Metric fixed point theory encompasses the branch of fixed point theory which metric conditions on the underlying space and/or on the mappings play a fundamental role. In some sense the theory is a far-reaching outgrowth of Banach's contraction mapping principle. A natural extension of the study of contractions is the limiting case when the Lipschitz constant is allowed to equal one. Such mappings are called nonexpansive. Nonexpansive mappings arise in a variety of natural ways, for example in the study of holomorphic mappings and hyperconvex metric spaces. Because most of the spaces studied in analysis share many algebraic and topological properties as well as metric properties, there is no clear line separating metric fixed point theory from the topological or set-theoretic branch of the theory. Also, because of its metric underpinnings, metric fixed point theory has provided the motivation for the study of many geometric properties of Banach spaces. The contents of this Handbook reflect all of these facts. The purpose of the Handbook is to provide a primary resource for anyone interested in fixed point theory with a metric flavor. The goal is to provide information for those wishing to find results that might apply to their own work and for those wishing to obtain a deeper understanding of the theory. The book should be of interest to a wide range of researchers in mathematical analysis as well as to those whose primary interest is the study of fixed point theory and the underlying spaces. The level of exposition is directed to a wide audience, including students and established researchers.

Let 8 be a Riemann surface of analytically finite type (9, n) with 29 - 2+n> O. Take two pointsP1, P2 E 8, and set 8 ,1>2= 8 \ {P1' P2}. Let PI Homeo+(8;P1,P2) be the group of all orientation preserving homeomor- phismsw: 8 -+ 8 fixingP1, P2 and isotopic to the identity on 8. Denote byHomeot(8;Pb P2) the set of all elements ofHomeo+(8;P1, P2) iso- topic to the identity on 8 ,P2' ThenHomeot(8;P1,P2) is a normal sub- pl group ofHomeo+(8;P1,P2). We setIsot(8;P1,P2) =Homeo+(8;P1,P2)/ Homeot(8;p1, P2). The purpose of this note is to announce a result on the Nielsen- Thurston-Bers type classification of an element [w] ofIsot+(8;P1,P2). We give a necessary and sufficient condition for thetypeto be hyperbolic. The condition is described in terms of properties of the pure braid [b ] w induced by [w]. Proofs will appear elsewhere. The problem considered in this note and the form ofthe solution are suggested by Kra's beautiful theorem in [6], where he treats self-maps of Riemann surfaces with one specified point. 2 TheclassificationduetoBers Let us recall the classification of elements of the mapping class group due to Bers (see Bers [1]). LetT(R) be the Teichmiiller space of a Riemann surfaceR, andMod(R) be the Teichmtiller modular group of R. Note that an orientation preserving homeomorphism w: R -+ R induces canonically an element (w) EMod(R). Denote by&.r(R)(*,.) the Teichmiiller distance onT(R). For an elementXEMod(R), we define a(x)= inf &.r(R)(r,x(r)).

Infinite dimensional holomorphy is the study of holomorphic or analytic func tions over complex topological vector spaces. The terms in this description are easily stated and explained and allow the subject to project itself ini tially, and innocently, as a compact theory with well defined boundaries. However, a comprehensive study would include delving into, and interacting with, not only the obvious topics of topology, several complex variables theory and functional analysis but also, differential geometry, Jordan algebras, Lie groups, operator theory, logic, differential equations and fixed point theory. This diversity leads to a dynamic synthesis of ideas and to an appreciation of a remarkable feature of mathematics - its unity. Unity requires synthesis while synthesis leads to unity. It is necessary to stand back every so often, to take an overall look at one's subject and ask "How has it developed over the last ten, twenty, fifty years? Where is it going? What am I doing?" I was asking these questions during the spring of 1993 as I prepared a short course to be given at Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro during the following July. The abundance of suit able material made the selection of topics difficult. For some time I hesitated between two very different aspects of infinite dimensional holomorphy, the geometric-algebraic theory associated with bounded symmetric domains and Jordan triple systems and the topological theory which forms the subject of the present book."

