Multimedia services involve processing, transmission and retrieval of multiple forms of information. Multimedia services have gained momentum in the past few years due to the easy availability of computing power and storage media. Societyisdemandinghuman-likeintelligentbehaviour,suchasadaptationand generalization, from machines every day. With this view in mind, researchers are working on fusing intelligent paradigms such as arti?cial neural networks, swarm intelligence, arti?cial immune systems, evolutionary computing and multiagents with multimedia services. Arti?cial neural networks use neurons, interconnected using various schemes, for fusing learning in multimedia-based systems. Evolutionary c- puting techniques are used in tasks such as optimization. Typical multiagent systems are based on Belief-Desire-Intention model and act on behalf of the users. Typical examples of intelligent multimedia services include digital - braries, e-learning and teaching, e-government, e-commerce, e-entertainment, e-health and e-legal services. This book includes 15 chapters on advanced tools and methodologies pertaining to the multimedia services. The authors and reviewers have c- tributed immensely to this research-oriented book. We believe that this - search volume will be valuable to professors, researchers and students of all disciplines, such as computer science, engineering and management. We express our sincere thanks to Springer-Verlag for their wonderful e- torial support.

This book offers an introduction to the mathematical, probabilistic and numerical methods used in the modern theory of option pricing. The text is designed for readers with a basic mathematical background. The first part contains a presentation of the arbitrage theory in discrete time. In the second part, the theories of stochastic calculus and parabolic PDEs are developed in detail and the classical arbitrage theory is analyzed in a Markovian setting by means of of PDEs techniques. After the martingale representation theorems and the Girsanov theory have been presented, arbitrage pricing is revisited in the martingale theory optics. General tools from PDE and martingale theories are also used in the analysis of volatility modeling. The book also contains an Introduction to Levy processes and Malliavin calculus. The last part is devoted to the description of the numerical methods used in option pricing: Monte Carlo, binomial trees, finite differences and Fourier transform.

This monograph forms an interdisciplinary study in atomic, molecular, and quantum information (QI) science. Here a reader will find that applications of the tools developed in QI provide new physical insights into electron optics as well as properties of atoms & molecules which, in turn, are useful in studying QI both at fundamental and applied levels. In particular, this book investigates entanglement properties of flying electronic qubits generated in some of the well known processes capable of taking place in an atom or a molecule following the absorption of a photon. Here, one can generate Coulombic or fine-structure entanglement of electronic qubits. The properties of these entanglements differ not only from each other, but also from those when spin of an inner-shell photoelectron is entangled with the polarization of the subsequent fluorescence. Spins of an outer-shell electron and of a residual photoion can have free or bound entanglement in a laboratory.

I have found many thousands more readers than I ever looked for. I have no right to say to these, You shall not ?nd fault with my art, or fall asleep over my pages; but I ask you to believe that this person writing strives to tell the truth. If there is not that, there is nothing. William Makepeace Thackeray, The History of Pendennis This is a monograph/textbook on the probabilistic aspects of gambling, intended for those already familiar with probability at the post-calculus, p- measure-theory level. Gambling motivated much of the early development of probability the- 1 ory (David 1962). Indeed, some of the earliest works on probability include Girolamo Cardano's [1501-1576] Liber de Ludo Aleae (The Book on Games of Chance, written c. 1565, published 1663), Christiaan Huygens's [1629- 1695] "De ratiociniis in ludo aleae" ("On reckoning in games of chance," 1657), Jacob Bernoulli's [1654-1705]Ars Conjectandi (The Art of Conject- ing, written c. 1690, published 1713), Pierre R' emond de Montmort's [1678- 1719] Essay d'analyse sur les jeux de hasard (Analytical Essay on Games of Chance, 1708, 1713), and Abraham De Moivre's [1667-1754]TheDoctrineof Chances (1718, 1738, 1756). Gambling also had a major in?uence on 20- century probability theory, as it provided the motivation for the concept of a martingale.

Hilbert space frames have long served as a valuable tool for signal and image processing due to their resilience to additive noise, quantization, and erasures, as well as their ability to capture valuable signal characteristics. More recently, finite frame theory has grown into an important research topic in its own right, with a myriad of applications to pure and applied mathematics, engineering, computer science, and other areas. The number of research publications, conferences, and workshops on this topic has increased dramatically over the past few years, but no survey paper or monograph has yet appeared on the subject.

