An efficient numerical method is proposed for the solution of Love's integral equation

where c > 0 is a small parameter, by using a sinc Nyström method based on a double exponential transformation. The method is derived using the property that the solution ƒ(x) of Love's integral equation satisfies ƒ (x) → 0.5 for x ∈ (−1, 1) when the parameter c → 0. Numerical results show that the proposed method is very efficient.

The stability of the Nyström method for the Sherman-Lauricella equation on contours with corner points cj, j = 0, 1, …, m relies on the invertibility of certain operators belonging to an algebra of Toeplitz operators. The operators do not depend on the shape of the contour, but on the opening angle θj of the corresponding corner cj and on parameters of the approximation method mentioned. They have a complicated structure and there is no analytic tool to verify their invertibility. To study this problem, the original Nyström method is applied to the Sherman-Lauricella equation on a special model contour that has only one corner point with varying opening angle In the interval (0.1π, 1.9π), it is found that there are 8 values of θj where the invertibility of the operator may fail, so the corresponding original Nyström method on any contour with corner points of such magnitude cannot be stable and requires modification.