Felix E. Browder - Böcker

This volume contains a number of research-expository articles that appeared in the Bulletin of the ""AMS"" between 1979 and 1984 and that address the general area of nonlinear functional analysis and global analysis and their applications. The central theme concerns qualitative methods in the study of nonlinear problems arising in applied mathematics, mathematical physics, and geometry. Since these articles first appeared, the methods and ideas they describe have been applied in an ever-widening array of applications. Readers will find this collection useful, as it brings together a range of influential papers by some of the leading researchers in the field.

On May 20-24. 1968, a Conference on Functional Analysis and Related Fields was held at the Center for Continuing Education of the University cl Chicago in honor of ProfessoLMARSHALL HARVEY STONE on the occasion of his retirement from active service at the University. The Conference received support from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under the Grant AFOSR 68-1497. The Organizing committee for this Conference consisted of ALBERTO P. CALDERON, SAUNDERS MACLANE, ROBERT G. POHRER, and FELIX E. BROWDER (Chairman). The present volume contains some of the papers presented at the Conference. nther talks which were presented at the Conference for which papers are noLinduded hereare: K. CHANDRASEKHARAN, "Zeta functions of quadratic fields"; J. L. DooB, "An application of prob ability theory to the Choquet boundary" ; HALMOS, "Irreducible operators"; P. R. KADISON, "Strong continuity of operator functions"; L. NIRENBERG, "Intrinsic norms on complex manifolds"; D. SCOTT, "Some problems and recent results in Boolean algebras"; 1. M. SINGER, "A conjecture relating the Reidemeister torsion and the zeta function of the Laplacian". A banquet in honor of Professor STONE was held during the Con­ ference, with brief talks by S. S. CHERN, A. A. ALBERT, S. MACLANE, E. HEWITT, K. CHANDRASEKHARAN, and F. E. BROWDER (as Toast­ master), as weH as a response by Professor STONE.