Numerical Solution of Eighth-order Boundary Value Problems by Using Legendre Polynomials

The main aim of this paper is to present and analyze a numerical algorithm for the solution of eighth-order boundary value problems. The proposed solutions are spectral and they depend on a new operational matrix of derivatives of certain shifted Legendre polynomial basis, along with the application of the collocation method. The nonzero elements of the operational matrix are expressed in terms of the well-known harmonic numbers. Numerical examples provide favorable comparisons with other existing methods and ascertain the efficiency and applicability of the proposed algorithm.