Collecting together contributed lectures and mini-courses, this book details the research presented in a special semester titled "Geometric mechanics - variational and stochastic methods" run in the first half of 2015 at the Centre Interfacultaire Bernoulli (CIB) of the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne. The aim of the semester was to develop a common language needed to handle the wide variety of problems and phenomena occurring in stochastic geometric mechanics. It gathered mathematicians and scientists from several different areas of mathematics (from analysis, probability, numerical analysis and statistics, to algebra, geometry, topology, representation theory, and dynamical systems theory) and also areas of mathematical physics, control theory, robotics, and the life sciences, with the aim of developing the new research area in a concentrated joint effort, both from the theoretical and applied points of view. The lectures were given by leading specialists in different areas of mathematics and its applications, building bridges among the various communities involved and working jointly on developing the envisaged new interdisciplinary subject of stochastic geometric mechanics.

This authored monograph presents a study on fundamental limits and robustness of stability and stabilization of time-delay systems, with an emphasis on time-varying delay, robust stabilization, and newly emerged areas such as networked control and multi-agent systems. The authors systematically develop an operator-theoretic approach that departs from both the traditional algebraic approach and the currently pervasive LMI solution methods. This approach is built on the classical small-gain theorem, which enables the author to draw upon powerful tools and techniques from robust control theory. The book contains motivating examples and presents mathematical key facts that are required in the subsequent sections. The target audience primarily comprises researchers and professionals in the field of control theory, but the book may also be beneficial for graduate students alike.

During the last four decades there has been a remarkable development in optimization and optimal control. Due to its wide variety of applications, many scientists and researchers have paid attention to fields of optimization and optimal control. A huge number of new theoretical, algorithmic, and computational results have been observed in the last few years. This book gives the latest advances, and due to the rapid development of these fields, there are no other recent publications on the same topics.

Key features:

Provides a collection of selected contributions giving a state-of-the-art account of recent developments in the field

Covers a broad range of topics in optimization and optimal control, including unique applications

Includes chapters written by experts in their respective disciplines

Appeals to a broad audience of researchers, practitioners, and advanced graduate students in applied mathematics and engineering

Variational calculus has been the basis of a variety of powerful methods in the ?eld of mechanics of materials for a long time. Examples range from numerical schemes like the ?nite element method to the determination of effective material properties via homogenization and multiscale approaches. In recent years, however, a broad range of novel applications of variational concepts has been developed. This c- prises the modeling of the evolution of internal variables in inelastic materials as well as the initiation and development of material patterns and microstructures. The IUTAM Symposium on "Variational Concepts with Applications to the - chanics of Materials" took place at the Ruhr-University of Bochum, Germany, on September 22-26, 2008. The symposium was attended by 55 delegates from 10 countries. Altogether 31 lectures were presented. The objective of the symposium was to give an overview of the new dev- opments sketched above, to bring together leading experts in these ?elds, and to provide a forum for discussing recent advances and identifying open problems to work on in the future. The symposium focused on the developmentof new material models as well as the advancement of the corresponding computational techniques. Speci?c emphasis is put on the treatment of materials possessing an inherent - crostructure and thus exhibiting a behavior which fundamentally involves multiple scales. Among the topics addressed at the symposium were: 1. Energy-based modeling of material microstructures via envelopes of n- quasiconvex potentials and applications to plastic behavior and pha- transformations.

"Nonconvex Optimal Control and Variational Problems "is an important contribution to the existing literature in the field and is devoted to the presentation of progress made in the last 15 years of research in the area of optimal control and the calculus of variations. This volume contains a number of results concerning well-posedness of optimal control and variational problems, nonoccurrence of the Lavrentiev phenomenon for optimal control and variational problems, and turnpike properties of approximate solutions of variational problems.

Chapter 1 contains an introduction as well as examples of select topics. Chapters 2-5 consider the well-posedness condition using fine tools of general topology and porosity. Chapters 6-8 are devoted to the nonoccurrence of the Lavrentiev phenomenon and contain original results. Chapter 9 focuses on infinite-dimensional linear control problems, and Chapter 10 deals with good functions and explores new understandings on the questions of optimality and variational problems. Finally, Chapters 11-12 are centered around the turnpike property, a particular area of expertise for the author.

