This book focuses on the emergence of creative ideas from cognitive and social dynamics. In particular, it presents data, models, and analytical methods grounded in a network dynamics approach. It has long been hypothesized that innovation arises from a recombination of older ideas and concepts, but this has been studied primarily at an abstract level. In this book, we consider the networks underlying innovation - from the brain networks supporting semantic cognition to human networks such as brainstorming groups or individuals interacting through social networks - and relate the emergence of ideas to the structure and dynamics of these networks. Methods described include experimental studies with human participants, mathematical evaluation of novelty from group brainstorming experiments, neurodynamical modeling of conceptual combination, and multi-agent modeling of collective creativity. The main distinctive features of this book are the breadth of perspectives considered, the integration of experiments with theory, and a focus on the combinatorial emergence of ideas.

Modelling of information is necessary in developing information systems. Information is acquired from many sources, by using various methods and tools. It must be recognized, conceptualized, and conceptually organized efficiently so that users can easily understand and use it. Modelling is needed to understand, explain, organize, predict, and reason on information. It also helps to master the role and functions of components of information systems. Modelling can be performed with many different purposes in mind, at different levels, and by using different notions and different background theories. It can be made by emphasizing users' conceptual understanding of information on a domain level, on an algorithmic level, or on representation levels. On each level, the objects and structures used on them are different, and different rules govern the behavior on them. Therefore the notions, rules, theories, languages, and methods for modelling on different levels are also different. It will be useful if we can develop theories and methodologies for modelling, to be used in different situations, because databases, knowledge bases, and repositories in knowledge management systems, developed on the basis of models and used to technically store information, are growing day by day. In this publication, the interest is focused on modelling of information, and one of the central topics is modelling of time. Scientific and technical papers of high quality are brought together in this book.

In 1940 G. H. Hardy published A Mathematician's Apology, a meditation on mathematics by a leading pure mathematician. Eighty-two years later, An Applied Mathematician's Apology is a meditation and also a personal memoir by a philosophically inclined numerical analyst, one who has found great joy in his work but is puzzled by its relationship to the rest of mathematics.

This book delivers a comprehensive and up-to-date treatment of practical applications of metamaterials, structured media, and conventional porous materials. With increasing levels of urbanization, a growing demand for motorized transport, and inefficient urban planning, environmental noise exposure is rapidly becoming a pressing societal and health concern. Phononic and sonic crystals, acoustic metamaterials, and metasurfaces can revolutionize noise and vibration control and, in many cases, replace traditional porous materials for these applications. In this collection of contributed chapters, a group of international researchers reviews the essentials of acoustic wave propagation in metamaterials and porous absorbers with viscothermal losses, as well as the most recent advances in the design of acoustic metamaterial absorbers. The book features a detailed theoretical introduction describing commonly used modelling techniques such as plane wave expansion, multiple scattering theory, and the transfer matrix method. The following chapters give a detailed consideration of acoustic wave propagation in viscothermal fluids and porous media, and the extension of this theory to non-local models for fluid saturated metamaterials, along with a description of the relevant numerical methods. Finally, the book reviews a range of practical industrial applications, making it especially attractive as a white book targeted at the building, automotive, and aeronautic industries.

In Thermal Physics: Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics for Scientists and Engineers, the fundamental laws of thermodynamics are stated precisely as postulates and subsequently connected to historical context and developed mathematically. These laws are applied systematically to topics such as phase equilibria, chemical reactions, external forces, fluid-fluid surfaces and interfaces, and anisotropic crystal-fluid interfaces. Statistical mechanics is presented in the context of information theory to quantify entropy, followed by development of the most important ensembles: microcanonical, canonical, and grand canonical. A unified treatment of ideal classical, Fermi, and Bose gases is presented, including Bose condensation, degenerate Fermi gases, and classical gases with internal structure. Additional topics include paramagnetism, adsorption on dilute sites, point defects in crystals, thermal aspects of intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductors, density matrix formalism, the Ising model, and an introduction to Monte Carlo simulation. Throughout the book, problems are posed and solved to illustrate specific results and problem-solving techniques.

The goal of this book is to present Stochastic Calculus at an introductory level and not at its maximum mathematical detail. The author aims to capture as much as possible the spirit of elementary deterministic Calculus, at which students have been already exposed. This assumes a presentation that mimics similar properties of deterministic Calculus, which facilitates understanding of more complicated topics of Stochastic Calculus.

Complex analysis is found in many areas of applied mathematics, from fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, signal processing, control theory, mechanical and electrical engineering to quantum mechanics, among others. And of course, it is a fundamental branch of pure mathematics. The coverage in this text includes advanced topics that are not always considered in more elementary texts. These topics include, a detailed treatment of univalent functions, harmonic functions, subharmonic and superharmonic functions, Nevanlinna theory, normal families, hyperbolic geometry, iteration of rational functions, and analytic number theory. As well, the text includes in depth discussions of the Dirichlet Problem, Green's function, Riemann Hypothesis, and the Laplace transform. Some beautiful color illustrations supplement the text of this most elegant subject.

