'Subdivision' is a way of representing smooth shapes in a computer. A curve or surface (both of which contain an in?nite number of points) is described in terms of two objects. One object is a sequence of vertices, which we visualise as a polygon, for curves, or a network of vertices, which we visualise by drawing the edges or faces of the network, for surfaces. The other object is a set of rules for making denser sequences or networks. When applied repeatedly, the denser and denser sequences are claimed to converge to a limit, which is the curve or surface that we want to represent. This book focusses on curves, because the theory for that is complete enough that a book claiming that our understanding is complete is exactly what is needed to stimulate research proving that claim wrong. Also because there are already a number of good books on subdivision surfaces. The way in which the limit curve relates to the polygon, and a lot of interesting properties of the limit curve, depend on the set of rules, and this book is about how one can deduce those properties from the set of rules, and how one can then use that understanding to construct rules which give the properties that one wants.

Apollonius's Conics was one of the greatest works of advanced mathematics in antiquity. The work comprised eight books, of which four have come down to us in their original Greek and three in Arabic. By the time the Arabic translations were produced, the eighth book had already been lost. In 1710, Edmond Halley, then Savilian Professor of Geometry at Oxford, produced an edition of the Greek text of the Conics of Books I-IV, a translation into Latin from the Arabic versions of Books V-VII, and a reconstruction of Book VIII.

The present work provides the first completeEnglish translation of Halley's reconstruction of Book VIII withsupplementary notes on the text. It also contains 1)an introduction discussing aspects of Apollonius's Conics 2) an investigation of Edmond Halley's understanding ofthe nature of his venture into ancient mathematics, and 3) anappendices giving a brief account of Apollonius's approach to conic sections and his mathematical techniques.

This book will be of interest to students and researchers interested in the history ofancientGreekmathematics and mathematics in the early modern period."

Topics in Knot Theory is a state of the art volume which presents surveys of the field by the most famous knot theorists in the world. It also includes the most recent research work by graduate and postgraduate students. The new ideas presented cover racks, imitations, welded braids, wild braids, surgery, computer calculations and plottings, presentations of knot groups and representations of knot and link groups in permutation groups, the complex plane and/or groups of motions. For mathematicians, graduate students and scientists interested in knot theory.

The aim of this book is to make accessible the two important but rare works of Brook Taylor and to describe his role in the history of linear perspective. Taylor's works, Linear Perspective and New Principles on Linear Perspective, are among the most important sources in the history of the theory of perspective. This text focuses on two aspects of this history. The first is the development, starting in the beginning of the 17th century, of a mathematical theory of perspective where gifted mathematicians used their creativity to solve basic problems of perspective and simultaneously were inspired to consider more general problems in the projective geometry. Taylor was one of the key figures in this development. The second aspect concerns the problem of transmitting the knowledge gained by mathematicians to the practitioners. Although Taylor's books were mathematical rather than challenging, he was the first mathematician to succeed in making the practitioners interested in teaching the theoretical foundation of perspective. He became so important in the development that he was named "the father of modern perspective" in England. The English school of Taylor followers contained among others the painter John Kirby and Joseph Highmore and the scientist Joseph Priestley. After its translation to Italian and French in the 1750s, Taylor's work became popular on the continent.

Approach your problems from the right end It isn't that they can't see the solution. It is and begin with the answers. Then one day, that they can't see the problem. perhaps you will find the final question. G. K. Chesterton. The Scandal of Father 'The Hermit Clad in Crane Feathers' in R. Brown 'The point of a Pin'. van Gulik's The Chinese Maze Murders. Growing specialization and diversification have brought a host of monographs and textbooks on increasingly specialized topics. However, the "tree" of knowledge of mathematics and related fields does not grow only by putting forth new branches. It also happens, quite often in fact, that branches which were thought to be completely disparate are suddenly seen to be related. Further, the kind and level of sophistication of mathematics applied in various sciences has changed drastically in recent years: measure theory is used (non trivially) in regional and theoretical economics; algebraic geometry interacts with physics; the Minkowsky lemma, coding theory and the structure of water meet one another in packing and covering theory; quantum fields, crystal defects and mathematical programming profit from homotopy theory; Lie algebras are relevant to filtering; and prediction and electrical engineering can us;; Stein spaces. And in addition to this there are such new emerging subdisciplines as "experimental mathematics," "CFD," "completely integrable systems," "chaos, synergetics and large-scale order," which are almost impossible to fit into the existing classification schemes. They draw upon widely different sections of mathematics."

