Não disponívelThis thesis is concerned primarily with spline functions and their application to solving a Fredholm integral equation of the second kind with non-degenerate kernel. Some mathematical preliminares are introduced at the begining. The problem of piecewise linear and cubic interpolation is discussed in one and two dimensions. Many theorens concerning the rates of convergence of these interpolation formulae are given. Bicubic spline interpolation is introduced and the relevant convergence theorems are proved. A method of solution of the Fredholm integral equation of the second kind with degenerate kernel is described. By approximating a non-degenerate kernel by means of a bicubic approximation (which, if rewritten in a basis funct...