Originally published in 1987, this book is devoted to the approximation of real functions by real rational functions. These are, in many ways, a more convenient tool than polynomials, and interest in them was growing, especially since D. Newman's work in the mid-sixties. The authors aim at presenting the basic achievements of the subject and, for completeness, also discuss some topics from complex rational approximation. Certain classical and modern results from linear approximation theory and spline approximation are also included for comparative purposes. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in approximation theory and numerical analysis.

This book is based on a one year course of lectures on structural sta bility of differential equations which the author has given for the past several years at the Department of Mathematics and Mechanics at the University of Leningrad. The theory of structural stability has been developed intensively over the last 25 years. This theory is now a vast domain of mathematics, having close relations to the classical qualitative theory of differential equations, to differential topology, and to the analysis on manifolds. Evidently it is impossible to present a complete and detailed account of all fundamental results of the theory during a one year course. So the purpose of the course of lectures (and also the purpose of this book) was more modest. The author was going to give an introduction to the language of the theory of structural stability, to formulate its principal results, and to introduce the students (and also the readers of the book) to some of the main methods of this theory. One can select two principal aspects of modern theory of structural stability (of course there are some conventions attached to this state ment). The first one, let us call it the "geometric" aspect, deals mainly with the description of the picture of trajectories of a system; and the second, let us say the "analytic" one, has in its centre the method for solving functional equations to find invariant manifolds, conjugating homeomorphisms, and so forth."

This 2002 monograph offers a broad investigative tool in ergodic theory and measurable dynamics. The motivation for this work is that one may measure how similar two dynamical systems are by asking how much the time structure of orbits of one system must be distorted for it to become the other. Different restrictions on the allowed distortion will lead to different restricted orbit equivalence theories. These include Ornstein's Isomorphism theory, Kakutani Equivalence theory and a list of others. By putting such restrictions in an axiomatic framework, a general approach is developed that encompasses all these examples simultaneously and gives insight into how to seek further applications. The work is placed in the context of discrete amenable group actions where time is not required to be one-dimensional, making the results applicable to a much wider range of problems and examples.

In preparing the second edition, I have taken advantage of the opportunity to correct errors as well as revise the presentation in many places. New material has been included, in addition, reflecting relevant recent work. The help of many colleagues (and especially Professor J. Stoer) in ferreting out errors is gratefully acknowledged. I also owe special thanks to Professor v. Sazonov for many discussions on the white noise theory in Chapter 6. February, 1981 A. V. BALAKRISHNAN v Preface to the First Edition The title "Applied Functional Analysis" is intended to be short for "Functional analysis in a Hilbert space and certain of its applications," the applications being drawn mostly from areas variously referred to as system optimization or control systems or systems analysis. One of the signs of the times is a discernible tilt toward application in mathematics and conversely a greater level of mathematical sophistication in the application areas such as economics or system science, both spurred undoubtedly by the heightening pace of digital computer usage. This book is an entry into this twilight zone. The aspects of functional analysis treated here are rapidly becoming essential in the training at the advance graduate level of system scientists and/or mathematical economists. There are of course now available many excellent treatises on functional analysis.

Stochastic differential equations whose solutions are diffusion (or other random) processes have been the subject of lively mathematical research since the pioneering work of Gihman, Ito and others in the early fifties. As it gradually became clear that a great number of real phenomena in control theory, physics, biology, economics and other areas could be modelled by differential equations with stochastic perturbation terms, this research became somewhat feverish, with the results that a) the number of theroretical papers alone now numbers several hundred and b) workers interested in the field (especially from an applied viewpoint) have had no opportunity to consult a systematic account. This monograph, written by two of the world's authorities on prob ability theory and stochastic processes, fills this hiatus by offering the first extensive account of the calculus of random differential equations de fined in terms of the Wiener process. In addition to systematically ab stracting most of the salient results obtained thus far in the theory, it includes much new material on asymptotic and stability properties along with a potentially important generalization to equations defined with the aid of the so-called random Poisson measure whose solutions possess jump discontinuities. Although this monograph treats one of the most modern branches of applied mathematics, it can be read with profit by anyone with a knowledge of elementary differential equations armed with a solid course in stochastic processes from the measure-theoretic point of view."

