A variational formulation has been developed to solve a parabolic partial differential equation describing free-surface flows in a porous medium. The variational finite element method is used to obtain a discrete form of equations for a two-dimensional domain. The matrix characteristics and the stability criteria have been investigated to develop a stable numerical algorithm for solving the governing equation. A computer programme has been written to solve a symmetric positive definite system obtained from the variational finite element analysis. The system of equations is solved using the conjugate gradient method. The solution generates time-varying hydraulic heads in the subsurface. The interfacing free surface between the unsaturated and saturated zones in the variably saturated domain is located, based on the computed hydraulic heads. Example problems are investigated. The finite element solutions are compared with the exact solutions for the example problems. The numerical characteristics of the finite element solution method are also investigated using the example problems.

An analytic time series in the form of numerical solution (in an appropriate finite time interval) of the Hodgkin-Huxley current clamped (HHCC) system of four differential equations, well known in the neurophysiology as an exact empirical model of excitation of a giant axon of Loligo, is presented. Then we search for a second-order differential equation of generalized Fitzhugh-Nagumo (GFN) type, having as a solution the given single component (action potential) of the numerical solution. The given time series is used as a basis for reconstructing orders, powers, and coefficients of the polynomial right-hand sides of GFN equation approximately governing the process of action potential. For this purpose, a new geometrical method for determining phase space dimension of the unknown dynamical system (GFN equation) and a specific modification of least squares method for identifying unknown coefficients are developed and applied.

We study the effects of large diffusivity in all parts of the domain in a linearly damped wave equation subject to standard zero Robin-type boundary conditions. In the linear case, we show in a given sense that the asymptotic behaviour of solutions verifies a second-order ordinary differential equation. In the semilinear case, under suitable dissipative assumptions on the nonlinear term, we prove the existence of a global attractor for fixed diffusion and that the limiting attractor for large diffusion is finite dimensional.