Edited by two of the leading experts in the field, "Finite Frames" aims to fill this void in the literature by providing a comprehensive, systematic study of finite frame theory and applications. With carefully selected contributions written by highly experienced researchers, it covers topics including:

* Finite Frame Constructions;
* Optimal Erasure Resilient Frames;
* Quantization of Finite Frames;
* Finite Frames and Compressed Sensing;
* Group and Gabor Frames;
* Fusion Frames.

Despite the variety of its chapters' source and content, the book's notation and terminology are unified throughout and provide a definitive picture of the current state of frame theory.

With a broad range of applications and a clear, full presentation, this book is a highly valuable resource for graduate students and researchers across disciplines such as applied harmonic analysis, electrical engineering, quantum computing, medicine, and more. It is designed to be used as a supplemental textbook, self-study guide, or reference book."

This book presents a comprehensive treatise on Riemannian geometric computations and related statistical inferences in several computer vision problems. This edited volume includes chapter contributions from leading figures in the field of computer vision who are applying Riemannian geometric approaches in problems such as face recognition, activity recognition, object detection, biomedical image analysis, and structure-from-motion. Some of the mathematical entities that necessitate a geometric analysis include rotation matrices (e.g. in modeling camera motion), stick figures (e.g. for activity recognition), subspace comparisons (e.g. in face recognition), symmetric positive-definite matrices (e.g. in diffusion tensor imaging), and function-spaces (e.g. in studying shapes of closed contours).

This multi-author contributed proceedings volume contains recent advances in several areas of Computational and Applied Mathematics. Each review is written by well known leaders of Computational and Applied Mathematics.

The book gives a comprehensive account of a variety of topics including - Efficient Global Methods for the Numerical Solution of Nonlinear Systems of Two point Boundary Value Problems; Advances on collocation based numerical methods for Ordinary Differential Equations and Volterra Integral Equations; Basic Methods for Computing Special Functions, Melt Spinning: Optimal Control and Stability Issues; Brief survey on the CP methods for the Schrodinger equation; Symplectic Partitioned Runge-Kutta methods for the numerical integration of periodic and oscillatory problems.

"Recent Advances in Computational and Applied Mathematics" is aimed at advanced undergraduates and researchers who are working in these fast moving fields.

As one of the classical statistical regression techniques, and often the first to be taught to new students, least squares fitting can be a very effective tool in data analysis. Given measured data, we establish a relationship between independent and dependent variables so that we can use the data predictively. The main concern of "Least Squares Data Fitting with Applications" is how to do this on a computer with efficient and robust computational methods for linear and nonlinear relationships. The presentation also establishes a link between the statistical setting and the computational issues. In a number of applications, the accuracy and efficiency of the least squares fit is central, and Per Christian Hansen, Victor Pereyra, and Godela Scherer survey modern computational methods and illustrate them in fields ranging from engineering and environmental sciences to geophysics. Anyone working with problems of linear and nonlinear least squares fitting will find this book invaluable as a hands-on guide, with accessible text and carefully explained problems. Included are: an overview of computational methods together with their properties and advantages; topics from statistical regression analysis that help readers to understand and evaluate the computed solutions; and many examples that illustrate the techniques and algorithms. "Least Squares Data Fitting with Applications" can be used as a textbook for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses and professionals in the sciences and in engineering.

Fractional evolution equations provide a unifying framework to investigate wellposedness of complex systems with fractional order derivatives. This monograph presents the existence, attractivity, stability, periodic solutions and control theory for time fractional evolution equations. The book contains an up-to-date and comprehensive stuff on the topic.