Computer vision and image analysis require interdisciplinary collaboration between mathematics and engineering. This book addresses the area of high-accuracy measurements of length, curvature, motion parameters and other geometrical quantities from acquired image data. It is a common problem that these measurements are incomplete or noisy, such that considerable efforts are necessary to regularise the data, to fill in missing information, and to judge the accuracy and reliability of these results. This monograph brings together contributions from researchers in computer vision, engineering and mathematics who are working in this area.

The book can be read both by specialists and graduate students in computer science, electrical engineering or mathematics who take an interest in data evaluations by approximation or interpolation, in particular data obtained in an image analysis context.

In April of 1996 an array of mathematicians converged on Cambridge, Massachusetts, for the Rotafest and Umbral Calculus Workshop, two con ferences celebrating Gian-Carlo Rota's 64th birthday. It seemed appropriate when feting one of the world's great combinatorialists to have the anniversary be a power of 2 rather than the more mundane 65. The over seventy-five par ticipants included Rota's doctoral students, coauthors, and other colleagues from more than a dozen countries. As a further testament to the breadth and depth of his influence, the lectures ranged over a wide variety of topics from invariant theory to algebraic topology. This volume is a collection of articles written in Rota's honor. Some of them were presented at the Rotafest and Umbral Workshop while others were written especially for this Festschrift. We will say a little about each paper and point out how they are connected with the mathematical contributions of Rota himself."

Geometrical Physics in Minkowski Spacetime is an overview and description of the geometry in spacetime, and aids in the creation and development of intuition in four-dimensional Minkowski space. The deepest understanding of relativity and spacetime is in terms of the geometrical absolutes, and this is what the book seeks to develop. The most interesting topics requiring special relativity are covered, including:SpacetimeVectors in SpacetimeElectromagnetismAsymptotic Momentum ConservationCovectors and Dyadics in SpacetimeEnergy Tensor Although the book is not meant for the complete beginner in special relativity, the mathematical prerequisites for the early chapters of the book are very few - linear algebra and elementary geometry (done using vectors and a scalar product). For the later chapters, multivariable calculus and ordinary differential equations are often needed.

Karl Menger, one of the founders of dimension theory, belongs to the most original mathematicians and thinkers of the twentieth century. He was a member of the Vienna Circle and the founder of its mathematical equivalent, the Viennese Mathematical Colloquium. Both during his early years in Vienna and, after his emigration, in the United States, Karl Menger made significant contributions to a wide variety of mathematical fields, and greatly influenced some of his colleagues. The Selecta Mathematica contain Menger's major mathematical papers, based on his own selection from his extensive writings. They deal with topics as diverse as topology, geometry, analysis and algebra, as well as writings on economics, sociology, logic, philosophy and mathematical results. The two volumes are a monument to the diversity and originality of Menger's ideas.

Sir Isaac Newton's philosophi Naturalis Principia Mathematica'(the Principia) contains a prose-style mixture of geometric and limit reasoning that has often been viewed as logically vague.
In A Combination of Geometry Theorem Proving and Nonstandard Analysis, Jacques Fleuriot presents a formalization of Lemmas and Propositions from the Principia using a combination of methods from geometry and nonstandard analysis. The mechanization of the procedures, which respects much of Newton's original reasoning, is developed within the theorem prover Isabelle. The application of this framework to the mechanization of elementary real analysis using nonstandard techniques is also discussed.

Fuchsian reduction is a method for representing solutions of nonlinear PDEs near singularities. The technique has multiple applications including soliton theory, Einstein's equations and cosmology, stellar models, laser collapse, conformal geometry and combustion. Developed in the 1990s for semilinear wave equations, Fuchsian reduction research has grown in response to those problems in pure and applied mathematics where numerical computations fail.

This work unfolds systematically in four parts, interweaving theory and applications. The case studies examined in Part III illustrate the impact of reduction techniques, and may serve as prototypes for future new applications. In the same spirit, most chapters include a problem section. Background results and solutions to selected problems close the volume.

