The Gaver-Stehfest algorithm for approximate inversion of Laplace transforms

An approximate technique for the inversion of Laplace transforms is represented and some simple applications are given. The limitations of the method were explored and it is clear that functions which have oscillatory inverses present difficulty for the method. Better approximations result from the use of computers with longer word lengths and there is considerable improvement when an averaging algorithm is employed. Eight-bit microcomputers are generally sufficiently accurate for nonoscillatory time functions but transforms for lightly damped sinusoids and Bessel functions require large main-frame computers with relatively long word length.