 0 Solving system (55)(58) yields 1 1 4 u1 (x) = x 2 , u2 (x) = x , 6 120 Hence the obtained series solution of (52)(53) is u0 (x) = 0, u3 (x) = 1 6 x , 1890 .... (55) (56) (57) (58)

(59)

1 4 1 6 1 x x + . y(x) = x 2 + (60) 6 120 1890 In Table 3 we see that the solutions obtained by HPM are very close to the solutions by the Adomian decomposition method [5]. 3.2.4. Richardsons theory of thermionic currents Next we consider the nonlinear differential equation of Richardsons theory of thermionic currents 2 y + y + ey = 0, x subject to the conditions y(0) = 0, y (0) = 0. (61)

(62)

This model can be used when the density and electric force of an electron gas in the neighborhood of a hot body in thermal equilibrium is to be determined.

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Table 4 Differences between the 6-term ADM and 4-term HPM solutions for the equation of Richardsons theory of thermionic currents x 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 Diff. 1.000E-16 1.000E-16 1.000E-16 2.000E-09 2.500E-08 1.480E-07 6.410E-07 2.218E-06 6.511E-06 1.687E-05 3.963E-05

Now we construct a homotopy v(y, p) :

[0, 1]

which satises the following equation: (63)

2 2 2 y + y y0 y0 + p y0 + y0 + ey = 0. x x x Carrying out the steps involved in HPM gives 2 2 u0 + u0 y0 y0 = 0, u0 (0) = 0, u0 (0) = 0, x x 2 2 1 1 u1 + u1 + y0 + y0 + 1 u0 + u2 u3 = 0, u1 (0) = 0, u1 (0) = 0, x x 2 0 6 0 2 1 1 u2 + u2 u1 + u1 u0 u2 u1 + u3 u1 = 0, u2 (0) = 0, u2 (0) = 0, x 2 0 6 0 2 1 1 1 1 1 u3 + u3 u2 + u2 + u0 u2 u0 u2 u2 u2 + u2 u2 + u3 u2 = 0, u3 (0) = 0, u3 (0) = 0. 1 1 0 0 1 x 2 2 2 4 6 0 Solving system (64)(67) and taking the initial approximation y0 (x) = 0 yields 1 1 4 u1 (x) = x 2 , u2 (x) = x , 6 120 Hence the obtained series solution of (61)(62) is u0 (x) = 0, u3 (x) = 1 6 x , 1890 ....

(64) (65) (66) (67)

(68)

1 4 1 6 1 x x . y(x) = x 2 6 120 1890 Table 4 presents the differences between the HPM and Adomian decomposition solutions [5]. 3.2.5. Homogeneous case Now we consider the nonlinear, homogeneous LaneEmden-type equation, 2 y + y + 4 2ey + ey/2 = 0, x subject to the initial conditions y(0) = 0, y (0) = 0. [0, 1] which satises the following equation: = 0.

(69)

(70)

(71)

Now we construct a homotopy v(y, p) :

2 2 2 y + y y0 y0 + p y0 + y0 + 4 2ey + ey/2 x x x

(72)

By the same manipulations as in the previous examples, and by assuming the initial approximation y0 (x) = 0, we have 2 2 u0 + u0 y0 y0 = 0, u0 (0) = 0, u0 (0) = 0, x x 2 2 9 17 u1 + u1 + y0 + y0 + 12 + 10u0 + u2 + u3 = 0, u1 (0) = 0, u1 (0) = 0, 0 x x 2 12 0 2 17 2 4 3 u2 + u2 + 10u1 + 9u0 u1 + u0 u1 + u0 u1 = 0, u2 (0) = 0, u2 (0) = 0, x 4 3 (73) (74) (75)

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2 9 17 17 4 u3 + u3 + 10u2 + u2 + 9u0 u2 + u0 u2 + 2u2 u2 + u2 u2 + u3 u2 = 0, 1 0 1 x 2 1 4 4 0 3 0 Solving system (73)(76) gives u0 (x) = 0, u1 (x) = 2x 2 , u2 (x) = x 4 , 2 u3 (x) = x 6 , 3 ....

u3 (0) = 0, u3 (0) = 0.

(76)

(77)

Hence the series solution of (70)(71) is 2 y(x) = 2 + x 4 x 6 , 3 and in the closed form, [31], y(x) = 2 ln 1 + x 2 . 3.2.6. Nonhomogeneous case Finally we consider the nonlinear, nonhomogeneous LaneEmden equation, 2 y + y + y3 = 6 + x6, x subject to the initial conditions y(0) = 0, y (0) = 0. [0, 1] which satises the following equation: (82) (81) (80) (79) (78)

Now we construct a homotopy v(y, p) :

2 2 2 y + y y0 y0 + p y0 + y0 + y 3 6 x 6 = 0. x x x By the same manipulations as in the previous examples, and by assuming the initial approximation y0 (x) = 0, we have 2 2 u0 + u0 y0 y0 = 0, u0 (0) = 0, u0 (0) = 0, x x 2 2 u1 + u1 + y0 + y0 + u3 x 6 6 = 0, u1 (0) = 0, u1 (0) = 0, 0 x x 2 u2 + u2 + 3u2 u1 = 0, u2 (0) = 0, u2 (0) = 0, 0 x 2 u3 + u3 + 3u2 u2 + 3u0 u2 = 0, u3 (0) = 0, u3 (0) = 0. 0 1 x Solving system (83)(86) we have, u0 (x) = 0, u1 (x) = x 2 + 1 8 x , 72 u2 (x) = 0, u3 (x) = 0.

(83) (84) (85) (86)

(87)

Hence the series solution for y(x) is y(x) = x 2 + 1 8 x . 72 (88)

However, if we choose y0 (x) = x 2 , then the HPM yields the exact solution y(x) = x 2 in one iteration only. 4. Conclusion In this Letter, we have applied the HPM to obtain exact and/or approximate solutions for singular IVPs of LaneEmden-type equations. In some cases the HPM yields the exact solutions in one iteration only. Comparisons with the exact and decomposition solutions reveals that HPM is simple, efcient and reliable. It is shown that the homotopy-perturbation method is a promising tool for both linear and nonlinear singular IVPs. (89)

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Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge the nancial supports received from the Academy of Sciences Malaysia under the SAGA grant No. P24c (STGL-011-2006), the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Program and the International Islamic University Chittagong, Bangladesh. The authors also thank the referee for constructive comments which lead to an improvement of the Letter. References
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