This volume is dedicated to Harold Widom, a distinguished mathematician and renowned expert in the area of Toeplitz, Wiener-Hopf and pseudodifferential operators, on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. The book opens with biographical material and a list of the mathematician's publications, this being followed by two papers based on Toeplitz lectures which he delivered at Tel Aviv University in March, 1993. The rest of the book consists of a selection of papers containing some recent achievements in the following areas: Szego-Widom asymptotic formulas for determinants of finite sections of Toeplitz matrices and their generalizations, the Fisher-Hartwig conjecture, random matrices, analysis of kernels of Toeplitz matrices, projectional methods and eigenvalue distribution for Toeplitz matrices, the Fredholm theory for convolution type operators, the Nehari interpolation problem with generalizations and applications, and Toeplitz-Hausdorff type theorems. The book will appeal to a wide audience of pure and applied mathematicians."

'Et mm. ..., si j'avait su comment en revenir, One service mathematics has rendered the je n'y serais point all' '' human race. It has put common sense back Jules Verne where it belongs, on the topmost shelf IIClI.t 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."

Mathematical Properties of Sequences and Other Combinatorial Structures is an excellent reference for both professional and academic researchers working in telecommunications, cryptography, signal processing, discrete mathematics, and information theory. The work represents a collection of contributions from leading experts in the field. Contributors have individually and collectively dedicated their work as a tribute to the outstanding work of Solomon W. Golomb. Mathematical Properties of Sequences and Other Combinatorial Structures covers the latest advances in the widely used and rapidly developing field of information and communication technology.

Real quaternion analysis is a multi-faceted subject. Created to describe phenomena in special relativity, electrodynamics, spin etc., it has developed into a body of material that interacts with many branches of mathematics, such as complex analysis, harmonic analysis, differential geometry, and differential equations. It is also a ubiquitous factor in the description and elucidation of problems in mathematical physics. In the meantime real quaternion analysis has become a well established branch in mathematics and has been greatly successful in many different directions. This book is based on concrete examples and exercises rather than general theorems, thus making it suitable for an introductory one- or two-semester undergraduate course on some of the major aspects of real quaternion analysis in exercises. Alternatively, it may be used for beginning graduate level courses and as a reference work. With exercises at the end of each chapter and its straightforward writing style the book addresses readers who have no prior knowledge on this subject but have a basic background in graduate mathematics courses, such as real and complex analysis, ordinary differential equations, partial differential equations, and theory of distributions.

Generalized functions are now widely recognized as important mathematical tools for engineers and physicists. But they are considered to be inaccessible for non-specialists. To remedy this situation, this book gives an intelligible exposition of generalized functions based on Sato's hyperfunction, which is essentially the `boundary value of analytic functions'. An intuitive image -- hyperfunction = vortex layer -- is adopted, and only an elementary knowledge of complex function theory is assumed. The treatment is entirely self-contained. The first part of the book gives a detailed account of fundamental operations such as the four arithmetical operations applicable to hyperfunctions, namely differentiation, integration, and convolution, as well as Fourier transform. Fourier series are seen to be nothing but periodic hyperfunctions. In the second part, based on the general theory, the Hilbert transform and Poisson-Schwarz integral formula are treated and their application to integral equations is studied. A great number of formulas obtained in the course of treatment are summarized as tables in the appendix. In particular, those concerning convolution, the Hilbert transform and Fourier transform contain much new material. For mathematicians, mathematical physicists and engineers whose work involves generalized functions.