This book is a treatise on time and on background independence in physics. It first considers how time is conceived of in each accepted paradigm of physics: Newtonian, special relativity, quantum mechanics (QM) and general relativity (GR). Substantial differences are moreover uncovered between what is meant by time in QM and in GR. These differences jointly source the Problem of Time: Nine interlinked facets which arise upon attempting concurrent treatment of the QM and GR paradigms, as is required in particular for a background independent theory of quantum gravity. A sizeable proportion of current quantum gravity programs - e.g. geometrodynamical and loop quantum gravity approaches to quantum GR, quantum cosmology, supergravity and M-theory - are background independent in this sense. This book's foundational topic is thus furthermore of practical relevance in the ongoing development of quantum gravity programs. This book shows moreover that eight of the nine facets of the Problem of Time already occur upon entertaining background independence in classical (rather than quantum) physics. By this development, and interpreting shape theory as modelling background independence, this book further establishes background independence as a field of study. Background independent mechanics, as well as minisuperspace (spatially homogeneous) models of GR and perturbations thereabout are used to illustrate these points. As hitherto formulated, the different facets of the Problem of Time greatly interfere with each others' attempted resolutions. This book explains how, none the less, a local resolution of the Problem of Time can be arrived at after various reconceptualizations of the facets and reformulations of their mathematical implementation. Self-contained appendices on mathematical methods for basic and foundational quantum gravity are included. Finally, this book outlines how supergravity is refreshingly different from GR as a realization of background independence, and what background independence entails at the topological level and beyond.

Boris Pavlov (1936-2016), to whom this volume is dedicated, was a prominent specialist in analysis, operator theory, and mathematical physics. As one of the most influential members of the St. Petersburg Mathematical School, he was one of the founders of the Leningrad School of Non-self-adjoint Operators. This volume collects research papers originating from two conferences that were organized in memory of Boris Pavlov: "Spectral Theory and Applications", held in Stockholm, Sweden, in March 2016, and "Operator Theory, Analysis and Mathematical Physics - OTAMP2016" held at the Euler Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia, in August 2016. The volume also includes water-color paintings by Boris Pavlov, some personal photographs, as well as tributes from friends and colleagues.

Gabrio Piola works had an enormous impact on the development of applied mathematics and continuum mechanics. An excellent scientific committee who took it upon themselves to translate his complete works. In a second step, they commentedPiola s work and compared it to modern theories in mechanics in order to stress Piola s impact on modern science and proofs that he has set milestones in applied mathematics.
This book presents Piola's original Italian text together with ist translations and their comments. It shows impressively that Gabrio Piola s work must still be regarded as a modern theory."

The book shows a very original organization addressing in a non traditional way, but with a systematic approach, to who has an interest in using mathematics in the social sciences.

The book is divided in four parts: (a) a historical part, written by Vittorio Capecchi which helps us understand the changes in the relationship between mathematics and sociology by analyzing the mathematical models of Paul F. Lazarsfeld, the model of simulation and artificial societies, models of artificial neural network and considering all the changes in scientific paradigms considered; (b) a part coordinated by Pier Luigi Contucci on mathematical models that consider the relationship between the mathematical models that come from physics and linguistics to arrive at the study of society and those which are born within sociology and economics; (c) a part coordinated by Massimo Buscema analyzing models of artificial neural networks; (d) a part coordinated by Bruno D'Amore which considers the relationship between mathematics and art.

The title of the book "Mathematics and Society" was chosen because the mathematical applications exposed in the book allow you to address two major issues: (a) the general theme of technological innovation and quality of life (among the essays are on display mathematical applications to the problems of combating pollution and crime, applications to mathematical problems of immigration, mathematical applications to the problems of medical diagnosis, etc.) (b) the general theme of technical innovation and creativity, for example the art and mathematics section which connects to the theme of creative cities.

The book is very original because it is not addressed only to those who are passionate about mathematical applications in social science but also to those who, in different societies, are: (a) involved in technological innovation to improve the quality of life; (b) involved in the wider distribution of technological innovation in different areas of creativity (as in the project "Creative Cities Network" of UNESCO).

In the present work, the target station of the accelerator-driven neutron source HBS is optimized in comprehensive parameter studies using the Monto-Carlo method. The dependence of the most important performance characteristics of such a system on the external parameters is investigated neglecting technical and mechanical limitations. In this way, qualitative and quantitative statements for all possible configurations and envisaged applications can be derived and should be considered in the detailed planning of such facilities. For this purpose, different scenarios are considered that place completely different requirements on the design of the target station. The central statements derived in this thesis can be transferred to any framework conditions, such as different accelerator energies, so that these results can be used in the development of other neutron sources, which together with the HBS form a European network and provide a prosperous community in neutron science.

