Function: dblint (f, r, s, a, b)

A double-integral routine which was written in top-level Maxima and then translated and compiled to machine code. Use load (dblint) to access this package. It uses the Simpson's rule method in both the x and y directions to calculate

/b /s(x)
|  |
|  |    f(x,y) dy dx
|  |
/a /r(x)

The function f must be a translated or compiled function of two variables, and r and s must each be a translated or compiled function of one variable, while a and b must be floating point numbers. The routine has two global variables which determine the number of divisions of the x and y intervals: dblint_x and dblint_y, both of which are initially 10, and can be changed independently to other integer values (there are 2*dblint_x+1 points computed in the x direction, and 2*dblint_y+1 in the y direction). The routine subdivides the X axis and then for each value of X it first computes r(x) and s(x); then the Y axis between r(x) and s(x) is subdivided and the integral along the Y axis is performed using Simpson's rule; then the integral along the X axis is done using Simpson's rule with the function values being the Y-integrals. This procedure may be numerically unstable for a great variety of reasons, but is reasonably fast: avoid using it on highly oscillatory functions and functions with singularities (poles or branch points in the region). The Y integrals depend on how far apart r(x) and s(x) are, so if the distance s(x) - r(x) varies rapidly with X, there may be substantial errors arising from truncation with different step-sizes in the various Y integrals. One can increase dblint_x and dblint_y in an effort to improve the coverage of the region, at the expense of computation time. The function values are not saved, so if the function is very time-consuming, you will have to wait for re-computation if you change anything (sorry). It is required that the functions f, r, and s be either translated or compiled prior to calling dblint. This will result in orders of magnitude speed improvement over interpreted code in many cases!

demo (dblint) executes a demonstration of dblint applied to an example problem.

Function: defint (expr, x, a, b)