This book can be used as a text in graduate courses in pure or applied analysis, or as a resource for researchers working with singularities in geometry and mathematical physics.

This book presents an introduction to the geometric theory of infinite dimensional dynamical systems. Many of the fundamental results are presented for asymptotically smooth dynamical systems that have applications to functional differential equations as well as classes of dissipative partial differential equations. However, as in the earlier edition, the major emphasis is on retarded functional differential equations. This updated version also contains much material on neutral functional differential equations. The results in the earlier edition on Morse-Smale systems for maps are extended to a class of semiflows, which include retarded functional differential equations and parabolic partial differential equations.

Hans Duistermaat, an influential geometer-analyst, made substantial contributions to the theory of ordinary and partial differential equations, symplectic, differential, and algebraic geometry, minimal surfaces, semisimple Lie groups, mechanics, mathematical physics, and related fields. Written in his honor, the invited and refereed articles in this volume contain important new results as well as surveys in some of these areas, clearly demonstrating the impact of Duistermaat's research and, in addition, exhibiting interrelationships among many of the topics.

By discussing topics such as shape representations, relaxation theory and optimal transport, trends and synergies of mathematical tools required for optimization of geometry and topology of shapes are explored. Furthermore, applications in science and engineering, including economics, social sciences, biology, physics and image processing are covered. Contents Part I Geometric issues in PDE problems related to the infinity Laplace operator Solution of free boundary problems in the presence of geometric uncertainties Distributed and boundary control problems for the semidiscrete Cahn-Hilliard/Navier-Stokes system with nonsmooth Ginzburg-Landau energies High-order topological expansions for Helmholtz problems in 2D On a new phase field model for the approximation of interfacial energies of multiphase systems Optimization of eigenvalues and eigenmodes by using the adjoint method Discrete varifolds and surface approximation Part II Weak Monge-Ampere solutions of the semi-discrete optimal transportation problem Optimal transportation theory with repulsive costs Wardrop equilibria: long-term variant, degenerate anisotropic PDEs and numerical approximations On the Lagrangian branched transport model and the equivalence with its Eulerian formulation On some nonlinear evolution systems which are perturbations of Wasserstein gradient flows Pressureless Euler equations with maximal density constraint: a time-splitting scheme Convergence of a fully discrete variational scheme for a thin-film equatio Interpretation of finite volume discretization schemes for the Fokker-Planck equation as gradient flows for the discrete Wasserstein distance

When we studied complex variables in the late 1960s, modem geometry on the complex fie1d and complex function theory were identified in teaching and research as several complex variables. A beginner in the field at that time would have the experience of jumping from the sheaf-theoretical methods employed in the theory of analytic spaces to the P.D.E. methods of the a problem, with the c1ear understanding that the phenomena lying behind such different methods and problems were the same. A few years later, new important discoveries made c1ear that complex differential geometry was also in the same company. Looking at the historical development of the subject in the first half of the twentieth century shows this was not astonishing. The origin of the theory of functions of several complex variables was tardier than the familiar of analytic functions of one complex variable. The first comprehensive theory textbook by Behnke and Thullen, in the 1930s, expounded the foundations ofthe general theory as set up by Weierstrass, Cousin, Hartogs, and Poincare and c1early put in evidence that the difficulties were all but solved. In aseries of papers from 1936 to 1953, Oka introduced a brilliant collection of new ideas and systematically eliminated aU difficulties. Oka's work had in itse1f a fruitful seed and contained the premises for the opening of wider horizons."

This book provides a solid and uniform derivation of the various properties Bézier and B-spline representations have, and shows the beauty of the underlying rich mathematical structure. The book focuses on the core concepts of Computer Aided Geometric Design with the intension to give a clear and illustrative presentation of the basic principles, as well as a treatment of advanced material including multivariate splines, some subdivision techniques and constructions of free form surfaces with arbitrary smoothness.The text is beautifully illustrated with many excellent figures to emphasize the geometric constructive approach of this book.