For more than two thousand years some familiarity with mathematics has been regarded as an indispensable part of the intellectual equipment of every cultured person. Today the traditional place of mathematics in education is in grave danger. Unfortunately, professional representatives of mathematics share in the reponsibiIity. The teaching of mathematics has sometimes degen erated into empty drill in problem solving, which may develop formal ability but does not lead to real understanding or to greater intellectual indepen dence. Mathematical research has shown a tendency toward overspecialization and over-emphasis on abstraction. Applications and connections with other fields have been neglected . . . But . . . understanding of mathematics cannot be transmitted by painless entertainment any more than education in music can be brought by the most brilliant journalism to those who never have lis tened intensively. Actual contact with the content of living mathematics is necessary. Nevertheless technicalities and detours should be avoided, and the presentation of mathematics should be just as free from emphasis on routine as from forbidding dogmatism which refuses to disclose motive or goal and which is an unfair obstacle to honest effort. (From the preface to the first edition of What is Mathematics? by Richard Courant and Herbert Robbins, 1941."

Descriptor linear systems theory is an important part in the general field of control systems theory, and has attracted much attention in the last two decades. In spite of the fact that descriptor linear systems theory has been a topic very rich in content, there have been only a few books on this topic. This book provides a systematic introduction to the theory of continuous-time descriptor linear systems and aims to provide a relatively systematic introduction to the basic results in descriptor linear systems theory. The clear representation of materials and a large number of examples make this book easy to understand by a large audience. General readers will find in this book a comprehensive introduction to the theory of descriptive linear systems. Researchers will find a comprehensive description of the most recent results in this theory and students will find a good introduction to some important problems in linear systems theory.

In the last decade there has been an extraordinary confluence of ideas in mathematics and theoretical physics brought about by pioneering discoveries in geometry and analysis. The various chapters in this volume, treating the interface of geometric analysis and mathematical physics, represent current research interests. No suitable succinct account of the material is available elsewhere. Key topics include: * A self-contained derivation of the partition function of Chern- Simons gauge theory in the semiclassical approximation (D.H. Adams) * Algebraic and geometric aspects of the Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov equations in conformal field theory (P. Bouwknegt) * Application of the representation theory of loop groups to simple models in quantum field theory and to certain integrable systems (A.L. Carey and E. Langmann) * A study of variational methods in Hermitian geometry from the viewpoint of the critical points of action functionals together with physical backgrounds (A. Harris) * A review of monopoles in nonabelian gauge theories (M.K. Murray) * Exciting developments in quantum cohomology (Y. Ruan) * The physics origin of Seiberg-Witten equations in 4-manifold theory (S. Wu) Graduate students, mathematicians and mathematical physicists in the above-mentioned areas will benefit from the user-friendly introductory style of each chapter as well as the comprehensive bibliographies provided for each topic. Prerequisite knowledge is minimal since sufficient background material motivates each chapter.

The book reviews a large number of 1- and 2-dimensional equations that describe nonlinear phenomena in various areas of modern theoretical and mathematical physics. It is meant, above all, for physicists who specialize in the field theory and physics of elementary particles and plasma, for mathe maticians dealing with nonlinear differential equations, differential geometry, and algebra, and the theory of Lie algebras and groups and their representa tions, and for students and post-graduates in these fields. We hope that the book will be useful also for experts in hydrodynamics, solid-state physics, nonlinear optics electrophysics, biophysics and physics of the Earth. The first two chapters of the book present some results from the repre sentation theory of Lie groups and Lie algebras and their counterpart on supermanifolds in a form convenient in what follows. They are addressed to those who are interested in integrable systems but have a scanty vocabulary in the language of representation theory. The experts may refer to the first two chapters only occasionally. As we wanted to give the reader an opportunity not only to come to grips with the problem on the ideological level but also to integrate her or his own concrete nonlinear equations without reference to the literature, we had to expose in a self-contained way the appropriate parts of the representation theory from a particular point of view."

This book is dedicated to a theory of traces and determinants on embedded algebras of linear operators, where the trace and determinant are extended from finite rank operators by a limit process. The self-contained material should appeal to a wide group of mathematicians and engineers, and is suitable for teaching.

This unique book presents a profound mathematical analysis of general optimization problems for elliptic systems, which are then applied to a great number of optimization problems in mechanics and technology. Accessible and self-contained, it is suitable as a textbook for graduate courses on optimization of elliptic systems.

