Most of the specialists working in this interdisciplinary field of physics, biology, biophysics and medicine are associated with "The International Institute of Biophysics" (IIB), in Neuss, Germany, where basic research and possibilities for applications are coordinated. The growth in this field is indicated by the increase in financial support, interest from the scientific community and frequency of publications.

Audience: The scientists of IIB have presented the most essential background and applications of biophotonics in these lecture notes in biophysics, based on the summer school lectures by this group. This book is devoted to questions of elementary biophysics, as well as current developments and applications. It will be of interest to graduate and postgraduate students, life scientists, and the responsible officials of industries and governments looking for non-invasive methods of investigating biological tissues.

Hard spheres and related objects (hard disks and mixtures of hard systems) are paradigmatic systems: indeed, they have served as a basis for the theoretical and numerical development of a number of fields, such as general liquids and fluids, amorphous solids, liquid crystals, colloids and granular matter, to name but a few. The present volume introduces and reviews some important basics and progress in the study of such systems. Their structure, thermodynamic properties, equations of state, as well as kinetic and transport properties are considered from different and complementary points of view. This book addresses graduate students, lecturers as well as researchers in statistical mechanics, physics of liquids, physical chemistry and chemical engineering.

The aim of the book is the presentation of the fundamental mathematical and physical concepts of continuum mechanics of solids in a unified description so as to bring young researchers rapidly close to their research area. Accordingly, emphasis is given to concepts of permanent interest, and details of minor importance are omitted. The formulation is achieved systematically in absolute tensor notation, which is almost exclusively used in modern literature. This mathematical tool is presented such that study of the book is possible without permanent reference to other works.

Rigorous presentation of Mathematical Homogenization Theory is the subject of numerous publications. This book, however, is intended to fill the gap in the analytical and numerical performance of the corresponding asymptotic analysis of the static and dynamic behaviors of heterogenous systems. Numerous concrete applications to composite media, heterogeneous plates and shells are considered. A lot of details, numerical results for cell problem solutions, calculations of high-order terms of asymptotic expansions, boundary layer analysis etc., are included.

100 years after the first observation of ripening by Ostwald and 40 years after the first publication of a theory describing this process, this monograph presents in a self-consistent and comprehensive manner, all the bits and pieces of coarsening theories so that the main issues and the underlying mathematics of self-similar coarsening of dispersed systems can be understood. Rather than giving a complete survey of the field, it presents a careful derivation of the existing results and places them into some perspective.

Evolutionary algorithms, such as evolution strategies, genetic algorithms, or evolutionary programming, have found broad acceptance in the last ten years. In contrast to its broad propagation, theoretical analysis in this subject has not progressed as much. This monograph provides the framework and the first steps toward the theoretical analysis of Evolution Strategies (ES). The main emphasis is deriving a qualitative understanding of why and how these ES algorithms work.

This work brings together previously unpublished notes contributed by participants of the IUTAM Symposium on Hamiltonian Dynamics, Vortex Structures, Turbulence (Moscow, 25-30 August 2006). The study of vortex motion is of great interest to fluid and gas dynamics: since all real flows are vortical in nature, applications of the vortex theory are extremely diverse, many of them (e.g. aircraft dynamics, atmospheric and ocean phenomena) being especially important.

The contents of this book are the result of work performed in the past three years to provide some answers to questions raised by several colleagues wo- inginastrophysics. Examiningseveraltransportprocessesinplasmasrelated to dissipative e?ects in phenomena such as cooling ?ows, propagation of sound waves, thermal conduction in the presence of magnetic ?elds, an- lar momentum transfer in accretion disks, among many, one ?nds a rather common pattern. Indeed when values for transport coe?cients are required the overwhelming majority of authors refer to the classical results obtained by L. Spitzer and S. Braginski over forty years ago. Further, it is also often mentioned that under the prescribed working conditions the values of such coe?cients are usually insu?cient to provide agreement with observations. The methodology followed by these authors is based upon Landau's - oneering idea that collisions in plasmas may be substantially accounted for when viewed as a di?usive process. Consequently the ensuing basic kinetic equation is the Fokker-Planck version of Boltzmann's equation as essentially proposed by Landau himself nearly 70 years ago. Curiously enough the magni?cent work of the late R. Balescu in both Classical and Non-Classical transport in plasmas published in 1988 and also based on the Fokker-Planck equation is hardly known in the astrophysical audience. The previous work of Spitzer and Braginski is analyzed with much more rigorous vision in his two books on the subject.