This contributed volume presents computational models of diabetes that quantify the dynamic interrelationships among key physiological variables implicated in the underlying physiology under a variety of metabolic and behavioral conditions. These variables comprise for example blood glucose concentration and various hormones such as insulin, glucagon, epinephrine, norepinephrine as well as cortisol. The presented models provide a powerful diagnostic tool but may also enable treatment via long-term glucose regulation in diabetics through closed-look model-reference control using frequent insulin infusions, which are administered by implanted programmable micro-pumps. This research volume aims at presenting state-of-the-art research on this subject and demonstrating the potential applications of modeling to the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes. The target audience primarily comprises research and experts in the field but the book may also be beneficial for graduate students.

The aim of this book is to introduce mathematicians (and, in particular, graduate students) to the mathematical methods of theoretical and experimental quantum field theory, with an emphasis on coordinate-free presentations of the mathematical objects in play. This should in turn promote interaction between mathematicians and physicists by supplying a common and flexible language for the good of both communities, even if the mathematical one is the primary target. This reference work provides a coherent and complete mathematical toolbox for classical and quantum field theory, based on categorical and homotopical methods, representing an original contribution to the literature.

The first part of the book introduces the mathematical methods needed to work with the physicists' spaces of fields, including parameterized and functional differential geometry, functional analysis, and the homotopical geometric theory of non-linear partial differential equations, with applications to general gauge theories. The second part presents a large family of examples of classical field theories, both from experimental and theoretical physics, while the third part provides an introduction to quantum field theory, presents various renormalization methods and discusses the quantization of factorization algebras. The book is primarily intended for pure mathematicians (and in particular graduate students) who would like to learn about the mathematics of quantum field theory.

Form Symmetries and Reduction of Order in Difference Equations presents a new approach to the formulation and analysis of difference equations in which the underlying space is typically an algebraic group. In some problems and applications, an additional algebraic or topological structure is assumed in order to define equations and obtain significant results about them. Reflecting the author's past research experience, the majority of examples involve equations in finite dimensional Euclidean spaces. The book first introduces difference equations on groups, building a foundation for later chapters and illustrating the wide variety of possible formulations and interpretations of difference equations that occur in concrete contexts. The author then proposes a systematic method of decomposition for recursive difference equations that uses a semiconjugate relation between maps. Focusing on large classes of difference equations, he shows how to find the semiconjugate relations and accompanying factorizations of two difference equations with strictly lower orders. The final chapter goes beyond semiconjugacy by extending the fundamental ideas based on form symmetries to nonrecursive difference equations. With numerous examples and exercises, this book is an ideal introduction to an exciting new domain in the area of difference equations. It takes a fresh and all-inclusive look at difference equations and develops a systematic procedure for examining how these equations are constructed and solved.

These lecture notes are dedicated to the most recent theoretical applications of Black Hole solutions in high-energy physics. The main motivation of this volume is to present the latest black hole backgrounds that are relevant for gauge/gravity correspondence. Leading scientists in the field explain effective techniques for finding singular and cosmological solutions embedded in gauged supergravity, shedding light on underlying properties and symmetries. Starting from a basic level, the mathematical structures underlying black holes and cosmologies are revealed, helping the reader grasp the connection between theoretical approaches and physical observations with insights into possible future developments from both a theoretical and experimental point of view. The topics covered in this volume are based on lectures delivered during the "Theoretical Frontiers in Black Holes and Cosmology" school, held in Natal in June 2015.

Superstring theory is a promising theory which can potentially unify all the forces and the matters in particle physics. A new multi-dimensional object which is called "D-brane" was found. It drastically changed our perspective of a unified world. We may live on membrane-like hypersurfaces in higher dimensions ("braneworld scenario"), or we can create blackholes at particle accelarators, or the dynamics of quarks is shown to be equivalent to the higher dimensional gravity theory. All these scenarios are explained in this book with plain words but with little use of equations and with many figures. The book starts with a summary of long-standing problems in elementary particle physics and explains the D-branes and many applications of them. It ends with future roads for a unified ultimate theory of our world.

The model-based investigation of motions of anthropomorphic systems is an important interdisciplinary research topic involving specialists from many fields such as Robotics, Biomechanics, Physiology, Orthopedics, Psychology, Neurosciences, Sports, Computer Graphics and Applied Mathematics. This book presents a study of basic locomotion forms such as walking and running is of particular interest due to the high demand on dynamic coordination, actuator efficiency and balance control. Mathematical models and numerical simulation and optimization techniques are explained, in combination with experimental data, which can help to better understand the basic underlying mechanisms of these motions and to improve them. Example topics treated in this book are * Modeling techniques for anthropomorphic bipedal walking systems * Optimized walking motions for different objective functions * Identification of objective functions from measurements * Simulation and optimization approaches for humanoid robots * Biologically inspired control algorithms for bipedal walking * Generation and deformation of natural walking in computer graphics * Imitation of human motions on humanoids * Emotional body language during walking * Simulation of biologically inspired actuators for bipedal walking machines * Modeling and simulation techniques for the development of prostheses * Functional electrical stimulation of walking.

