An Introduction to Difference Equations

Integrating both classical and modern treatments of difference equations, this book contains the most updated and comprehensive material on stability, Z-transform, discrete control theory, asymptotic theory, continued fractions and orthogonal polynomials. While the presentation is simple enough for use by advanced undergraduates and beginning graduates in mathematics, engineering science, and economics, it will also be a useful reference for scientists and engineers interested in discrete mathematical models. The text covers a large set of applications in a variety of disciplines, including neural networks, feedback control, Markov chains, trade models, heat transfer, propagation of plants, epidemic models and host-parasitoid systems, with each section rounded off by an extensive and highly selected set of exercises.