Jüri Engelbrecht - Böcker

This book describes fundamental physical principles, together with their mathematical formulations, for modelling the propagation of signals in nerve fibres.

This book describes fundamental physical principles, together with their mathematical formulations, for modelling the propagation of signals in nerve fibres.

Based on the author's experience in many European research centres and science policy institutions, it reflects on the development of knowledge in nonlinear dynamics as well as science policy actions over the second half of the 20th century and the first quarter of the 21st century.

This is a personal story about being involved in the study of nonlinear phenomena for more than half a century. The focus is on the development of ideas and the resulting knowledge. This is the visible part of research, but much is usually hidden. The author describes how the ideas were generated and how an “invisible college” of friends and colleagues has emerged. The presentation is spiced by thoughts about the beauty of science and philosophical considerations on the complex world, where nonlinear interactions play an important role.The book is in some sense a biography but not so much about the personal life of the author – it is about science and its actors. Based on the author's experience in many European research centres and science policy institutions, it reflects on the development of knowledge in nonlinear dynamics as well as science policy actions over the second half of the 20th century and the first quarter of the 21st century. Graduates and postgraduates interested in the progress of research will find the book particularly engaging.

This book addresses the modelling of mechanical waves by asking the right questions about them and trying to find suitable answers. The questions follow the analytical sequence from elementary understandings to complicated cases, following a step-by-step path towards increased knowledge. The focus is on waves in elastic solids, although some examples also concern non-conservative cases for the sake of completeness. Special attention is paid to the understanding of the influence of microstructure, nonlinearity and internal variables in continua.With the help of many mathematical models for describing waves, physical phenomena concerning wave dispersion, nonlinear effects, emergence of solitary waves, scales and hierarchies of waves as well as the governing physical parameters are analysed. Also, the energy balance in waves and non-conservative models with energy influx are discussed. Finally, all answers are interwoven into the canvas of complexity.

This book addresses the modelling of mechanical waves by asking the right questions about them and trying to find suitable answers. The questions follow the analytical sequence from elementary understandings to complicated cases, following a step-by-step path towards increased knowledge. The focus is on waves in elastic solids, although some examples also concern non-conservative cases for the sake of completeness. Special attention is paid to the understanding of the influence of microstructure, nonlinearity and internal variables in continua.With the help of many mathematical models for describing waves, physical phenomena concerning wave dispersion, nonlinear effects, emergence of solitary waves, scales and hierarchies of waves as well as the governing physical parameters are analysed. Also, the energy balance in waves and non-conservative models with energy influx are discussed. Finally, all answers are interwoven into the canvas of complexity.

Since 1972 the Schools on Nonlinear Physics in Gorky have been a meeting place for Soviet scientists working in this field. Instead of producing for the first time English proceedings it has been decided to present a good cross section of nonlinear physics in the USSR. Thus the participants at the last School were invited to provide English reviews and research papers for these two volumes (which in the years to come will be followed by the proceedings of forthcoming schools). The first volume starts with a historical overview of nonlinear dynamics from Poincaré to the present day and touches topics like attractors, nonlinear oscillators and waves, turbulence, pattern formation, and dynamics of structures in nonequilibrium dissipative media. It then deals with structures, bistabilities, instabilities, chaos, dynamics of defects in 1d systems, self-organizations, solitons, spatio-temporal structures and wave collapse in optical systems, lasers, plasmas, reaction-diffusion systems and solids.

Since 1972 the Schools on Nonlinear Physics in Gorky have been a meeting place for Soviet scientists working in this field. Instead of producing for the first time English proceedings it has been decided to present a good cross section of nonlinear physics in the USSR. Thus the participants at the last School were invited to provide English reviews and research papers for these two volumes (which in the years to come will be followed by the proceedings of forthcoming schools). The second volume deals with dynamical chaos in classical and quantum systems, with evolution in chemical systems and self-organisation in biology, and with applications of nonlinear dynamics to condensed matter, sea waves, and astrophysics.