The future of oncology seems to lie in Molecular Medicine (MM). MM is a new science based on three pillars. Two of them are evident in its very name and are well known: medical science and molecular biology. However, there is a general unawareness that MM is firmly based on a third, and equally important, pillar: Systems Biomedicine. Currently, this term denotes multilevel, hierarchical models integrating key factors at the molecular, cellular, tissue, through phenotype levels, analyzed to reveal the global behavior of the biological process under consideration. It becomes increasingly evident that the tools to construct such complex models include, not only bioinformatics and modern applied statistics, as is unanimously agreed, but also other interdisciplinary fields of science, notably, Mathematical Oncology, Systems Biology and Theoretical Biophysics.

This book explores finite element methods for incompressible flow problems: Stokes equations, stationary Navier-Stokes equations and time-dependent Navier-Stokes equations. It focuses on numerical analysis, but also discusses the practical use of these methods and includes numerical illustrations. It also provides a comprehensive overview of analytical results for turbulence models. The proofs are presented step by step, allowing readers to more easily understand the analytical techniques.

As it was already seen in the first volume of the present book, its guideline is precisely the mathematical model of mechanics. The classical models which we refer to are in fact models based on the Newtonian model of mechanics, on its five principles, i. e. : the inertia, the forces action, the action and reaction, the parallelogram and the initial conditions principle, respectively. Other models, e. g. , the model of attraction forces between the particles of a discrete mechanical system, are part of the considered Newtonian model. Kepler's laws brilliantly verify this model in case of velocities much smaller than the light velocity in vacuum. The non-classical models are relativistic and quantic. Mechanics has as object of study mechanical systems. The first volume of this book dealt with particle dynamics. The present one deals with discrete mechanical systems for particles in a number greater than the unity, as well as with continuous mechanical systems. We put in evidence the difference between these models, as well as the specificity of the corresponding studies; the generality of the proofs and of the corresponding computations yields a common form of the obtained mechanical results for both discrete and continuous systems. We mention the thoroughness by which the dynamics of the rigid solid with a fixed point has been presented. The discrete or continuous mechanical systems can be non-deformable (e. g.

This volume, setting out the theory of positive maps as it stands today, reflects the rapid growth in this area of mathematics since it was recognized in the 1990s that these applications of C*-algebras are crucial to the study of entanglement in quantum theory. The author, a leading authority on the subject, sets out numerous results previously unpublished in book form. In addition to outlining the properties and structures of positive linear maps of operator algebras into the bounded operators on a Hilbert space, he guides readers through proofs of the Stinespring theorem and its applications to inequalities for positive maps.

The text examines the maps positivity properties, as well as their associated linear functionals together with their density operators. It features special sections on extremal positive maps and Choi matrices. In sum, this is a vital publication that covers a full spectrum of matters relating to positive linear maps, of which a large proportion is relevant and applicable to today s quantum information theory. The latter sections of the book present the material in finite dimensions, while the text as a whole appeals to a wider and more general readership by keeping the mathematics as elementary as possible throughout."

This book contains selected papers of Jurg Frohlich, one of the most outstanding mathematical physicists of our time, on the subject of statistical mechanics. In an extensive introduction, Jurg Frohlich sets his results into a wider context and gives precious information on the genesis of his work from both a historical and a methodological perspective. It is not only an overview of current and future research directions in statistical mechanics, but also relates this subject with other branches of contemporary physics and mathematics.

All papers in this collection bear Jurg Frohlich s signature in terms of a delicate balance between mathematical rigor and physical significance. They cover thirty years of his work on statistical physics, ranging from the most basic foundational questions in atomism and thermodynamics via the description of phase transitions and critical phenomena up to disordered systems and the study of many-body systems in condensed matter physics, including the quantum Hall effect. The wide range of topics covered in this compendium reflects the breadth of Jurg Frohlich s interests, and the last chapters reveal an outlook towards some of his more recent research areas."