The first contribution describes basic concepts, facts and problems of the modern theory of entire functions of several complex variables. The second contribution deals with analogies of basic Nevanlinna's theorems about the distribution of values in the multidimensional case and various applications. The third contribution is devoted to invariant metrics and volumes and their applications in problems of function theory of several variables. The fourth contribution touches upon various results concerning the rigidity of holomorphic mappings of complex spaces beginnning with classical Liouville's and Picard's theorems. Contribution five presents results concerning extension of holomorphic mappings to the boundaries of domains, and results about correspondence of boundaries and equivalence of domains with respect to biholomorphic mappings. Contribution six dwells on the problem of biholomorphic equivalence of manifolds in this differential geometric aspect. The last contribution reviews applications of multidimensional complex geometry in modern physical theories - supergravitation and supergauge fields. This volume will be useful to complex analysts and physicists. It is rounded off by an extensive bibliography.

The main theme of this book is the homotopy principle for holomorphic mappings from Stein manifolds to the newly introduced class of Oka manifolds. The book contains the first complete account of Oka-Grauert theory and its modern extensions, initiated by Mikhail Gromov and developed in the last decade by the author and his collaborators. Included is the first systematic presentation of the theory of holomorphic automorphisms of complex Euclidean spaces, a survey on Stein neighborhoods, connections between the geometry of Stein surfaces and Seiberg-Witten theory, and a wide variety of applications ranging from classical to contemporary."

This textbook introduces the subject of complex analysis to advanced undergraduate and graduate students in a clear and concise manner. Key features of this textbook: effectively organizes the subject into easily manageable sections in the form of 50 class-tested lectures, uses detailed examples to drive the presentation, includes numerous exercise sets that encourage pursuing extensions of the material, each with an "Answers or Hints" section, covers an array of advanced topics which allow for flexibility in developing the subject beyond the basics, provides a concise history of complex numbers. An Introduction to Complex Analysis will be valuable to students in mathematics, engineering and other applied sciences. Prerequisites include a course in calculus.

This book deals with linear functional differential equations and operator theory methods for their investigation. The main topics are: the equivalence of the input-output stability of the equation "L"x = &mathsf; and the invertibility of the operator "L" in the class of casual operators; the equivalence of input-output and exponential stability; the equivalence of the dichotomy of solutions for the homogeneous equation "L"x = 0 and the invertibility of the operator "L"; the properties of Green's function; the independence of the stability of an equation from the norm on the space of solutions; shift invariant functional differential equations in Banach space; the possibility of the reduction of an equation of neutral type to an equation of retarded type; special full subalgebras of integral and difference operators, and operators with unbounded memory; and the analogue of Fredholm's alternative for operators with almost periodic coefficients where one-sided invertibility implies two-sided invertibility. Audience: This monograph will be of interest to students and researchers working in functional differential equations and operator theory and is recommended for graduate level courses.

Since its emergence as an important research area in the early 1980s, the topic of wavelets has undergone tremendous development on both theoretical and applied fronts. Myriad research and survey papers and monographs have been published on the subject, documenting different areas of applications such as sound and image processing, denoising, data compression, tomography, and medical imaging. The study of wavelets remains a very active field of research, and many of its central techniques and ideas have evolved into new and promising research areas.

This volume, a collection of invited contributions developed from talks at an international conference on wavelets, is divided into three parts: Part I is devoted to the mathematical theory of wavelets and features several papers on wavelet sets and the construction of wavelet bases in different settings. Part II looks at the use of multiscale harmonic analysis for understanding the geometry of large data sets and extracting information from them. Part III focuses on applications of wavelet theory to the study of several real-world problems.

Overall, the book is an excellent reference for graduate students, researchers, and practitioners in theoretical and applied mathematics, or in engineering.

Bringing together two fundamental texts from Frederic Pham's research on singular integrals, the first part of this book focuses on topological and geometrical aspects while the second explains the analytic approach. Using notions developed by J. Leray in the calculus of residues in several variables and R. Thom's isotopy theorems, Frederic Pham's foundational study of the singularities of integrals lies at the interface between analysis and algebraic geometry, culminating in the Picard-Lefschetz formulae. These mathematical structures, enriched by the work of Nilsson, are then approached using methods from the theory of differential equations and generalized from the point of view of hyperfunction theory and microlocal analysis.

Providing a 'must-have' introduction to the singularities of integrals, a number of supplementary references also offer a convenient guide to the subjects covered.

This book will appeal to both mathematicians and physicists with an interest in the area of singularities of integrals.

Frederic Pham, now retired, was Professor at the University of Nice. He has published several educational and research texts. His recent work concerns semi-classical analysis and resurgent functions."

