M. Boiti - Böcker

The Workshop NEEDS '91 brought together, from all over the world, scientists engaged in research on nonlinear systems, either their underlying mathematical properties or their physical applications. Accordingly, many talks were devoted to present methods of solution (like spectral transform) and to the investigation of structural (geometrical and/or algebraic) properties of (continuous and discrete) nonlinear evolution equations. Peculiar nonlinear systems, such as cellular automata, were also discussed. Applications to various fields of physics, namely, quantum field theory, fluid dynamics, general relativity and plasma physics were considered.

This volume constitutes the proceedings of the Workshop "Nonlinear Physics. Theory and Experiment" held in Gallipoli (Lecce, Italy) from June 29 to July 7, 1995.The purpose of the Workshop was to bring together scientists whose common interest is the nature, structure and properties of nonlinear phenomena in various areas of physics and applied mathematics.The purpose of the Workshop was to bring together scientists whose common interest is the nature, structure and properties of nonlinear phenomena in various areas of physics and applied mathematics.In fact, topics covered at the Workshop run from nonlinear optics to molecular dynamics, plasma waves, hydrodynamics, quantum electronics and solid state, and from inverse scattering transform methods to dynamical systems including integrability, hamiltonian structures, geometrical aspects, turbulence and chaos.

This book discusses achievements in the last 20 years, recent developments and future perspectives in nonlinear science. Both continuous and discrete systems — classical and quantum — are considered.