This volume is intended for mathematicians, engineers, and scientists interested in the calculus of variations, optimal control, optimization, and applied functional analysis, as well as both undergraduate and graduate students specializing in those areas. The text devoted to Turnpike properties may be of particular interest to the economics community."

Various general techniques have been developed for control and systems problems, many of which involve indirect methods. Because these indirect methods are not always effective, alternative approaches using direct methods are of particular interest and relevance given the advances of computing in recent years.The focus of this book, unique in the literature, is on direct methods, which are concerned with finding actual solutions to problems in control and systems, often algorithmic in nature. Throughout the work, deterministic and stochastic problems are examined from a unified perspective and with considerable rigor. Emphasis is placed on the theoretical basis of the methods and their potential utility in a broad range of control and systems problems.The book is an excellent reference for graduate students, researchers, applied mathematicians, and control engineers and may be used as a textbook for a graduate course or seminar on direct methods in control.

Initial training in pure and applied sciences tends to present problem-solving as the process of elaborating explicit closed-form solutions from basic principles, and then using these solutions in numerical applications. This approach is only applicable to very limited classes of problems that are simple enough for such closed-form solutions to exist. Unfortunately, most real-life problems are too complex to be amenable to this type of treatment. "Numerical Methods a Consumer Guide "presents methods for dealing with them.

Shifting the paradigm from formal calculus to numerical computation, the text makes it possible for the reader to

. discover how to escape the dictatorship of those particular cases that are simple enough to receive a closed-form solution, and thus gain the ability to solve complex, real-life problems;

. understand the principles behind recognized algorithms used in state-of-the-art numerical software;

. learn the advantages and limitations of these algorithms, to facilitate the choice of which pre-existing bricks to assemble for solving a given problem; and

. acquire methods that allow a critical assessment of numerical results.

"Numerical Methods a Consumer Guide "will be of interest to engineers and researchers who solve problems numerically with computers or supervise people doing so, and to students of both engineering and applied mathematics. "

A billiard is a dynamical system in which a point particle alternates between free motion and specular reflections fromthe boundaryof a domain."Exterior Billiards" presents billiards in the complement of domains and their applications in aerodynamics and geometrical optics.

This book distinguishes itself from existing literature by presenting billiard dynamics "outside" bounded domains, including scattering, resistance, invisibility and retro-reflection. It begins with an overview of the mathematical notations used throughout the book and a brief review of the main results. Chapters 2 and 3 are focused on problems of minimal resistance and Newton s problem in media with positive temperature. In chapters 4 and 5, scattering of billiards bynonconvex and rough domains is characterized and some related special problems of optimal mass transportation are studied. Applications in aerodynamics are addressed next and problems of invisibility and retro-reflection within the framework of geometric optics conclude the text.

The book will appeal to mathematicians working in dynamical systems and calculus of variations. Specialists working in the areas of applications discussed will also find it useful."

F. dell'Isola, L. Placidi: Variational principles are a powerful tool also for formulating field theories. - F. dell'Isola, P. Seppecher, A. Madeo: Beyond Euler-Cauchy Continua. The structure of contact actions in N-th gradient generalized continua: a generalization of the Cauchy tetrahedron argument. - B. Bourdin, G.A. Francfort: Fracture. - S. Gavrilyuk: Multiphase flow modeling via Hamilton's principle. - V. L. Berdichevsky: Introduction to stochastic variational problems. - A. Carcaterra: New concepts in damping generation and control: theoretical formulation and industrial applications. - F. dell'Isola, P. Seppecher, A. Madeo: Fluid shock wave generation at solid-material discontinuity surfaces in porous media.

Variational methods give an efficient and elegant way to formulate and solve mathematical problems that are of interest to scientists and engineers. In this book three fundamental aspects of the variational formulation of mechanics will be presented: physical, mathematical and applicative ones.
The first aspect concerns the investigation of the nature of real physical problems with the aim of finding the best variational formulation suitable to those problems. The second aspect is the study of the well-posedeness of those mathematical problems which need to be solved in order to draw previsions from the formulated models. And the third aspect is related to the direct application of variational analysis to solve real engineering problems.