This volume offers a well-structured overview of existent computational approaches to Riemann surfaces and those currently in development. The authors of the contributions represent the groups providing publically available numerical codes in this field. Thus this volume illustrates which software tools are available and how they can be used in practice. In addition examples for solutions to partial differential equations and in surface theory are presented. The intended audience of this book is twofold. It can be used as a textbook for a graduate course in numerics of Riemann surfaces, in which case the standard undergraduate background, i.e., calculus and linear algebra, is required. In particular, no knowledge of the theory of Riemann surfaces is expected; the necessary background in this theory is contained in the Introduction chapter. At the same time, this book is also intended for specialists in geometry and mathematical physics applying the theory of Riemann surfaces in their research. It is the first book on numerics of Riemann surfaces that reflects the progress made in this field during the last decade, and it contains original results. There are a growing number of applications that involve the evaluation of concrete characteristics of models analytically described in terms of Riemann surfaces. Many problem settings and computations in this volume are motivated by such concrete applications in geometry and mathematical physics.

In its first six chapters this 2006 text seeks to present the basic ideas and properties of the Jacobi elliptic functions as an historical essay, an attempt to answer the fascinating question: 'what would the treatment of elliptic functions have been like if Abel had developed the ideas, rather than Jacobi?' Accordingly, it is based on the idea of inverting integrals which arise in the theory of differential equations and, in particular, the differential equation that describes the motion of a simple pendulum. The later chapters present a more conventional approach to the Weierstrass functions and to elliptic integrals, and then the reader is introduced to the richly varied applications of the elliptic and related functions. Applications spanning arithmetic (solution of the general quintic, the functional equation of the Riemann zeta function), dynamics (orbits, Euler's equations, Green's functions), and also probability and statistics, are discussed.

In its first six chapters this 2006 text seeks to present the basic ideas and properties of the Jacobi elliptic functions as an historical essay, an attempt to answer the fascinating question: 'what would the treatment of elliptic functions have been like if Abel had developed the ideas, rather than Jacobi?' Accordingly, it is based on the idea of inverting integrals which arise in the theory of differential equations and, in particular, the differential equation that describes the motion of a simple pendulum. The later chapters present a more conventional approach to the Weierstrass functions and to elliptic integrals, and then the reader is introduced to the richly varied applications of the elliptic and related functions. Applications spanning arithmetic (solution of the general quintic, the functional equation of the Riemann zeta function), dynamics (orbits, Euler's equations, Green's functions), and also probability and statistics, are discussed.

The purpose of the volume is to bring forward recent trends of research in hypercomplex analysis. The list of contributors includes first rate mathematicians and young researchers working on several different aspects in quaternionic and Clifford analysis. Besides original research papers, there are papers providing the state-of-the-art of a specific topic, sometimes containing interdisciplinary fields. The intended audience includes researchers, PhD students, postgraduate students who are interested in the field and in possible connection between hypercomplex analysis and other disciplines, including mathematical analysis, mathematical physics, algebra.

In [Hardy and Williams, 1986] the authors exploited a very simple idea to obtain a linear congruence involving class numbers of imaginary quadratic fields modulo a certain power of 2. Their congruence provided a unified setting for many congruences proved previously by other authors using various means. The Hardy-Williams idea was as follows. Let d be the discriminant of a quadratic field. Suppose that d is odd and let d = PIP2* . . Pn be its unique decomposition into prime discriminants. Then, for any positive integer k coprime with d, the congruence holds trivially as each Legendre-Jacobi-Kronecker symbol (~) has the value + 1 or -1. Expanding this product gives ~ eld e:=l (mod4) where e runs through the positive and negative divisors of d and v (e) denotes the number of distinct prime factors of e. Summing this congruence for o < k < Idl/8, gcd(k, d) = 1, gives ~ (-It(e) ~ (~) =:O(mod2n). eld o

Generalising classical concepts of probability theory, the investigation of operator (semi)-stable laws as possible limit distributions of operator-normalized sums of i.i.d. random variable on finite-dimensional vector space started in 1969. Currently, this theory is still in progress and promises interesting applications. Parallel to this, similar stability concepts for probabilities on groups were developed during recent decades. It turns out that the existence of suitable limit distributions has a strong impact on the structure of both the normalizing automorphisms and the underlying group. Indeed, investigations in limit laws led to contractable groups and - at least within the class of connected groups - to homogeneous groups, in particular to groups that are topologically isomorphic to a vector space. Moreover, it has been shown that (semi)-stable measures on groups have a vector space counterpart and vice versa. The purpose of this book is to describe the structure of limit laws and the limit behaviour of normalized i.i.d. random variables on groups and on finite-dimensional vector spaces from a common point of view. This will also shed a new light on the classical situation. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to stability problems on vector spaces. Chapter II is concerned with parallel investigations for homogeneous groups and in Chapter III the situation beyond homogeneous Lie groups is treated. Throughout, emphasis is laid on the description of features common to the group- and vector space situation. Chapter I can be understood by graduate students with some background knowledge in infinite divisibility. Readers of Chapters II and III are assumed to be familiar with basic techniques from probability theory on locally compact groups.

