Springer Series in Nonlinear Dynamics – serie

In the last ten to fifteen years, there have been many important developments in the theory of integrable equations. This period is marked in particular by the strong impact of soliton theory in many diverse areas of mathematics and physics: for example, algebraic geometry (the solution of the Schottky problem), group theory (the discovery of quantum groups), topology (the connection of Jones polynomials with integrable models), and quantum gravity (the connection of the KdV with matrix models). This book presents a comprehensive overview of these developments.

In the last ten to fifteen years there have been many important developments in the theory of integrable equations. This period is marked in particular by the strong impact of soliton theory in many diverse areas of mathematics and physics; for example, algebraic geometry (the solution of the Schottky problem), group theory (the discovery of quantum groups), topology (the connection of Jones polynomials with integrable models), and quantum gravity (the connection of the KdV with matrix models). This is the first book to present a comprehensive overview of these developments. Numbered among the authors are many of the most prominent researchers in the field.

A good deal of the material presented in this book has been prepared by top experts in the field lecturing in January 1987 at the Winter School on Solitons in Tiruchirapalli,India. The lectures begin at an elementary level but go on to include even the most recent developments in the field. The book makes a handy introduction to the various facets of the soliton concept, and will be useful both to newcomers to the field and to researchers who are interested in developments in new branches of physics and mathematics.

WAVE TURBULENCE is a state of a system of many simultaneously excited and interacting waves characterized by an energy distribution which is not in any sense close to thermodynamic equilibrium. Such situations in a choppy sea, in a hot plasma, in dielectrics under arise, for example, a powerful laser beam, in magnets placed in a strong microwave field, etc. Among the great variety of physical situations in which wave turbulence arises, it is possible to select two large limiting groups which allow a detailed analysis. The first is fully developed wave turbulence arising when energy pumping and dissipation have essentially different space scales. In this case there is a wide power spectrum of turbulence. This type of turbulence is described in detail e. g. in Zakharov et al. 1 In the second limiting case the scales in which energy pumping and dissipation occur are the same. As a rule, in this case a narrow, almost singular spectrum of turbulence appears which is concentrated near surfaces, curves or even points in k-space. One of the most important, widely investigated and instructive examples of this kind of turbulence is parametric wave turbulence appearing as a result of the evolution of a parametric instability of waves in media under strong external periodic modulation (laser beam, microwave electromagnetic field, etc. ). The present book deals with parametric wave turbulence.

In 1979, a historical meeting took place at the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Kiev, USSR, where 48 American Scientists, specialists in nonlinear and turbulent processes, met for two weeks with their soviet counterparts. This meeting pro­ vided the unique opportunity for USA and USSR participants to directly interact personally and scientifically with each other. This interaction was of great impor­ not only for the individuals involved but also for the science of nonlinear tance phenomena in general. At the end of the meeting, it was agreed that this exchange should continue, and it was decided to have the next meeting in the USA in 1981. Unfortunately, due to the political situation at that time, the second meeting in the USA never materialized. However, in 1983, the Soviet scientists organized in Kiev a second Workshop. This second meeting was again quite successful. Similar meetings, with growing success were organized at Kiev in 1987, and 1989. It should be noted that 405 participants from 22 countries participated at the fourth Kiev workshop on Nonlinear and Turbulent Processes. The Chainnan of this workshop was V. Zakharov, who has also been a co-chainnan of all the previous workshops.

Bifurcation and Chaos presents a collection of especially written articles describing the theory and application of nonlinear dynamics to a wide variety of problems encountered in physics and engineering. Each chapter is self-contained and includes an elementary introduction, an exposition of the present state of the art, and details of recent theoretical, computational and experimental results. Included among the practical systems analysed are: hysteretic circuits, Josephson circuits, magnetic systems, railway dynamics, rotor dynamics and nonlinear dynamics of speech. This book contains important information and ideas for all mathematicians, physicists and engineers whose work in R & D or academia involves the practical consequences of chaotic dynamics.

The investigation of nonlinear wave phenomena has been one of the main direc­ tions of research in optics for the last few decades. Soliton concepts applied to the description of intense electromagnetic beams and ultrashort pulse propagation in various media have contributed much to this field. The notion of solitons has proved to be very useful in describing wave processes in hydrodynamics, plasma physics and condensed matter physics. Moreover, it is also of great importance in optics for ultrafast information transmission and storage, radiation propagation in resonant media, etc. In 1973, Hasegawa and Tappert made a significant contribution to optical soliton physics when they predicted the existence of an envelope soliton in the regime of short pulses in optical fibres. In 1980, Mollenauer et al. conducted ex­ periments to elucidate this phenomenon. Since then the theory of optical solitons as well as their experimental investigation has progressed rapidly. The effects of inhomogeneities of the medium and energy pumping on optical solitons, the interaction between optical solitons and their generation in fibres, etc. have all been investigated and reported. Logical devices using optical solitons have been developed; new types of optical solitons in media with Kerr-type nonlinearity and in resonant media have been described.

This book can be looked upon in more ways than one. On the one hand, it describes strikingly interesting and lucid hydrodynamic experiments done in the style of the "good old days" when the physicist needed little more than a piece of string and some sealing wax. On the other hand, it demonstrates how a profound physical analogy can help to get a synoptic view on a broad range of nonlinear phenomena involving self-organization of vortical structures in planetary atmo­ spheres and oceans, in galaxies and in plasmas. In particular, this approach has elucidated the nature and the mechanism of such grand phenomena as the Great of galaxies. A number of our Red Spot vortex on Jupiter and the spiral arms predictions concerning the dynamics of spiral galaxies are now being confirmed by astronomical observations stimulated by our experiments. This book is based on the material most of which was accumulated during 1981-88 in close cooperation with our colleagues, experimenters from the Plasma Physics Department of the Kurchatov Atomic Energy Institute (S. V. Antipov, A. S. Trubnikov, AYu. Rylov, AV. Khutoretsky) and astrophysics theoreticians from the Astronomical Council of the USSR Academy of Sciences (AM. Frid­ man) and from the Volgograd State University (AG. Morozov). To all of them we wish to express our gratitude. Whenever we speak of "our experiments", the participation of the entire team is implied.