This unique text/reference presents a fresh look at nonlinear processing through nonlinear eigenvalue analysis, highlighting how one-homogeneous convex functionals can induce nonlinear operators that can be analyzed within an eigenvalue framework. The text opens with an introduction to the mathematical background, together with a summary of classical variational algorithms for vision. This is followed by a focus on the foundations and applications of the new multi-scale representation based on non-linear eigenproblems. The book then concludes with a discussion of new numerical techniques for finding nonlinear eigenfunctions, and promising research directions beyond the convex case. Topics and features: introduces the classical Fourier transform and its associated operator and energy, and asks how these concepts can be generalized in the nonlinear case; reviews the basic mathematical notion, briefly outlining the use of variational and flow-based methods to solve image-processing and computer vision algorithms; describes the properties of the total variation (TV) functional, and how the concept of nonlinear eigenfunctions relate to convex functionals; provides a spectral framework for one-homogeneous functionals, and applies this framework for denoising, texture processing and image fusion; proposes novel ways to solve the nonlinear eigenvalue problem using special flows that converge to eigenfunctions; examines graph-based and nonlocal methods, for which a TV eigenvalue analysis gives rise to strong segmentation, clustering and classification algorithms; presents an approach to generalizing the nonlinear spectral concept beyond the convex case, based on pixel decay analysis; discusses relations to other branches of image processing, such as wavelets and dictionary based methods. This original work offers fascinating new insights into established signal processing techniques, integrating deep mathematical concepts from a range of different fields, which will be of great interest to all researchers involved with image processing and computer vision applications, as well as computations for more general scientific problems.

This book presents the use of efficient Evolutionary Computation (EC) algorithms for solving diverse real-world image processing and pattern recognition problems. It provides an overview of the different aspects of evolutionary methods in order to enable the reader in reaching a global understanding of the field and, in conducting studies on specific evolutionary techniques that are related to applications in image processing and pattern recognition. It explains the basic ideas of the proposed applications in a way that can also be understood by readers outside of the field. Image processing and pattern recognition practitioners who are not evolutionary computation researchers will appreciate the discussed techniques beyond simple theoretical tools since they have been adapted to solve significant problems that commonly arise on such areas. On the other hand, members of the evolutionary computation community can learn the way in which image processing and pattern recognition problems can be translated into an optimization task. The book has been structured so that each chapter can be read independently from the others. It can serve as reference book for students and researchers with basic knowledge in image processing and EC methods.

"Discrete-Time Linear Systems: Theory and Design with Applications "combines system theory and design in order to show the importance of system theory and its role in system design. The book focuses on system theory (including optimal state feedback and optimal state estimation) and system design (with applications to feedback control systems and wireless transceivers, plus system identification and channel estimation).

The Mathematical Elasticity set contains three self-contained volumes that together provide the only modern treatise on elasticity. They introduce contemporary research on three-dimensional elasticity, the theory of plates, and the theory of shells. Each volume contains proofs, detailed surveys of all mathematical prerequisites, and many problems for teaching and self-study. An extended preface and extensive bibliography have been added to each volume to highlight the progress that has been made since the original publication. The first book, Three-Dimensional Elasticity, covers the modeling and mathematical analysis of nonlinear three-dimensional elasticity. In volume two, Theory of Plates, asymptotic methods provide a rigorous mathematical justification of the classical two-dimensional linear plate and shallow shell theories. The objective of Theory of Shells, the final volume, is to show how asymptotic methods provide a rigorous mathematical justification of the classical two-dimensional linear shell theories: membrane, generalized membrane, and flexural. These classic textbooks are for advanced undergraduates, first-year graduate students, and researchers in pure or applied mathematics or continuum mechanics. They are appropriate for courses in mathematical elasticity, theory of plates and shells, continuum mechanics, computational mechanics, and applied mathematics in general.