Few people outside of mathematics are aware of the varieties of mathemat ical experience - the degree to which different mathematical subjects have different and distinctive flavors, often attractive to some mathematicians and repellant to others. The particular flavor of the subject of minimal surfaces seems to lie in a combination of the concreteness of the objects being studied, their origin and relation to the physical world, and the way they lie at the intersection of so many different parts of mathematics. In the past fifteen years a new component has been added: the availability of computer graphics to provide illustrations that are both mathematically instructive and esthetically pleas ing. During the course of the twentieth century, two major thrusts have played a seminal role in the evolution of minimal surface theory. The first is the work on the Plateau Problem, whose initial phase culminated in the solution for which Jesse Douglas was awarded one of the first two Fields Medals in 1936. (The other Fields Medal that year went to Lars V. Ahlfors for his contributions to complex analysis, including his important new insights in Nevanlinna Theory.) The second was the innovative approach to partial differential equations by Serge Bernstein, which led to the celebrated Bernstein's Theorem, stating that the only solution to the minimal surface equation over the whole plane is the trivial solution: a linear function."

This book contains almost 450 exercises, all with complete solutions; it provides supplementary examples, counter-examples, and applications for the basic notions usually presented in an introductory course in Functional Analysis. Three comprehensive sections cover the broad topic of functional analysis. A large number of exercises on the weak topologies is included.

This volume will be of great appeal to both advanced students and researchers. For the former, it serves as an effective introduction to three interrelated subjects of analysis: semigroups, Markov processes and elliptic boundary value problems. For the latter, it provides a new method for the analysis of Markov processes, a powerful method clearly capable of extensive further development.

In recent years approximation theory and the theory of orthogonal polynomials have witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of solutions of difficult and previously untouchable problems. This is due to the interaction of approximation theoretical techniques with classical potential theory (more precisely, the theory of logarithmic potentials, which is directly related to polynomials and to problems in the plane or on the real line). Most of the applications are based on an exten sion of classical logarithmic potential theory to the case when there is a weight (external field) present. The list of recent developments is quite impressive and includes: creation of the theory of non-classical orthogonal polynomials with re spect to exponential weights; the theory of orthogonal polynomials with respect to general measures with compact support; the theory of incomplete polynomials and their widespread generalizations, and the theory of multipoint Pade approximation. The new approach has produced long sought solutions for many problems; most notably, the Freud problems on the asymptotics of orthogonal polynomials with a respect to weights of the form exp(-Ixl ); the "l/9-th" conjecture on rational approximation of exp(x); and the problem of the exact asymptotic constant in the rational approximation of Ixl. One aim of the present book is to provide a self-contained introduction to the aforementioned "weighted" potential theory as well as to its numerous applications. As a side-product we shall also fully develop the classical theory of logarithmic potentials."

In the three decades since the introduction of the Kobayashi distance, the subject of hyperbolic complex spaces and holomorphic mappings has grown to be a big industry. This book gives a comprehensive and systematic account on the Carath odory and Kobayashi distances, hyperbolic complex spaces and holomorphic mappings with geometric methods. A very complete list of references should be useful for prospective researchers in this area.

The last thirty years were a period of continuous and intense growth in the subject of dynamical systems. New concepts and techniques and at the same time new areas of applications of the theory were found. The 31st session of the Seminaire de Mathematiques Superieures (SMS) held at the Universite de Montreal in July 1992 was on dynamical systems having as its center theme "Bifurcations and periodic orbits of vector fields." This session of the SMS was a NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI). This ASI had the purpose of acquainting the participants with some of the most recent developments and of stimulating new research around the chosen center theme. These developments include the major tools of the new resummation techniques with applications, in particular to the proof of the non-accumulation of limit-cycles for real-analytic plane vector fields. One of the aims of the ASI was to bring together methods from real and complex dy namical systems. There is a growing awareness that an interplay between real and complex methods is both useful and necessary for the solution of some of the problems. Complex techniques become powerful tools which yield valuable information when applied to the study of the dynamics of real vector fields. The recent developments show that no rigid frontiers between disciplines exist and that interesting new developments occur when ideas and techniques from diverse disciplines are married. One of the aims of the ASI was to show these multiple interactions at work."

