ABSTRACT
Mathematical modelling of physical phenomena, such as the dynamics of a rigid body, the deformation of an elastic material or the propagation of electromagnetic waves in the atmosphere, is based, to the best of our present scientific knowledge, on sound physical laws. Thus to describe the dynamical behaviour of a rigid body undergoing the influence of external forces we have the fundamental Newtonian laws of motion at our disposal. The behaviour of deforming elastic materials is governed by the constitutive equations of continuum mechanics; Maxwell’s equations are the fundamental postulates that govern electromagnetic waves.
