Is it possible to use event functions for Boundary Value Problems in MATLAB 7.0.4 (R14SP2)?

I am dealing with a general Boundary Value Problem (BVP) and would like to know whether there is a way to use event functions; as can be done with Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) solvers.

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

MATLAB 7.0.4 (R14SP2) provides the BVP4C function to solve Boundary Value Problems for Ordinary Differential Equations. The BVP4C function implements a global method (collocation) for solving BVPs, as opposed to providing codes. The method requires the interval of integration to be known apriori. Hence, BVP4C cannot support events in the ODE solver sense.

For BVPs where the interval of integration is not known apriori (for example, when searching for a periodic solution with an unknown period) one could reformulate

the problem to reduce it to a 'standard' interval (e.g., [0,1]). This will introduce an unknown parameter to the equation, but BVP4C can accommodate problems involving unknown parameters. Example 4 of a tutorial available here:

www.mathworks.com/bvp_tutorial

shows how to reformulate problems involving an unknown period.

Another possibility would be to construct a shooting code based on one of the ODE solvers and building a nonlinear solver around it.

For more information, please refer to the documentation accessed by typing:

web([docroot,'/techdoc/ref/bvp4c.html'])

at the MATLAB command prompt.