P. G. Drazin - Böcker

Instability of flows and their transition to turbulence are widespread phenomena in engineering and the natural environment, and are important in applied mathematics, astrophysics, biology, geophysics, meteorology, oceanography and physics as well as engineering. This is a textbook to introduce these phenomena at a level suitable for a graduate course, by modelling them mathematically, and describing numerical simulations and laboratory experiments. The visualization of instabilities is emphasized, with many figures, and in references to more still and moving pictures. The relation of chaos to transition is discussed at length. Many worked examples and exercises for students illustrate the ideas of the text. Readers are assumed to be fluent in linear algebra, advanced calculus, elementary theory of ordinary differential equations, complex variables and the elements of fluid mechanics. The book is aimed at graduate students but will also be very useful for specialists in other fields.

Throughout his life Lewis Fry Richardson made many inspirational contributions to various disciplines. Often his ideas were ahead of contemporary thinking, and preceded the technical means necessary for their practical implementation. He is best known for his wealth of important work on meteorology, and his groundbreaking application of mathematics to the causes of war, though his field of interest was in no way limited to these topics, and various aspects of psychology and mathematical approximation also benefited from his unique approach. The originality of Richardson's research can be seen in this collection of all his important papers in the behavioural sciences.

A 'soliton' is a localized nonlinear wave of permanent form which may interact strongly with other solitons so that when they separate after the interaction they regain their original forms. This textbook is an account of the theory of solitons and of the diverse applications of the theory to nonlinear systems arising in the physical sciences. The essence of the book is an introduction to the method of inverse scattering. Solitary waves, cnoidal waves, conservation laws, the initial-value problem for the Korteweg-de Vries equation, the Lax method, the sine-Gordon equation and Backlund transformations are treated. The book will be useful for research workers who wish to learn about solitons as well as graduate students in mathematics, physics and engineering.

This textbook is an introduction to the theory of solitons and its diverse applications to nonlinear systems that arise in the physical sciences. The authors explain the generation and properties of solitons, introducing the mathematical technique known as the Inverse Scattering Transform. Their aim is to present the essence of inverse scattering clearly, rather than rigorously or completely. Thus, the prerequisites (i.e., partial differential equations, calculus of variations, Fourier integrals, linear waves and Sturm-Liouville theory), and more advanced material is explained in the text with useful references to further reading given at the end of each chapter. Worked examples are frequently used to help the reader follow the various ideas, and the exercises at the end of each chapter not only contain applications but also test understanding. Answers, or hints to the solution, are given at the end of the book. Sections and exercises that contain more difficult material are indicated by asterisks.

The theories of bifurcation, chaos and fractals as well as equilibrium, stability and nonlinear oscillations, are part of the theory of the evolution of solutions of nonlinear equations. A wide range of mathematical tools and ideas are drawn together in the study of these solutions, and the results applied to diverse and countless problems in the natural and social sciences, even philosophy. The text evolves from courses given by the author in the UK and the United States. It introduces the mathematical properties of nonlinear systems, mostly difference and differential equations, as an integrated theory, rather than presenting isolated fashionable topics. Topics are discussed in as concrete a way as possible and worked examples and problems are used to explain, motivate and illustrate the general principles. The essence of these principles, rather than proof or rigour, is emphasized. More advanced parts of the text are denoted by asterisks, and the mathematical prerequisites are limited to knowledge of linear algebra and advanced calculus, thus making it ideally suited to both senior undergraduates and postgraduates from physics, engineering, chemistry, meteorology etc. as well as mathematics.

Hydrodynamic stability is of fundamental importance in fluid mechanics and is concerned with the problem of transition from laminar to turbulent flow. Drazin and Reid emphasise throughout the ideas involved, the physical mechanisms, the methods used, and the results obtained, and, wherever possible, relate the theory to both experimental and numerical results. A distinctive feature of the book is the large number of problems it contains. These problems not only provide exercises for students but also provide many additional results in a concise form. This new edition of this celebrated introduction differs principally by the inclusion of detailed solutions for those exercises, and by the addition of a Foreword by Professor J. W. Miles.

The Navier-Stokes equations were firmly established in the 19th Century as the system of nonlinear partial differential equations which describe the motion of most commonly occurring fluids in air and water, and since that time exact solutions have been sought by scientists. Collectively these solutions allow a clear insight into the behavior of fluids, providing a vehicle for novel mathematical methods and a useful check for computations in fluid dynamics, a field in which theoretical research is now dominated by computational methods. This 2006 book draws together exact solutions from widely differing sources and presents them in a coherent manner, in part by classifying solutions via their temporal and geometric constraints. It will prove to be a valuable resource to all who have an interest in the subject of fluid mechanics, and in particular to those who are learning or teaching the subject at the senior undergraduate and graduate levels.