Different Faces of Geometry - edited by the world renowned geometers S. Donaldson, Ya. Eliashberg, and M. Gromov - presents the current state, new results, original ideas and open questions from the following important topics in modern geometry:

Amoebas and Tropical Geometry
Convex Geometry and Asymptotic Geometric Analysis
Differential Topology of 4-Manifolds
3-Dimensional Contact Geometry
Floer Homology and Low-Dimensional Topology
Kahler Geometry
Lagrangian and Special Lagrangian Submanifolds
Refined Seiberg-Witten Invariants.

These apparently diverse topics have a common feature in that they are all areas of exciting current activity. The Editors have attracted an impressive array of leading specialists to author chapters for this volume: G. Mikhalkin (USA-Canada-Russia), V.D. Milman (Israel) and A.A. Giannopoulos (Greece), C. LeBrun (USA), Ko Honda (USA), P. Ozsvath (USA) and Z. Szabo (USA), C. Simpson (France), D. Joyce (UK) and P. Seidel (USA), and S. Bauer (Germany).

"One can distinguish various themes running through the different contributions. There is some emphasis on invariants defined by elliptic equations and their applications in low-dimensional topology, symplectic and contact geometry (Bauer, Seidel, Ozsvath and Szabo). These ideas enter, more tangentially, in the articles of Joyce, Honda and LeBrun. Here and elsewhere, as well as explaining the rapid advances that have been made, the articles convey a wonderful sense of the vast areas lying beyond our current understanding.
Simpson's article emphasizes the need for interesting new constructions (in that case of Kahler and algebraic manifolds), a point which is also made by Bauer in the context of 4-manifolds and the "11/8 conjecture."
LeBrun's article gives another perspective on 4-manifold theory, via Riemannian geometry, and the challenging open questions involving the geometry of even "well-known" 4-manifolds.
There are also striking contrasts between the articles. The authors have taken different approaches: for example, the thoughtful essay of Simpson, the new research results of LeBrun and the thorough expositions with homework problems of Honda.
One can also ponder the differences in the style of mathematics. In the articles of Honda, Giannopoulos and Milman, and Mikhalkin, the "geometry" is present in a very vivid and tangible way; combining respectively with topology, analysis and algebra. The papers of Bauer and Seidel, on the other hand, makes the point that algebraic and algebro-topological abstraction (triangulated categories, spectra) can play an important role in very unexpected ways in concrete geometric problems." - From the Preface by the Editors "

One service mathematics has rendered the human race. It has put common sense back where it belongs. It has put common sense back where it belongs, on the topmost shelf next to the dusty canister labelled discarded nonsense. Eric TBell Every picture tells a story. Advenisement for for Sloan's backache and kidney oils, 1907 The book you have in your hands as you are reading this, is a text on3-dimensional topology. It can serve as a pretty comprehensive text book on the subject. On the other hand, it frequently gets to the frontiers of current research in the topic. If pressed, I would initially classify it as a monograph, but, thanks to the over three hundred illustrations of the geometrical ideas involved, as a rather accessible one, and hence suitable for advanced classes. The style is somewhat informal; more or less like orally presented lectures, and the illustrations more than make up for all the visual aids and handwaving one has at one's command during an actual presentation.

Fundamentals of Convex Analysis offers an in-depth look at some of the fundamental themes covered within an area of mathematical analysis called convex analysis. In particular, it explores the topics of duality, separation, representation, and resolution. The work is intended for students of economics, management science, engineering, and mathematics who need exposure to the mathematical foundations of matrix games, optimization, and general equilibrium analysis. It is written at the advanced undergraduate to beginning graduate level and the only formal preparation required is some familiarity with set operations and with linear algebra and matrix theory. Fundamentals of Convex Analysis is self-contained in that a brief review of the essentials of these tool areas is provided in Chapter 1. Chapter exercises are also provided. Topics covered include: convex sets and their properties; separation and support theorems; theorems of the alternative; convex cones; dual homogeneous systems; basic solutions and complementary slackness; extreme points and directions; resolution and representation of polyhedra; simplicial topology; and fixed point theorems, among others. A strength of this work is how these topics are developed in a fully integrated fashion.

This book is aimed at presenting different methods and perspectives in the theory of Quantum Groups, bridging between the algebraic, representation theoretic, analytic, and differential-geometric approaches. It also covers recent developments in Noncommutative Geometry, which have close relations to quantization and quantum group symmetries. The volume collects surveys by experts which originate from an acitvity at the Max-Planck-Institute for Mathematics in Bonn.