TIlis volume contains the contributions to the Euromech Colloquium No. 241 on Nonlinear Waves in Active Media at the Institute of Cybernetics of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, Tallinn, Estonia, USSR, September 27-30, 1988. The Co-chairmen of the Euromech Colloquium felt that it would be a good service to the community to publish these proceedings. First, the topic itself dealing with various wave processes with energy influx is extremely interesting and attracted a much larger number of participants than usual - a clear sign of its importance to the scientific community. Second, Euromech No. 241 was actually the first Euromech Colloquium held in the Soviet Union and could thus be viewed as a milestone in the extending scientific contacts between East and West. At the colloquium 50 researchers working in very different branches of sci­ ence met to lecture on their results and to discuss problems of common interest. An introductory paper by I. Engelbrecht presents the common motivation and background of the topics covered. Altogether 36 speakers presented their lectures, of which 30 are gathered here. The remaining six papers which will appear elsewhere are listed on page X. In addition, three contributions by authors who could not attend the colloquium are included. The two lectures given by A.S. Mikhailov, V.S. Davydov and V.S. Zykov are here published as one long paper.

Since 1972 the Schools on Nonlinear Physics in Gorky have been a meeting place for Soviet scientists working in this field. This 3rd volume emerged from material presented at the 1989 School. It contains sections dealing with nonlinear problems in physics and astrophysics, quantum and solid state physics, dynamical chaos and self-organization.

Complex, microstructured materials are widely used in industry and technology and include alloys, ceramics and composites. Focusing on non-destructive evaluation (NDE), this book explores in detail the mathematical modeling and inverse problems encountered when using ultrasound to investigate heterogeneous microstructured materials. The outstanding features of the text are firstly, a clear description of both linear and nonlinear mathematical models derived for modelling the propagation of ultrasonic deformation waves, and secondly, the provision of solutions to the corresponding inverse problems that determine the physical parameters of the models. The data are related to nonlinearities at both a macro- and micro- level, as well as to dispersion. The authors’ goal has been to construct algorithms that allow us to determine the parameters within which we are required to characterize microstructure. To achieve this, the authors not only use conventional harmonic waves, but also propose a novel methodology based on using solitary waves in NDE. The book analyzes the uniqueness and stability of the solutions, in addition to providing numerical examples.

Complex, microstructured materials are widely used in industry and technology and include alloys, ceramics and composites. Focusing on non-destructive evaluation (NDE), this book explores in detail the mathematical modeling and inverse problems encountered when using ultrasound to investigate heterogeneous microstructured materials. The outstanding features of the text are firstly, a clear description of both linear and nonlinear mathematical models derived for modelling the propagation of ultrasonic deformation waves, and secondly, the provision of solutions to the corresponding inverse problems that determine the physical parameters of the models. The data are related to nonlinearities at both a macro- and micro- level, as well as to dispersion. The authors’ goal has been to construct algorithms that allow us to determine the parameters within which we are required to characterize microstructure. To achieve this, the authors not only use conventional harmonic waves, but also propose a novel methodology based on using solitary waves in NDE. The book analyzes the uniqueness and stability of the solutions, in addition to providing numerical examples.

The interaction of acoustic fields with submerged elastic structures, both by propagation and scattering, is being investigated at various institutions and laboratories world-wide with ever-increasing sophistication of experiments and analysis. This book offers a collection of contributions from these research centers that represent the present state-of-the-art in the study of acoustic elastic interaction, being on the cutting edge of these investigations. This includes the description of acoustic scattering from submerged elastic objects and shells by the Resonance Scattering Theory of Flax, Dragonette and Überall, and the interaction of these phenomena in terms of interface waves. It also includes the use of this theory for the purpose of inverse scattering, i.e. the determination of the scattered objects properties from the received acoustic backscattered signals. The problem of acoustically excited waves in inhomogeneous and anisotropic materials, and of inhomogeneous propagating waves is considered. Vibrations and resonances of elastic shells, including shells with various kinds of internal attachments, are analyzed. Acoustic scattering experiments are described in the time domain, and on the basis of the Wigner-Ville distribution. Acoustic propagation in the water column over elastic boundaries is studied experimentally both in laboratory tanks, and in the field, and is analyzed theoretically. Ultrasonic nondestructive testing, including such aspects like probe modelling, scattering by various types of cracks, receiving probes and calibration by a side-drilled hole is also studied in details.A comprehensive picture of these complex phenomena and other aspects is presented in the book by researchers that are experts in each of these domains, giving up-to-date accounts of the field in all these aspects.