This book is devoted to one of the most interesting and rapidly developing areas of modern nonlinear physics and mathematics - theoretical, analytical andnumerical, studyofthestructureanddynamicsofone-dimensionalaswell as two- and three-dimensional solitons and nonlinear wave packets described by the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV), Kadomtsev-Petviashvili (KP), nonlinear Schr] odinger (NLS) and derivative nonlinear Schr] odinger (DNLS) classes of equations. Special attention is paid to generalizations (relevant to various complex physical media) of these equations, accounting for higher-order d- persion corrections, in?uence of dissipation, instabilities, and stochastic ?- tuations of the wave ?elds. We present here a coordinated approach to the theory, simulations, and applications of the nonlinear one-, two-, and three-dimensional solitary wave solutions. Overall, the content of the book is a systematic account of results notonlyalreadyknownintheliterature, butalsothoseofneworiginalstudies related to the theory of models allowing soliton solutions, and analyses of the stability and asymptotics of these solutions. We give signi?cant consideration to numerical methods and results of numerical simulations of the structure and dynamics of solitons and nonlinear wave packets. Together with deep insights into the theory, applications to various branches of modern physics are considered, especially to plasma physics (such as space plasmas including ionospheric and magnetospheric processes), hydrodynamics, and atmosphere dynamics. Presently, thetheoryofone-dimensionalnonlinearequationsoftheclasses consideredbytheauthorsiswelldeveloped, andtheprogressinstudiesofthe structure and evolution of one-dimensional solitons and wave packets is ob- ous. This progress was especially fast after the discovery of hidden algebraic symmetries of the KdV, NLS, and other (integrable by the inverse scatt- ing transform (IST) method) classes of one-dimensional evolution equations

Do Smart Adaptive Systems Exist? is intended as a reference and a guide summarising and focusing on best practices when using intelligent techniques and building systems requiring a degree of adaptation and intelligence.

It is therefore not intended as a collection of the most recent research results, but as a practical guide for experts from other areas and industrial users interested in building solutions to their problems using intelligent techniques. One of the main issues covered is an attempt to answer the question of how to select and/or combine suitable intelligent techniques from a large pool of potential solutions.

Another attractive feature of the book is that it brings together experts from neural network, fuzzy, machine learning, evolutionary and hybrid systems communities who will provide their views on how these different intelligent technologies have contributed and will contribute to creation of smart adaptive systems of the future.

In this book a detailed and systematic treatment of asymptotic methods in the theory of plates and shells is presented. The main features of the book are the basic principles of asymptotics and their applications, traditional approaches such as regular and singular perturbations, as well as new approaches such as the composite equations approach. The book introduces the reader to the field of asymptotic simplification of the problems of the theory of plates and shells and will be useful as a handbook of methods of asymptotic integration. Providing a state-of-the-art review of asymptotic applications, this book will be useful as an introduction to the field for novices as well as a reference book for specialists.

Bohmian Mechanics was formulated in 1952 by David Bohm as a complete theory of quantum phenomena based on a particle picture. It was promoted some decades later by John S. Bell, who, intrigued by the manifestly nonlocal structure of the theory, was led to his famous Bell's inequalities. Experimental tests of the inequalities verified that nature is indeed nonlocal. Bohmian mechanics has since then prospered as the straightforward completion of quantum mechanics. This book provides a systematic introduction to Bohmian mechanics and to the mathematical abstractions of quantum mechanics, which range from the self-adjointness of the Schroedinger operator to scattering theory. It explains how the quantum formalism emerges when Boltzmann's ideas about statistical mechanics are applied to Bohmian mechanics. The book is self-contained, mathematically rigorous and an ideal starting point for a fundamental approach to quantum mechanics. It will appeal to students and newcomers to the field, as well as to established scientists seeking a clear exposition of the theory.