The study of systems of special partial differential operators that arise naturally from the use of Clifford algebra as a calculus tool lies in the heart of Clifford analysis. The focus is on the study of Dirac operators and related ones, together with applications in mathematics, physics and engineering. At the present time, the study of Clifford algebra and Clifford analysis has grown into a major research field. There are two sources of papers in this collection. One is from a satellite conference to the ICM 2002 in Beijing, held August 15-18 at the University of Macau; and the other stems from invited contributions by top-notch experts in the field.

This book deals with the symbiotic relationship between I Quarkonial decompositions of functions, on the one hand, and II Sharp inequalities and embeddings in function spaces, III Fractal elliptic operators, IV Regularity theory for some semi-linear equations, on the other hand. Accordingly, the book has four chapters. In Chapter I we present the Weier- strassian approach to the theory of function spaces, which can be roughly described as follows. Let 'IjJ be a non-negative Coo function in]R. n with compact support such that {'ljJe - m) : m E zn} is a resolution of unity in ]R. n. Let 'IjJ!3(x) = x!3'IjJ(x) where x E ]R. n and {3 E N~. One may ask under which circumstances functions and distributions f in ]R. n admit expansions 00 (0. 1) f(x) = L L L ). . ~m'IjJ!3(2jx - m), x E ]R. n, n !3ENg j=O mEZ with the coefficients ). . ~m E C. This resembles, at least formally, the Weier- strassian approach to holomorphic functions (in the complex plane), combined with the wavelet philosophy: translations x 1---4 x - m where m E zn and dyadic j dilations x 1---4 2 x where j E No in ]R. n. Such representations pave the way to constructive definitions offunction spaces.

This volume presents the refereed proceedings of the Conference in Operator The ory in Honour of Moshe Livsic 80th Birthday, held June 29 to July 4, 1997, at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Beer-Sheva, Israel) and at the Weizmann In stitute of Science (Rehovot, Israel). The volume contains papers in operator theory and its applications (understood in a very wide sense), many of them reflecting, 1 directly or indirectly, a profound impact of the work of Moshe Livsic. Moshe (Mikhail Samuilovich) Livsic was born on July 4, 1917, in the small town of Pokotilova near Uman, in the province of Kiev in the Ukraine; his family moved to Odessa when he was four years old. In 1933 he enrolled in the Department of Physics and Mathematics at the Odessa State University, where he became a student of M. G. Krein and an active participant in Krein's seminar - one of the centres where the ideas and methods of functional analysis and operator theory were being developed. Besides M. G. Krein, M. S. Livsic was strongly influenced B. Va. Levin, an outstanding specialist in the theory of analytic functions. A by deep understanding of operator theory as well as function theory and a penetrating search of connections between the two, were to become one of the landmarks of M. S. Livsic's work. M. S. Livsic defended his Ph. D."

We offer the reader of this book some specimens of "infinity" that we seized from the "mathematical jungle" and trapped within the solid cage of analysis The creation of the theory of singular integral equations in the mid 20th century is associated with the names of N.1. Muskhelishvili, F.D. Gakhov, N.P. Vekua and their numerous students and followers and is marked by the fact that it relied principally on methods of complex analysis. In the early 1960s, the development of this theory received a powerful impulse from the ideas and methods of functional analysis that were then brought into the picture. Its modern architecture is due to a constellation of brilliant mathemati- cians and the scientific collectives that they produced (S.G. Mikhlin, M.G. Krein, B.V. Khvedelidze, 1. Gohberg, LB. Simonenko, A. Devinatz, H. Widom, R.G. Dou- glas, D. Sarason, A.P. Calderon, S. Prossdorf, B. Silbermann, and others). In the ensuing period, the Fredholm theory of singular integral operators with a finite index was completed in its main aspects in wide classes of Banach and Frechet spaces.

