Jacques Lévy-Véhel - Böcker

Owing to the rapid emergence and growth of techniques in the engineering application of fractals, it has become necessary to gather the most recent advances on a regular basis. This book is a continuation of the first volume - published in 1997 - but contains interesting developments. A major point is that mathematics has become more and more involved in the definition and use of fractal models. It seems that the time of the qualitative observation of fractal phenomena has gone. Now the main models are strongly based upon theoretical arguments. Fractals: Theory and Applications in Engineering is a multidisciplinary book which should interest every scientist working in areas connected to fractals.

Fractal analysis research is expanding into a variety of engineering domains. The strong potential of this work is now beginning to be seen in important applications in real industrial situations. Recent research progress has already led to new developments in domains such as signal processing and chemical engineering, and the major advances in fractal theory that underlie such developments are detailed here. New domains of applications are also presented, among them environmental science and rough surface analysis. Sections include multifractal analysis, iterated function systems, random processes, network traffic analysis, fractals and waves, image compression, and applications in physics. Fractals in Engineering emphasizes the connection between fractal analysis research and applications to industry. It is an important volume that illustrates the scientific and industrial value of this exciting field.

This volume is a sequel to the books Fractals: Theory and Applications in Engineering (Springer-Verlag, 1999) and Fractals in Engineering. From Theory to Industrial Applications (Springer-Verlag, 1997), presenting some of the most recent advances in the ?eld. It is a fascinating exercise to follow the progress of knowledge in this interdisciplinary area, as witnessed by these three volumes. First,con?rmingprevioustrendsobservedin1997and1999,appliedma- ematical research on fractals has now reached a mature level, where beautiful theories are developed in direct contact with engineering concerns. The four papers in the Mathematical Aspects section constitute valuable additions to the set of tools needed by the engineer: Synthetic pictures modelling and rendering in computer graphics (Theory and Applications of Fractal Tops, by Michael Barnsley), curve approximation and "fractal B-splines" (Splines, Fractal Functions, and Besov and Triebel-Lizorkin Spaces, by Peter Mas- pust), deep understanding of the Hol .. derian properties of certain stochastic processes useful in a large number of applications (H.. olderian random fu- tions, by Antoine Ayache et al.), and study of the invariant measure of a coupled discrete dynamical system (Fractal Stationary Density in Coupled Maps,byJu..rgen Jost et al. ). The second section of the book describes novel physical applications as well as recent progress on more classical ones. The paper A Network of Fr- tal Force Chains and Their E?ect in Granular Materials under Compression by Luis E. Vallejo et al.

Scaling is a mathematical transformation that enlarges or diminishes objects. The technique is used in a variety of areas, including finance and image processing. This book is organized around the notions of scaling phenomena and scale invariance. The various stochastic models commonly used to describe scaling — self-similarity, long-range dependence and multi-fractals — are introduced. These models are compared and related to one another. Next, fractional integration, a mathematical tool closely related to the notion of scale invariance, is discussed, and stochastic processes with prescribed scaling properties (self-similar processes, locally self-similar processes, fractionally filtered processes, iterated function systems) are defined. A number of applications where the scaling paradigm proved fruitful are detailed: image processing, financial and stock market fluctuations, geophysics, scale relativity, and fractal time-space.