This book presents the fundamentals of the shock wave theory. The first part of the book, Chapters 1 through 5, covers the basic elements of the shock wave theory by analyzing the scalar conservation laws. The main focus of the analysis is on the explicit solution behavior. This first part of the book requires only a course in multi-variable calculus, and can be used as a text for an undergraduate topics course. In the second part of the book, Chapters 6 through 9, this general theory is used to study systems of hyperbolic conservation laws. This is a most significant well-posedness theory for weak solutions of quasilinear evolutionary partial differential equations. The final part of the book, Chapters 10 through 14, returns to the original subject of the shock wave theory by focusing on specific physical models. Potentially interesting questions and research directions are also raised in these chapters. The book can serve as an introductory text for advanced undergraduate students and for graduate students in mathematics, engineering, and physical sciences. Each chapter ends with suggestions for further reading and exercises for students.

Differential Quadrature and Differential Quadrature Based Element Methods: Theory and Applications is a comprehensive guide to these methods and their various applications in recent years. Due to the attractive features of rapid convergence, high accuracy, and computational efficiency, the differential quadrature method and its based element methods are increasingly being used to study problems in the area of structural mechanics, such as static, buckling and vibration problems of composite structures and functional material structures. This book covers new developments and their applications in detail, with accompanying FORTRAN and MATLAB programs to help you overcome difficult programming challenges. It summarises the variety of different quadrature formulations that can be found by varying the degree of polynomials, the treatment of boundary conditions and employing regular or irregular grid points, to help you choose the correct method for solving practical problems.

This book contains selected chapters on recent research in topology. It bridges the gap between recent trends of topological theories and their applications in areas like social sciences, natural sciences, soft computing, economics, theoretical chemistry, cryptography, pattern recognitions and granular computing. There are 14 chapters, including two chapters on mathematical economics from the perspective of topology. The book discusses topics on function spaces, relator space, preorder, quasi-uniformities, bitopological dynamical systems, b-metric spaces and related fixed point theory. This book is useful to researchers, experts and scientists in studying the cutting-edge research in topology and related areas and helps them applying topology in solving real-life problems the society and science are facing these days.. 

The goal of this book is to present Stochastic Calculus at an introductory level and not at its maximum mathematical detail. The author aims to capture as much as possible the spirit of elementary deterministic Calculus, at which students have been already exposed. This assumes a presentation that mimics similar properties of deterministic Calculus, which facilitates understanding of more complicated topics of Stochastic Calculus.

This graduate-level textbook covers modelling, programming and analysis of stochastic computer simulation experiments, including the mathematical and statistical foundations of simulation and why it works. The book is rigorous and complete, but concise and accessible, providing all necessary background material. Object-oriented programming of simulations is illustrated in Python, while the majority of the book is programming language independent. In addition to covering the foundations of simulation and simulation programming for applications, the text prepares readers to use simulation in their research. A solutions manual for end-of-chapter exercises is available for instructors.

The focus of these conference proceedings is on research, development, and applications in the fields of numerical geometry, scientific computing and numerical simulation, particularly in mesh generation and related problems. In addition, this year's special focus is on Delaunay triangulations and their applications, celebrating the 130th birthday of Boris Delaunay. In terms of content, the book strikes a balance between engineering algorithms and mathematical foundations. It presents an overview of recent advances in numerical geometry, grid generation and adaptation in terms of mathematical foundations, algorithm and software development and applications. The specific topics covered include: quasi-conformal and quasi-isometric mappings, hyperelastic deformations, multidimensional generalisations of the equidistribution principle, discrete differential geometry, spatial and metric encodings, Voronoi-Delaunay theory for tilings and partitions, duality in mathematical programming and numerical geometry, mesh-based optimisation and optimal control methods. Further aspects examined include iterative solvers for variational problems and algorithm and software development. The applications of the methods discussed are multidisciplinary and include problems from mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, material science, and engineering.

This book provides an itinerary to quantum mechanics taking into account the basic mathematics to formulate it. Specifically, it features the main experiments and postulates of quantum mechanics pointing out their mathematical prominent aspects showing how physical concepts and mathematical tools are deeply intertwined. The material covers topics such as analytic mechanics in Newtonian, Lagrangian, and Hamiltonian formulations, theory of light as formulated in special relativity, and then why quantum mechanics is necessary to explain experiments like the double-split, atomic spectra, and photoelectric effect. The Schroedinger equation and its solutions are developed in detail. It is pointed out that, starting from the concept of the harmonic oscillator, it is possible to develop advanced quantum mechanics. Furthermore, the mathematics behind the Heisenberg uncertainty principle is constructed towards advanced quantum mechanical principles. Relativistic quantum mechanics is finally considered.The book is devoted to undergraduate students from University courses of Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, and Engineering. It consists of 50 self-contained lectures, and any statement and theorem are demonstrated in detail. It is the companion book of "A Mathematical Journey to Relativity", by the same Authors, published by Springer in 2020.

Fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) have gained popularity in the scientific community due to their capabilities in modeling and decision making for complex problems.This book presents a novel algorithm called glassoFCM to enable automatic learning of FCM models from data. Specifically, glassoFCM is a combination of two methods, glasso (a technique originated from machine learning) for data modeling and FCM simulation for decision making. The book outlines that glassoFCM elaborates simple, accurate, and more stable models that are easy to interpret and offer meaningful decisions. The research results presented are based on an investigation related to a real-world business intelligence problem to evaluate characteristics that influence employee work readiness.Finally, this book provides readers with a step-by-step guide of the 'fcm' package to execute and visualize their policies and decisions through the FCM simulation process.

Spaces of homogeneous type were introduced as a generalization to the Euclidean space and serve as a suffi cient setting in which one can generalize the classical isotropic Harmonic analysis and function space theory. This setting is sometimes too general, and the theory is limited. Here, we present a set of fl exible ellipsoid covers of n that replace the Euclidean balls and support a generalization of the theory with fewer limitations.

This book uses a hands-on approach to nonlinear dynamics using commonly available software, including the free dynamical systems software Xppaut, Matlab (or its free cousin, Octave) and the Maple symbolic algebra system. Detailed instructions for various common procedures, including bifurcation analysis using the version of AUTO embedded in Xppaut, are provided. This book also provides a survey that can be taught in a single academic term covering a greater variety of dynamical systems (discrete versus continuous time, finite versus infinite-dimensional, dissipative versus conservative) than is normally seen in introductory texts. Numerical computation and linear stability analysis are used as unifying themes throughout the book. Despite the emphasis on computer calculations, theory is not neglected, and fundamental concepts from the field of nonlinear dynamics such as solution maps and invariant manifolds are presented.

Since the earliest days of human existence, the clash of thunder and trembling of the hills has struck fear into the hearts of seasoned warriors and tribal villagers alike. Great gods, demi-gods, and heroes were created to explain the awesome, mysterious, and incomprehensibly powerful forces of Nature in a feeble attempt to make sense of the world around them. To our advanced scientific minds today, these explanations seem childish and ridiculous; however, the power to flatten thousands of square miles of ancient forest, create massive holes in the Earth itself, and cause mountains to tremble to their very roots are more than enough reason to believe. Indeed, perhaps our scientific advancement has caused us to not fully or completely appreciate the awesome scale and power that Nature can wield against us. The study of shock wave formation and dynamics begins with a study of waves themselves. Simple harmonic motion is used to analyze the physical mechanisms of wave generation and propagation, and the principle of superposition is used to mathematically generate constructive and destructive interference. Further development leads to the shock singularity where a single wave of immense magnitude propagates and decays through various media. Correlations with the fields of thermodynamics, meteorology, crater formation, and acoustics are made, as well as a few special applications. Direct correlation is made to events in Arizona, Siberia, and others. The mathematical requirement for this text includes trigonometry, differential equations, and large series summations, which should be accessible to most beginning and advanced university students. This text should serve well as supplementary material in a course covering discrete wave dynamics, applied thermodynamics, or extreme acoustics.

Ideal for college students in intermediate finance courses, this book uniquely applies mathematical formulas to teach the underpinnings of financial and lending decisions, covering common applications in real estate, capital budgeting, and commercial loans. An updated and expanded version of the time-honored classic text on financial math, this book provides, in one place, a complete and practical treatment of the four primary venues for finance: commercial lending, financial formulas, mortgage lending, and resource allocation or capital budgeting techniques. With an emphasis on understanding the principles involved rather than blind reliance on formulas, the book provides rigorous and thorough explanations of the mathematical calculations used in determining the time value of money, valuation of loans by commercial banks, valuation of mortgages, and the cost of capital and capital budgeting techniques for single as well as mutually exclusive projects. This new edition devotes an entire chapter to a method of evaluating mutually exclusive projects without resorting to any imposed conditions. Two chapters not found in the previous edition address special topics in finance, including a novel and innovative way to approach amortization tables and the time value of money for cash flows when they increase geometrically or arithmetically. This new edition also features helpful how-to sections on Excel applications at the end of each appropriate chapter. Lays the foundation of all the topics that are typically covered in a financial management textbook or class Demonstrates how the mastery of a few basic concepts-such as the time value of money under all possible situations-allows for a precise understanding of more complex topics in finance Describes how all advanced capital budgeting techniques can be reduced to the simplest technique-the payback period method Examines traditional financial techniques using simple interest rate and accounting rate of return methods to conclusively show how these practices are now defunct

Quantum mechanics is one of the most fascinating, and at the same time most controversial, branches of contemporary science. Disputes have accompanied this science since its birth and have not ceased to this day.

"Uncommon Paths in Quantum Physics" allows the reader to contemplate deeply some ideas and methods that are seldom met in the contemporary literature. Instead of widespread recipes of mathematical physics, based on the solutions of integro-differential equations, the book follows logical and partly intuitional derivations of non-commutative algebra. Readers can directly penetrate the abstract world of quantum mechanics.
First book in the market that treats this newly developed area of theoretical physics; the book will thus provide a fascinating overview of the prospective applications of this area, strongly founded on the theories and methods that it describes.Provides a solid foundation for the application of quantum theory to current physical problems arising in the interpretation of molecular spectra and important effects in quantum field theory.New insight into the physics of anharmonic vibrations, more feasible calculations with improved precision.