Iterative methods for solving Ambartsumian's equations. Part 1

Background. Ambartsumian's equation and its generalizations are one of the main integral equations of astrophysics, which have found wide application in many areas of physics and technology. An analytical solution to this equation is currently unknown, and the development of approximate methods is urgent. To solve the Ambartsumian's equation, several iterative methods are proposed that are used in solving practical problems. Methods of collocations and mechanical quadratures have also been constructed and substantiated under rather severe conditions. It is of considerable interest to construct an iterative method adapted to the coefficients and kernels of the equation. This article is devoted to the construction of such method. Materials and methods. The construction of the iterative method is based on a continuous method for solving nonlinear operator equations. The method is based on the Lyapunov stability theory and is stable against perturbation of the initial conditions, coefficients, and kernels of the equations being solved. An additional advantage of the continuous method for solving nonlinear operator equations is that its implementation does not require the reversibility of the Gateaux derivative of the nonlinear operator. Results. An iterative method for solving the Ambartsumian's equation is constructed and substantiated. Model examples were solved to illustrate the effectiveness of the method. Conclusions. Equations generalizing the classical Ambartsumian's equation are considered. To solve them, computational schemes of collocation and mechanical quadrature methods are constructed, which are implemented by a continuous method for solving nonlinear operator equations.