ABSTRACT
This chapter examines several interesting and pertinent problems in electromagnetics, each formulated as an integral equation. It addresses some difficulties and challenges inherent in the solution process. Integral equations can involve functions of more than one variable. A number of techniques can be used to solve integral equations analytically. Fredholm equations with separable kernels are amenable to so-called direct solutions. When integral equations cannot be solved analytically, either in an exact or approximate manner, a numerical solution may be sought. A boundary value problem consisting of a linear differential equation and a set of boundary values can often be represented as an integral equation by directly integrating the differential equation. Integral equations occur in areas such as antennas, radar, guided waves, and microwave systems. In a scattering problem, an impressed electromagnetic field arising from an immutable source interacts with some structure, inducing currents and charges on and within the structure.
