Advances in Applied Mechanics, Volume 54 in this ongoing series, highlights new advances in the field, with this new volume presenting interesting chapters on Advanced geometry representations and tools for microstructural and multiscale modelling, Material Point Method: overview and challenges ahead, From Experimental Modeling of Shotcrete to Numerical Simulations of Tunneling, Mechanics of Hydrogel-Based Bioprinting: From 3D to 4D, and more.

Superlubricity - the state between sliding systems where friction is reduced to almost immeasurable amounts - holds great potential for improving both the economic and environmental credentials of moving mechanical systems. Research in this field has progressed tremendously in recent years, and there now exist several theoretical models, recognised techniques for computational simulations and interesting experimental evidence of superlubricity in practise. Superlubricity, Second Edition, presents an extensively revised and updated overview of these important developments, providing a comprehensive guide to the physical chemistry underpinning molecular mechanisms of friction and lubrication, current theoretical models used to explore and assess superlubricity, examples of its achievement in experimental systems, and discussion of potential future applications. Drawing on the extensive knowledge of its expert editors and global team of authors from across academia and industry, Superlubricity, Second Edition, is a great resource for all those with a need to understand, model or manipulate surface interactions for improved performance.

Feynman path integrals are ubiquitous in quantum physics, even if a large part of the scientific community still considers them as a heuristic tool that lacks a sound mathematical definition. Our book aims to refute this prejudice, providing an extensive and self-contained description of the mathematical theory of Feynman path integration, from the earlier attempts to the latest developments, as well as its applications to quantum mechanics.This second edition presents a detailed discussion of the general theory of complex integration on infinite dimensional spaces, providing on one hand a unified view of the various existing approaches to the mathematical construction of Feynman path integrals and on the other hand a connection with the classical theory of stochastic processes. Moreover, new chapters containing recent applications to several dynamical systems have been added.This book bridges between the realms of stochastic analysis and the theory of Feynman path integration. It is accessible to both mathematicians and physicists.

Advances in Applied Mechanics, Volume 53 in this ongoing series, highlights new advances in the field, with this new volume presenting interesting chapters on Phase field modelling of fracture, Advanced geometry representations and tools for microstructural and multiscale modelling, The material point method: the past and the future, From Experimental Modeling of Shotcrete to Large Scale Numerical Simulations of Tunneling, and Material point method after 25 years: theory, implementation, applications.

The scale transitions are essential to physical knowledge. The book describes the history of essential moments of physics, viewed as necessary consequences of the unavoidable process of scale transition, and provides the mathematical techniques for the construction of a theoretical physics founded on scale transition. The indispensable mathematical technique is analyticity, helping in the construction of space coordinate systems. The indispensable theoretical technique from physical point of view is the affine theory of surfaces. The connection between the two techniques is provided by a duality in defining the physical properties.

Spiritual Insights from the New Science is a guide to the deep spiritual wisdom drawn from one of the newest areas of science - the study of complex systems. The author, a former research scientist with over three decades of experience in the field of complexity science, tells her story of being attracted, as a young student, to the study of self-organizing systems where she encountered the strange and beautiful topics of chaos, fractals and other concepts that comprise complexity science. Using the events of her life, she describes lessons drawn from this science that provide insights into not only her own life, but all our lives. These insights show us how to weather the often disruptive events we all experience when growing and changing.The book goes on to explore, through the unfolding story of the author's life as a practicing scientist, other key concepts from the science of complex systems: cycles and rhythms, attractors and bifurcations, chaos, fractals, self-organization, and emergence. Examples drawn from religious rituals, dance, philosophical teachings, mysticism, native American spirituality, and other sources are used to illustrate how these scientific insights apply to all aspects of life, especially the spiritual. Spiritual Insights from the New Science shows the links between this new science and our human spirituality and presents, in engaging, accessible language, the argument that the study of nature can lead to a better understanding of the deepest meaning of our lives.