Icp Advanced Texts In Mathematics - Böcker

A central area of study in Differential Geometry is the examination of the relationship between the purely algebraic properties of the Riemann curvature tensor and the underlying geometric properties of the manifold. In this book, the findings of numerous investigations in this field of study are reviewed and presented in a clear, coherent form, including the latest developments and proofs. Even though many authors have worked in this area in recent years, many fundamental questions still remain unanswered. Many studies begin by first working purely algebraically and then later progressing onto the geometric setting and it has been found that many questions in differential geometry can be phrased as problems involving the geometric realization of curvature. Curvature decompositions are central to all investigations in this area. The authors present numerous results including the Singer-Thorpe decomposition, the Bokan decomposition, the Nikcevic decomposition, the Tricerri-Vanhecke decomposition, the Gray-Hervella decomposition and the De Smedt decomposition. They then proceed to draw appropriate geometric conclusions from these decompositions.The book organizes, in one coherent volume, the results of research completed by many different investigators over the past 30 years. Complete proofs are given of results that are often only outlined in the original publications. Whereas the original results are usually in the positive definite (Riemannian setting), here the authors extend the results to the pseudo-Riemannian setting and then further, in a complex framework, to para-Hermitian geometry as well. In addition to that, new results are obtained as well, making this an ideal text for anyone wishing to further their knowledge of the science of curvature.

This book concerns continuous-time controlled Markov chains, also known as continuous-time Markov decision processes. They form a class of stochastic control problems in which a single decision-maker wishes to optimize a given objective function. This book is also concerned with Markov games, where two decision-makers (or players) try to optimize their own objective function. Both decision-making processes appear in a large number of applications in economics, operations research, engineering, and computer science, among other areas.An extensive, self-contained, up-to-date analysis of basic optimality criteria (such as discounted and average reward), and advanced optimality criteria (e.g., bias, overtaking, sensitive discount, and Blackwell optimality) is presented. A particular emphasis is made on the application of the results herein: algorithmic and computational issues are discussed, and applications to population models and epidemic processes are shown.This book is addressed to students and researchers in the fields of stochastic control and stochastic games. Moreover, it could be of interest also to undergraduate and beginning graduate students because the reader is not supposed to have a high mathematical background: a working knowledge of calculus, linear algebra, probability, and continuous-time Markov chains should suffice to understand the contents of the book.

This book presents a new front of research in conformal geometry, on sign-changing Yamabe-type problems and contact form geometry in particular. New ground is broken with the establishment of a Morse lemma at infinity for sign-changing Yamabe-type problems. This family of problems, thought to be out of reach a few years ago, becomes a family of problems which can be studied: the book lays the foundation for a program of research in this direction.In contact form geometry, a cousin of symplectic geometry, the authors prove a fundamental result of compactness in a variational problem on Legrendrian curves, which allows one to define a homology associated to a contact structure and a vector field of its kernel on a three-dimensional manifold. The homology is invariant under deformation of the contact form, and can be read on a sub-Morse complex of the Morse complex of the variational problem built with the periodic orbits of the Reeb vector-field. This book introduces, therefore, a practical tool in the field, and this homology becomes computable.

Pseudo-Riemannian geometry is an active research field not only in differential geometry but also in mathematical physics where the higher signature geometries play a role in brane theory. An essential reference tool for research mathematicians and physicists, this book also serves as a useful introduction to students entering this active and rapidly growing field. The author presents a comprehensive treatment of several aspects of pseudo-Riemannian geometry, including the spectral geometry of the curvature tensor, curvature homogeneity, and Stanilov-Tsankov-Videv theory.

This book contains the first systematic exposition of the global and local theory of dynamics equivariant with respect to a (compact) Lie group. Aside from general genericity and normal form theorems on equivariant bifurcation, it describes many general families of examples of equivariant bifurcation and includes a number of novel geometric techniques, in particular, equivariant transversality. This important book forms a theoretical basis of future work on equivariant reversible and Hamiltonian systems.This book also provides a general and comprehensive introduction to codimension one equivariant bifurcation theory. In particular, it includes the bifurcation theory developed with Roger Richardson on subgroups of reflection groups and the Maximal Isotropy Subgroup Conjecture. A number of general results are also given on the global theory. Introductory material on groups, representations and G-manifolds are covered in the first three chapters of the book. In addition, a self-contained introduction of equivariant transversality is given, including necessary results on stratifications as well as results on equivariant jet transversality developed by Edward Bierstone.