Hereditary systems (or systems with either delay or after-effects) are widely used to model processes in physics, mechanics, control, economics and biology. An important element in their study is their stability. Stability conditions for difference equations with delay can be obtained using a Lyapunov functional.
Lyapunov Functionals and Stability of Stochastic Difference Equations describes a general method of Lyapunov functional construction to investigate the stability of discrete- and continuous-time stochastic Volterra difference equations. The method allows the investigation of the degree to which the stability properties of differential equations are preserved in their difference analogues.
The text is self-contained, beginning with basic definitions and the mathematical fundamentals of Lyapunov functional construction and moving on from particular to general stability results for stochastic difference equations with constant coefficients. Results are then discussed for stochastic difference equations of linear, nonlinear, delayed, discrete and continuous types. Examples are drawn from a variety of physical systems including inverted pendulum control, study of epidemic development, Nicholson s blowflies equation and predator prey relationships.
Lyapunov Functionals and Stability of Stochastic Difference Equations is primarily addressed to experts in stability theory but will also be of use in the work of pure and computational mathematicians and researchers using the ideas of optimal control to study economic, mechanical and biological systems.

Viability theory designs and develops mathematical and algorithmic methods for investigating the adaptation to viability constraints of evolutions governed by complex systems under uncertainty that are found in many domains involving living beings, from biological evolution to economics, from environmental sciences to financial markets, from control theory and robotics to cognitive sciences. It involves interdisciplinary investigations spanning fields that have traditionally developed in isolation. The purpose of this book is to present an initiation to applications of viability theory, explaining and motivating the main concepts and illustrating them with numerous numerical examples taken from various fields.

Energy is one of the worlds most challenging problems, and power systems are an important aspect of energy related issues. This handbook contains state-of-the-art contributions on power systems modeling and optimization. The book is separated into two volumes with six sections, which cover the most important areas of energy systems. The first volume covers the topics operations planning and expansion planning while the second volume focuses on transmission and distribution modeling, forecasting in energy, energy auctions and markets, as well as risk management. The contributions are authored by recognized specialists in their fields and consist in either state-of-the-art reviews or examinations of state-of-the-art developments. The articles are not purely theoretical, but instead also discuss specific applications in power systems.

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 Voronoi diagrams and their applications, celebrating the 150th birthday of G.F. Voronoi. 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 volume is a collection of chapters covering recent advances in stochastic optimal control theory and algebraic systems theory. The book will be a useful reference for researchers and graduate students in systems and control, algebraic systems theory, and applied mathematics. Requiring only knowledge of undergraduate-level control and systems theory, the work may be used as a supplementary textbook in a graduate course on optimal control or algebraic systems theory.

This book surveys new algorithmic approaches and applications to natural and man-made disasters such as oil spills, hurricanes, earthquakes and wildfires. Based on the "Third International Conference on Dynamics of Disasters" held in Kalamata, Greece, July 2017, this Work includes contributions in evacuation logistics, disaster communications between first responders, disaster relief, and a case study on humanitarian logistics. Multi-disciplinary theories, tools, techniques and methodologies are linked with disasters from mitigation and preparedness to response and recovery. The interdisciplinary approach to problems in economics, optimization, government, management, business, humanities, engineering, medicine, mathematics, computer science, behavioral studies, emergency services, and environmental studies will engage readers from a wide variety of fields and backgrounds.

This book presents the mathematical theory of vector variational inequalities and their relations with vector optimization problems. It is the first-ever book to introduce well-posedness and sensitivity analysis for vector equilibrium problems. The first chapter provides basic notations and results from the areas of convex analysis, functional analysis, set-valued analysis and fixed-point theory for set-valued maps, as well as a brief introduction to variational inequalities and equilibrium problems. Chapter 2 presents an overview of analysis over cones, including continuity and convexity of vector-valued functions. The book then shifts its focus to solution concepts and classical methods in vector optimization. It describes the formulation of vector variational inequalities and their applications to vector optimization, followed by separate chapters on linear scalarization, nonsmooth and generalized vector variational inequalities. Lastly, the book introduces readers to vector equilibrium problems and generalized vector equilibrium problems. Written in an illustrative and reader-friendly way, the book offers a valuable resource for all researchers whose work involves optimization and vector optimization.