Adaptronic structures and systems are engineered to adjust automatically to variable operating and environmental conditions, through the use of feedback control. The authors of this book have taken on the task of comprehensively describing the current state of the art in this highly modern and broadly interdisciplinary field. The book presents selected examples of applications, and goes on to demonstrate current development trends.

Intended for beginners in ergodic theory, this introductory textbook addresses students as well as researchers in mathematical physics. The main novelty is the systematic treatment of characteristic problems in ergodic theory by a unified method in terms of convergent power series and renormalization group methods, in particular. Basic concepts of ergodicity, like Gibbs states, are developed and applied to, e.g., Asonov systems or KAM Theroy. Many examples illustrate the ideas and, in addition, a substantial number of interesting topics are treated in the form of guided problems.

In many industries the tariffs are not strictly proportional to the quantity purchased, i. e, they are nonlinear. Examples of nonlinear tariffs include railroad and electricity schedules and rental rates for durable goods and space. The major justification for the nonlinear pricing is the existence of private information on the side of consumers. In the early papers on the subject, private information was captured either by assuming a finite number of types (e. g. Adams and Yellen, 1976) or by a unidimensional continuum of types (Mussa and Rosen, 1978). Economics of the unidimen sional problems is by now well understood. The unidimensional models, however, do not cover all the situations of practical interest. Indeed, often the nonlinear tariffs specify the payment as a function of a variety of characteristics. For example, railroad tariffs spec ify charges based on weight, volume, and distance of each shipment. Dif ferent customers may value each of these characteristics differently, hence the customer's type will not in general be captured by a unidimensional characteristic and a problem of multidimensional screening arises. In such models the consumer's private information (her type) is captured by an m-dimensional vector, while the good produced by the monopolist has n quality dimensions."

The need for tsunami research and analysis has grown dramatically following the devastating tsunami of December 2004, which affected Southern Asia. This book pursues a detailed theoretical and mathematical analysis of the fundamentals of tsunamis, especially the evolution and dynamics of tsunamis and other great waves. Of course, it includes specific measurement results from the 2004 tsunami, but the emphasis is on the nature of the waves themselves and their links to nonlinear phenomena.

An overview of the basic concepts, methods and applications of nonlinear low-dimensional solid state physics based on the Frenkel--Kontorova model and its generalizations. The book covers many important topics such as the nonlinear dynamics of discrete systems, the dynamics of solitons and their interaction, commensurate and incommensurate systems, statistical mechanics of nonlinear systems, and nonequilibrium dynamics of interacting many-body systems.

Generally speaking, Biosignals refer to signals recorded from the human body. They can be either electrical (e. g. Electrocardiogram (ECG), Electroencephalogram (EEG), Electromyogram (EMG), etc. ) or non-electrical (e. g. breathing, movements, etc. ). The acquisition and processing of such signals play an important role in clinical routines. They are usually considered as major indicators which provide clinicians and physicians with useful information during diagnostic and monitoring processes. In some applications, the purpose is not necessarily medical. It may also be industrial. For instance, a real-time EEG system analysis can be used to control and analyze the vigilance of a car driver. In this case, the purpose of such a system basically consists of preventing crash risks. Furthermore, in certain other appli- tions, asetof biosignals (e. g. ECG, respiratorysignal, EEG, etc. ) can be used toc- trol or analyze human emotions. This is the case of the famous polygraph system, also known as the "lie detector," the ef ciency of which remains open to debate Thus when one is dealing with biosignals, special attention must be given to their acquisition, their analysis and their processing capabilities which constitute the nal stage preceding the clinical diagnosis. Naturally, the diagnosis is based on the information provided by the processing system.

The present volume is an introduction to nonlinear waves and soliton theory in the special environment of compact spaces such as closed curves and surfaces and other domain contours.

The first part of the book introduces the mathematical concept required for treating the manifolds considered. An introduction to the theory of motion of curves and surfaces is given. The second and third parts discuss the modeling of various physical solitons on compact systems.