Based on a course given to talented high-school students at Ohio University in 1988, this book is essentially an advanced undergraduate textbook about the mathematics of fractal geometry. It nicely bridges the gap between traditional books on topology/analysis and more specialized treatises on fractal geometry. The book treats such topics as metric spaces, measure theory, dimension theory, and even some algebraic topology. It takes into account developments in the subject matter since 1990. Sections are clear and focused. The book contains plenty of examples, exercises, and good illustrations of fractals, including 16 color plates.

A collection of five surveys on dynamical systems, indispensable for graduate students and researchers in mathematics and theoretical physics. Written in the modern language of differential geometry, the book covers all the new differential geometric and Lie-algebraic methods currently used in the theory of integrable systems.

Geodesic flows of Riemannian metrics on manifolds are one of the classical objects in geometry. A particular place among them is occupied by integrable geodesic flows. We consider them in the context of the general theory of integrable Hamiltonian systems, and in particular, from the viewpoint of a new topological classification theory, which was recently developed for integrable Hamiltonian systems with two degrees of freedom. As a result, we will see that such a new approach is very useful for a deeper understanding of the topology and geometry of integrable geodesic flows. The main object to be studied in our paper is the class of integrable geodesic flows on two-dimensional surfaces. There are many such flows on surfaces of small genus, in particular, on the sphere and torus. On the contrary, on surfaces of genus 9 > 1, no such flows exist in the analytical case. One of the most important and interesting problems consists in the classification of integrable flows up to different equivalence relations such as (1) an isometry, (2) the Liouville equivalence, (3) the trajectory equivalence (smooth and continuous), and (4) the geodesic equivalence. In recent years, a new technique was developed, which gives, in particular, a possibility to classify integrable geodesic flows up to these kinds of equivalences. This technique is presented in our paper, together with various applications. The first part of our book, namely, Chaps.

- Following on from the 2000 edition of Jan De Witt's Elementa Curvarum Linearum, Liber Primus, this book provides the accompanying translation of the second volume of Elementa Curvarum Linearum (Foundations of Curved Lines). One of the first books to be published on Analytic Geometry, it was originally written in Latin by the Dutch statesman and mathematician Jan de Witt, soon after Descartes' invention of the subject.

- Born in 1625, Jan de Witt served with distinction as Grand Pensionary of Holland for much of his adult life. In mathematics, he is best known for his work in actuarial mathematics as well as extensive contributions to analytic geometry.

- Elementa Curvarum Linearum, Liber Secondus moves forward from the construction of the familiar conic sections covered in the Liber Primus, with a discussion of problems connected with their classification; given an equation, it covers how one can recover the standard form, and additionally how one can find the equation's geometric properties.

- This volume, begun by Albert Grootendorst (1924-2004) and completed after his death by Jan Aarts, Reinie Erne and Miente Bakker, is supplemented by:

- annotation explaining finer points of the translation;

- extensive commentary on the mathematics These features make the work of Jan de Witt broadly accessible to today's mathematicians."

This book is the result of a joint venture between Professor Akio Kawauchi, Osaka City University, well-known for his research in knot theory, and the Osaka study group of mathematics education, founded by Professor Hirokazu Okamori and now chaired by his successor Professor Tomoko Yanagimoto, Osaka Kyoiku University. The seven chapters address the teaching and learning of knot theory from several perspectives. Readers will find an extremely clear and concise introduction to the fundamentals of knot theory, an overview of curricular developments in Japan, and in particular a series of teaching experiments at all levels which not only demonstrate the creativity and the professional expertise of the members of the study group, but also give a lively impression of students learning processes. In addition the reports show that elementary knot theory is not just a preparation for advanced knot theory but also an excellent means to develop spatial thinking. The book can be highly recommended for several reasons: First of all, and that is the main intention of the book, it serves as a comprehensive text for teaching and learning knot theory. Moreover it provides a model for cooperation between mathematicians and mathematics educators based on substantial mathematics. And finally it is a thorough introduction to the Japanese art of lesson studies again in the context of substantial mathematics.