This volume offers a well-structured overview of existent computational approaches to Riemann surfaces and those currently in development. The authors of the contributions represent the groups providing publically available numerical codes in this field. Thus this volume illustrates which software tools are available and how they can be used in practice. In addition examples for solutions to partial differential equations and in surface theory are presented. The intended audience of this book is twofold. It can be used as a textbook for a graduate course in numerics of Riemann surfaces, in which case the standard undergraduate background, i.e., calculus and linear algebra, is required. In particular, no knowledge of the theory of Riemann surfaces is expected; the necessary background in this theory is contained in the Introduction chapter. At the same time, this book is also intended for specialists in geometry and mathematical physics applying the theory of Riemann surfaces in their research. It is the first book on numerics of Riemann surfaces that reflects the progress made in this field during the last decade, and it contains original results. There are a growing number of applications that involve the evaluation of concrete characteristics of models analytically described in terms of Riemann surfaces. Many problem settings and computations in this volume are motivated by such concrete applications in geometry and mathematical physics.

Discrete differential geometry is an active mathematical terrain where differential geometry and discrete geometry meet and interact. It provides discrete equivalents of the geometric notions and methods of differential geometry, such as notions of curvature and integrability for polyhedral surfaces. Current progress in this field is to a large extent stimulated by its relevance for computer graphics and mathematical physics. This collection of essays, which documents the main lectures of the 2004 Oberwolfach Seminar on the topic, as well as a number of additional contributions by key participants, gives a lively, multi-facetted introduction to this emerging field.

This book brings together two different branches of mathematics: the theory of Painlevé and the theory of surfaces. Self-contained introductions to both these fields are presented. It is shown how some classical problems in surface theory can be solved using the modern theory of Painlevé equations. In particular, an essential part of the book is devoted to Bonnet surfaces, i.e. to surfaces possessing families of isometries preserving the mean curvature function. A global classification of Bonnet surfaces is given using both ingredients of the theory of Painlevé equations: the theory of isomonodromic deformation and the Painlevé property. The book is illustrated by plots of surfaces. It is intended to be used by mathematicians and graduate students interested in differential geometry and Painlevé equations. Researchers working in one of these areas can become familiar with another relevant branch of mathematics.