Radio Resource Management in Cellular Systems is the first book to address the critical issue of radio resource management in emerging (i.e., third generation and beyond) wireless systems. This book presents novel approaches for the design of high performance handoff algorithms that exploit attractive features of several existing algorithms, provide adaptation to dynamic cellular environment, and allow systematic tradeoffs among different system characteristics. Efficient handoff algorithms cost-effectively enhance the capacity and quality of service (QoS) of cellular systems. A comprehensive foundation of handoff and related issues of cellular communications is given. Tutorial-type material on the general features of 3G and 3.5G wireless systems (including CDMA2000, UMTS, and 1xEV-DO) is provided. Key elements for the development of simulators to study handoff and overall RF performance of the integrated voice and data cellular systems (including those based on CDMA) are also described. Finally, the powerful design tools of neural networks and fuzzy logic are applied to wireless communications, so that the generic algorithm approaches proposed in the book can be applied to many other design and development areas. The simulation models described in the book represent a single source that provides information for the performance evaluation of systems from handoff and resource management perspectives. Radio Resource Management in Cellular Systems will prove a valuable resource for system designers and practicing engineers working on design and development of third generation (and beyond) wireless systems. It may also be used as a text for advanced-level courses in wireless communications and neural networks.

This volume contains the proceedings of the IUTAM Symposium on Computational Physics and New Perspectives in Turbulence, held at Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan, in September 2006. With special emphasis given to fundamental aspects of the physics of turbulence, coverage includes experimental approaches to fundamental problems in turbulence, turbulence modeling and numerical methods, and geophysical and astrophysical turbulence.

Multi-Valued and Universal Binary Neurons deals with two new types of neurons: multi-valued neurons and universal binary neurons. These neurons are based on complex number arithmetic and are hence much more powerful than the typical neurons used in artificial neural networks. Therefore, networks with such neurons exhibit a broad functionality. They can not only realise threshold input/output maps but can also implement any arbitrary Boolean function. Two learning methods are presented whereby these networks can be trained easily. The broad applicability of these networks is proven by several case studies in different fields of application: image processing, edge detection, image enhancement, super resolution, pattern recognition, face recognition, and prediction. The book is hence partitioned into three almost equally sized parts: a mathematical study of the unique features of these new neurons, learning of networks of such neurons, and application of such neural networks. Most of this work was developed by the first two authors over a period of more than 10 years and was only available in the Russian literature. With this book we present the first comprehensive treatment of this important class of neural networks in the open Western literature. Multi-Valued and Universal Binary Neurons is intended for anyone with a scholarly interest in neural network theory, applications and learning. It will also be of interest to researchers and practitioners in the fields of image processing, pattern recognition, control and robotics.

This collection of lectures and tutorial reviews focuses on the common computational approaches in use to unravel the static and dynamical behaviour of complex physical systems at the interface of physics, chemistry and biology. Prominent consideration is given to rugged free-energy landscapes. The authors aim to provide a common basis and technical language for the (computational) technology transfer between the fields and systems considered.

The basic principles guiding sensing, perception and action in bio systems seem to rely on highly organised spatial-temporal dynamics. In fact, all biological senses, (visual, hearing, tactile, etc.) process signals coming from different parts distributed in space and also show a complex time evolution. As an example, mammalian retina performs a parallel representation of the visual world embodied into layers, each of which r- resents a particular detail of the scene. These results clearly state that visual perception starts at the level of the retina, and is not related uniquely to the higher brain centres. Although vision remains the most useful sense guiding usual actions, the other senses, ?rst of all hearing but also touch, become essential particularly in cluttered conditions, where visual percepts are somehow obscured by environment conditions. Ef?cient use of hearing can be learnt from acoustic perception in animals/insects, like crickets, that use this ancient sense more than all the others, to perform a vital function, like mating.

Model reduction and coarse-graining are important in many areas of science and engineering. How does a system with many degrees of freedom become one with fewer? How can a reversible micro-description be adapted to the dissipative macroscopic model? These crucial questions, as well as many other related problems, are discussed in this book. All contributions are by experts whose specialities span a wide range of fields within science and engineering.