Bücher von Mariano Giaquinta

This volume! aims at introducing some basic ideas for studying approxima- tion processes and, more generally, discrete processes. The study of discrete processes, which has grown together with the study of infinitesimal calcu- lus, has become more and more relevant with the use of computers. The volume is suitably divided in two parts. In the first part we illustrate the numerical systems of reals, of integers as a subset of the reals, and of complex numbers. In this context we intro- duce, in Chapter 2, the notion of sequence which invites also a rethinking of the notions of limit and continuity2 in terms of discrete processes; then, in Chapter 3, we discuss some elements of combinatorial calculus and the mathematical notion of infinity. In Chapter 4 we introduce complex num- bers and illustrate some of their applications to elementary geometry; in Chapter 5 we prove the fundamental theorem of algebra and present some of the elementary properties of polynomials and rational functions, and of finite sums of harmonic motions. In the second part we deal with discrete processes, first with the process of infinite summation, in the numerical case, i.e., in the case of numerical series in Chapter 6, and in the case of power series in Chapter 7. The last chapter provides an introduction to discrete dynamical systems; it should be regarded as an invitation to further study.

This two-volume treatise is a standard reference in the field. It pays special attention to the historical aspects and the origins partly in applied problems-such as those of geometric optics-of parts of the theory.

The description for this book, Multiple Integrals in the Calculus of Variations and Nonlinear Elliptic Systems. (AM-105), Volume 105, will be forthcoming.

This monograph explores the early development of the calculus of variations in continental Europe during the Eighteenth Century by illustrating the mathematics of its founders.

We may find the origin of such a theory in two of the problems posed by David Hilbert in his celebrated lecture delivered during the International Congress of Mathematicians in 1900 in Paris:19th problem: Are the solutions to regular problems in the Calculus of Variations always necessarily analytic?

Mathematical Analysis: Foundations and Advanced Techniques for Functions of Several Variables builds upon the basic ideas and techniques of differential and integral calculus for functions of several variables, as outlined in an earlier introductory volume.

This monograph (the second of two volumes) deals with non scalar variational problems arising in geometry, as harmonic mappings between Riemannian manifolds and minimal graphs, and in physics, as stable equilibrium configurations in nonlinear elasticity or for liquid crystals.

For more than two thousand years some familiarity with mathematics has been regarded as an indispensable part of the intellectual equipment of every cultured person.