This volume contains the proceedings of the XII Symposium of Probability and Stochastic Processes which took place at Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan in Merida, Mexico, on November 16-20, 2015. This meeting was the twelfth meeting in a series of ongoing biannual meetings aimed at showcasing the research of Mexican probabilists as well as promote new collaborations between the participants. The book features articles drawn from different research areas in probability and stochastic processes, such as: risk theory, limit theorems, stochastic partial differential equations, random trees, stochastic differential games, stochastic control, and coalescence. Two of the main manuscripts survey recent developments on stochastic control and scaling limits of Markov-branching trees, written by Kazutoshi Yamasaki and Benedicte Haas, respectively. The research-oriented manuscripts provide new advances in active research fields in Mexico. The wide selection of topics makes the book accessible to advanced graduate students and researchers in probability and stochastic processes.

This book presents the proceedings of the International Conference "Stability, Control, Differential Games" (SCDG2019, September 16 - 20, 2019, Yekaterinburg, Russia), organized by the Krasovskii Institute of Mathematics and Mechanics of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Discussing the latest advances in the theory of optimal control, stability theory and differential games, it also demonstrates the application of new techniques and numerical algorithms to solve problems in robotics, mechatronics, power and energy systems, economics and ecology. Further, the book includes fundamental results in control theory, stability theory and differential games presented at the conference, as well as a number of chapters focusing on novel approaches in solving important applied problems in control and optimization. Lastly, it evaluates recent major accomplishments, and forecasts developments in various up-and-coming areas, such as hybrid systems, model predictive control, Hamilton-Jacobi equations and advanced estimation algorithms.

This fascinating book is a treatise on real space-age materials. It is a mathematical treatment of a novel concept in material science that characterizes the properties of dynamic materials-that is, material substances whose properties are variable in space and time. Unlike conventional composites that are often found in nature, dynamic materials are mostly the products of modern technology developed to maintain the most effective control over dynamic processes.

This book focuses on the latest applications of nonlinear approaches in different disciplines of engineering and to a range of scientific problems. For each selected topic, detailed concept development, derivations and relevant knowledge are provided for the convenience of the readers. The topics range from dynamic systems and control to optimal approaches in nonlinear dynamics. The volume further includes invited chapters from world class experts in the field. The selected topics are of great interest in the fields of engineering and physics and this book is ideal for engineers and researchers working in a broad range of practical topics and approaches.

This textbook is distinguished from other texts on the subject by the depth of the presentation and the discussion of the calculus of moving surfaces, which is an extension of tensor calculus to deforming manifolds.

Designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, this text invites its audience to take a fresh look at previously learned material through the prism of tensor calculus. Once the framework is mastered, the student is introduced to new material which includes differential geometry on manifolds, shape optimization, boundary perturbation and dynamic fluid film equations.

The language of tensors, originally championed by Einstein, is as fundamental as the languages of calculus and linear algebra and is one that every technical scientist ought to speak. The tensor technique, invented at the turn of the 20th century, is now considered classical. Yet, as the author shows, it remains remarkably vital and relevant. The author s skilled lecturing capabilities are evident by the inclusion of insightful examples and a plethora of exercises. A great deal of material is devoted to the geometric fundamentals, the mechanics of change of variables, the proper use of the tensor notation and the discussion of the interplay between algebra and geometry. The early chapters have many words and few equations. The definition of a tensor comes only in Chapter 6 when the reader is ready for it. While this text maintains a consistent level of rigor, it takes great care to avoid formalizing the subject.

The last part of the textbook is devoted to the Calculus of Moving Surfaces. It is the first textbook exposition of this important technique and is one of the gems of this text. A number of exciting applications of the calculus are presented including shape optimization, boundary perturbation of boundary value problems and dynamic fluid film equations developed by the author in recent years. Furthermore, the moving surfaces framework is used to offer new derivations of classical results such as the geodesic equation and the celebrated Gauss-Bonnet theorem."