Bücher der Reihe Mathematics and its Applications

The International Conference on Differential Equations and Nonlinear Mechanics was hosted by the University of Central Florida in Orlando from March 17-19, 1999. One of the conference days was dedicated to Professor V. Lakshmikantham in th honor of his 75 birthday. 50 well established professionals (in differential equations, nonlinear analysis, numerical analysis, and nonlinear mechanics) attended the conference from 13 countries. Twelve of the attendees delivered hour long invited talks and remaining thirty-eight presented invited forty-five minute talks. In each of these talks, the focus was on the recent developments in differential equations and nonlinear mechanics and their applications. This book consists of 29 papers based on the invited lectures, and I believe that it provides a good selection of advanced topics of current interest in differential equations and nonlinear mechanics. I am indebted to the Department of Mathematics, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering, and the Office of International Studies (of the University of Central Florida) for the financial support of the conference. Also, to the Mathematics Department of the University of Central Florida for providing secretarial and administrative assistance. I would like to thank the members of the local organizing committee, Jeanne Blank, Jackie Callahan, John Cannon, Holly Carley, Brad Pyle, Pete Rautenstrauch, and June Wingler for their assistance. Thanks are also due to the conference organizing committee, F. H. Busse, J. R. Cannon, V. Girault, R. H. J. Grimshaw, P. N. Kaloni, V.

In this book the author sets out to answer two important questions: 1. Which numerical methods may be combined together? 2. How can different numerical methods be matched together? In doing so the author presents a number of useful combinations, for instance, the combination of various FEMs, the combinations of FEM-FDM, REM-FEM, RGM-FDM, etc. The combined methods have many advantages over single methods: high accuracy of solutions, less CPU time, less computer storage, easy coupling with singularities as well as the complicated boundary conditions. Since coupling techniques are essential to combinations, various matching strategies among different methods are carefully discussed. The author provides the matching rules so that optimal convergence, even superconvergence, and optimal stability can be achieved, and also warns of the matching pitfalls to avoid. Audience: The book is intended for both mathematicians and engineers and may be used as text for advanced students.

This book provides an upto date information on metric, connection and curva- ture symmetries used in geometry and physics. More specifically, we present the characterizations and classifications of Riemannian and Lorentzian manifolds (in particular, the spacetimes of general relativity) admitting metric (i.e., Killing, ho- mothetic and conformal), connection (i.e., affine conformal and projective) and curvature symmetries. Our approach, in this book, has the following outstanding features: (a) It is the first-ever attempt of a comprehensive collection of the works of a very large number of researchers on all the above mentioned symmetries. (b) We have aimed at bringing together the researchers interested in differential geometry and the mathematical physics of general relativity by giving an invariant as well as the index form of the main formulas and results. (c) Attempt has been made to support several main mathematical results by citing physical example(s) as applied to general relativity. (d) Overall the presentation is self contained, fairly accessible and in some special cases supported by an extensive list of cited references. (e) The material covered should stimulate future research on symmetries. Chapters 1 and 2 contain most of the prerequisites for reading the rest of the book. We present the language of semi-Euclidean spaces, manifolds, their tensor calculus; geometry of null curves, non-degenerate and degenerate (light like) hypersurfaces. All this is described in invariant as well as the index form.

Stochastic Processes: General Theory starts with the fundamental existence theorem of Kolmogorov, together with several of its extensions to stochastic processes. It treats the function theoretical aspects of processes and includes an extended account of martingales and their generalizations. Various compositions of (quasi- or semi-)martingales and their integrals are given. Here the Bochner boundedness principle plays a unifying role: a unique feature of the book. Applications to higher order stochastic differential equations and their special features are presented in detail. Stochastic processes in a manifold and multiparameter stochastic analysis are also discussed. Each of the seven chapters includes complements, exercises and extensive references: many avenues of research are suggested. The book is a completely revised and enlarged version of the author's Stochastic Processes and Integration (Noordhoff, 1979). The new title reflects the content and generality of the extensive amount of new material. Audience: Suitable as a text/reference for second year graduate classes and seminars. A knowledge of real analysis, including Lebesgue integration, is a prerequisite.

The main purpose of this handbook is to summarize and to put in order the ideas, methods, results and literature on the theory of random evolutions and their applications to the evolutionary stochastic systems in random media, and also to present some new trends in the theory of random evolutions and their applications. In physical language, a random evolution ( RE ) is a model for a dynamical sys- tem whose state of evolution is subject to random variations. Such systems arise in all branches of science. For example, random Hamiltonian and Schrodinger equations with random potential in quantum mechanics, Maxwell's equation with a random refractive index in electrodynamics, transport equations associated with the trajec- tory of a particle whose speed and direction change at random, etc. There are the examples of a single abstract situation in which an evolving system changes its "e;mode of evolution"e; or "e;law of motion"e; because of random changes of the "e;environment"e; or in a "e;medium"e;. So, in mathematical language, a RE is a solution of stochastic operator integral equations in a Banach space. The operator coefficients of such equations depend on random parameters. Of course, in such generality , our equation includes any homogeneous linear evolving system. Particular examples of such equations were studied in physical applications many years ago. A general mathematical theory of such equations has been developed since 1969, the Theory of Random Evolutions.

A revised and substantially enlarged edition of the Russian book Discrete transformation groups and manifold structures published by Nauka in 1983, this volume presents a comprehensive treatment of the geometric theory of discrete groups and the associated tessellations of the underlying space. Also

In this book a general topological construction of extension is proposed for problems of attainability in topological spaces under perturbation of a system of constraints. This construction is realized in a special class of generalized elements defined as finitely additive measures. A version of the method of programmed iterations is constructed. This version realizes multi-valued control quasistrategies, which guarantees the solution of the control problem that consists in guidance to a given set under observation of phase constraints.Audience: The book will be of interest to researchers, and graduate students in the field of optimal control, mathematical systems theory, measure and integration, functional analysis, and general topology.

Monograph( based very largely upon results original to the Czechoslovakian authors) presents an abstract account of the theory of automata for sophisticated readers presumed to be already conversant in the language of category theory. The seven chapters are punctuated at frequent intervals by exampl