Computation of the spectra of some integral operators and application to the numerical solution of some linear integral equations

In this paper, we present two methods of computing the spectrum of a compact integral operator. The first method is based on an exact matrix representation of the operator. The second method uses a convenient quadrature method to discretisize the integral operator and to provide accurate approximations to the spectrum and the eigenfunctions of this later. Also, we show how our methods can be used in the framework of some stable procedures for the approximation of f† the normal solution of the minimal L2-norm of the integral equation of the first kind Af = g, which is often an ill-posed equation. These procedures are based on a spectral expansion of the operator A. To finish, we give some numerical examples that illustrate the results of this work.