One service mathematics has rendered the 'Et moi, ..., si j'avait Sil comment en revenir, je n'y serais point aIle.' human race. It has put common sense back Jules Verne where it belongs, on the topmost shelf next to the dusty canister labelled 'discarded non- The series is divergent; therefore we may be sense'. able to do something with it. Eric T. Bell O. Heaviside Mathematics is a tool for thought. A highly necessary tool in a world where both feedback and non- linearities abound. Similarly, all kinds of parts of mathematics serve as tools for other parts and for other sciences_ Applying a simple rewriting rule to the quote on the right above one finds such statements as: 'One service topology has rendered mathematical physics ...'; 'One service logic has rendered com- puter science .. :; 'One service category theory has rendered mathematics ...'. All arguably true. And all statements obtainable this way form part of the raison d'etre of this series.

Nevanlinna theory (or value distribution theory) in complex analysis is so beautiful that one would naturally be interested in determining how such a theory would look in the non Archimedean analysis and Diophantine approximations. There are two "main theorems" and defect relations that occupy a central place in N evanlinna theory. They generate a lot of applications in studying uniqueness of meromorphic functions, global solutions of differential equations, dynamics, and so on. In this book, we will introduce non-Archimedean analogues of Nevanlinna theory and its applications. In value distribution theory, the main problem is that given a holomorphic curve f : C -+ M into a projective variety M of dimension n and a family 01 of hypersurfaces on M, under a proper condition of non-degeneracy on f, find the defect relation. If 01 n is a family of hyperplanes on M = r in general position and if the smallest dimension of linear subspaces containing the image f(C) is k, Cartan conjectured that the bound of defect relation is 2n - k + 1. Generally, if 01 is a family of admissible or normal crossings hypersurfaces, there are respectively Shiffman's conjecture and Griffiths-Lang's conjecture. Here we list the process of this problem: A. Complex analysis: (i) Constant targets: R. Nevanlinna[98] for n = k = 1; H. Cartan [20] for n = k > 1; E. I. Nochka [99], [100],[101] for n > k ~ 1; Shiffman's conjecture partially solved by Hu-Yang [71J; Griffiths-Lang's conjecture (open).

The subject of this book is probabilistic number theory. In a wide sense probabilistic number theory is part of the analytic number theory, where the methods and ideas of probability theory are used to study the distribution of values of arithmetic objects. This is usually complicated, as it is difficult to say anything about their concrete values. This is why the following problem is usually investigated: given some set, how often do values of an arithmetic object get into this set? It turns out that this frequency follows strict mathematical laws. Here we discover an analogy with quantum mechanics where it is impossible to describe the chaotic behaviour of one particle, but that large numbers of particles obey statistical laws. The objects of investigation of this book are Dirichlet series, and, as the title shows, the main attention is devoted to the Riemann zeta-function. In studying the distribution of values of Dirichlet series the weak convergence of probability measures on different spaces (one of the principle asymptotic probability theory methods) is used. The application of this method was launched by H. Bohr in the third decade of this century and it was implemented in his works together with B. Jessen. Further development of this idea was made in the papers of B. Jessen and A. Wintner, V. Borchsenius and B.

First works related to the topics covered in this book belong to J. Delsarte and B. M. Le vitan and appeared since 1938. In these works, the families of operators that generalize usual translation operators were investigated and the corresponding harmonic analysis was constructed. Later, starting from 1950, it was noticed that, in such constructions, an important role is played by the fact that the kernels of the corresponding convolutions of functions are nonnegative and by the properties of the normed algebras generated by these convolutions. That was the way the notion of hypercomplex system with continu ous basis appeared. A hypercomplex system is a normed algebra of functions on a locally compact space Q-the "basis" of this hypercomplex system. Later, similar objects, hypergroups, were introduced, which have complex-valued measures on Q as elements and convolution defined to be essentially the convolution of functionals and dual to the original convolution (if measures are regarded as functionals on the space of continuous functions on Q). However, until 1991, the time when this book was written in Russian, there were no monographs containing fundamentals of the theory (with an exception of a short section in the book by Yu. M. Berezansky and Yu. G. Kondratiev BeKo]). The authors wanted to give an introduction to the theory and cover the most important subsequent results and examples."