Angelo M. Anile - Böcker

The European Consortium for Mathematics in Industry (ECMI) was founded in 1986 by leading groups of mathematicians in Europe for the following scopes: i) direct involvement of mathematicians in R&D activities;ii) international cooperation at a European scale;iii) education of industrial mathematicians to meet the growing demand for such experts.ECMI 2000 shows that ECMI has offered a unique example of effective international cooperation thanks to the financial support of the European Framework programmes. In particular they have helped ECMI establishing a set of Special Interest Groups to favour interaction with industry. This volume includes minisymposia about their activities, in particular microelectronics, glass, polymers, finance, traffic, and textiles. Applied mathematicians and other professionals working in academia or industry will find the book to be a useful and stimulating source of mathematical applications related to industrial problems.

In recent years the subject of relativistic fluid dynamics has found substantial applications in astrophysics and cosmology (theories of gravitational collapse, models of neutron stars, galaxy formation), as well as in plasma physics (relativistic fluids have been considered as models for relativistic particle beams) and nuclear physics (relativistic fluids are currently used in the analysis of the heavy ion reactions). Modern methods of analysis and differential geometry have now also been introduced. The International C.I.M.E. Course brought together expertise and interest from several areas (astrophysics, plasma physics, nuclear physics, mathematical methods) to create an appropriate arena for discussion and exchange of ideas. The main lecture courses introduced the most significant aspects of the subject and were delivered by leading specialists. The notes of these have been written up for this volume and constitute an up-to-date and thorough treatment of these topics. Several contributions from the seminars on specialized topics of complementary interest to the courses are also included.