This volume is based on the proceedings of the Toeplitz Lectures 1999 and of the Workshop in Operator Theory held in March 1999 at Tel-Aviv University and at the Weizmann Institute of Science. The workshop was held on the occasion of the 60th birthday of Harry Dym, and the Toeplitz lecturers were Harry Dym and Jim Rovnyak. The papers in the volume reflect Harry's influence on the field of operator theory and its applications through his insights, his writings, and his personality. The volume begins with an autobiographical sketch, followed by the list ofpublications ofHarry Dym and the paper ofIsrael Gohberg: On Joint Work with Harry Dym. The following paper by Jim Rovnyak: Methods of Krdn Space Operator The- ory, is based on his Toeplitz lectures. It gives a survey ofold and recents methods of KreIn space operator theory along with examples from function theory, espe- cially substitution operators on indefinite Dirichlet spaces and their relation to coefficient problems for univalent functions, an idea pioneered by 1. de Branges and underlying his proof of the Bieberbach conjecture (see [9]). The remaining papers (arranged in the alphabetical order) can be divided into the following categories. Schur analysis and interpolation In Notes on Interpolation in the Generalized Schur Class. I, D. Alpay, T. Con- stantinescu, A. Dijksma, and J. Rovnyak use realization theory for operator colli- gations in Pontryagin spaces to study interpolation and factorization problems in generalized Schur classes.

CO"i"b.H BaCHJIbeBHa lU>BaJIeBcR8JI (Sonja Kovalevsky) was born in Moscow in 1850 and died in Stockholm in 1891. Between these years, in the then changing and turbulent circumstances for Europe, lies the all too brief life of this remarkable woman. This life was lived out within the great European centers of power and learning in Russia, France, Germany, Switzerland, England and Sweden. To this day, now 150 years after her birth, her influence for and contribution to mathe matics, science, literature, women's rights and democratic government are recorded and reviewed, not only in Europe but now in countries far removed in time and distance from the lands of her birth and being. This volume, dedicated to her memory and to her achievements, records the Proceedings of the Marcus Wallenberg Symposium held, in memory of Sonja Kovalevsky, at Stockholm University from 18 to 22 June 2000. The symposium was held at the Department of Mathematics with its excellent library and lecture halls providing favourable working conditions. Within these pages are contained a curriculum vitae for Sonja Kovalevsky, a list of all her scientific publications, together with a copy of the moving and elegant obituary notice written by her friend and protector Gosta Mittag-Leffler. These papers are followed by a leading article entitled Sonja Kovalevsky: Her life and professorship in Stockholm, written especially for this volume by Jan-Erik Bjork in preparation for his major address to the Symposium.

Solitons were discovered by John Scott Russel in 1834, and have interested scientists and mathematicians ever since. They have been the subject of a large body of research in a wide variety of fields of physics and mathematics, not to mention engineering and other branches of science such as biology. This volume comprises the written versions of the talks presented at a workshop held at Queen's University in 1997, an interdisciplinary meeting wherein top researchers from many fields could meet, interact, and exchange ideas. Topics covered include mathematical and numerical aspects of solitons, as well as applications of solitons to nuclear and particle physics, cosmology, and condensed-matter physics. The book should be of interest to researchers in any field in which solitons are encountered.

The following tract is divided into three parts: Hilbert spaces and their (bounded and unbounded) self-adjoint operators, linear Hamiltonian systemsand their scalar counterparts and their application to orthogonal polynomials. In a sense, this is an updating of E. C. Titchmarsh's classic Eigenfunction Expansions. My interest in these areas began in 1960-61, when, as a graduate student, I was introduced by my advisors E. J. McShane and Marvin Rosenblum to the ideas of Hilbert space. The next year I was given a problem by Marvin Rosenblum that involved a differential operator with an "integral" boundary condition. That same year I attended a class given by the Physics Department in which the lecturer discussed the theory of Schwarz distributions and Titchmarsh's theory of singular Sturm-Liouville boundary value problems. I think a Professor Smith was the in structor, but memory fails. Nonetheless, I am deeply indebted to him, because, as we shall see, these topics are fundamental to what follows. I am also deeply indebted to others. First F. V. Atkinson stands as a giant in the field. W. N. Everitt does likewise. These two were very encouraging to me during my younger (and later) years. They did things "right." It was a revelation to read the book and papers by Professor Atkinson and the many fine fundamen tal papers by Professor Everitt. They are held in highest esteem, and are given profound thanks."