Recent years have witnessed important developments in those areas of the mathematical sciences where the basic model under study is a dynamical system such as a differential equation or control process. Many of these recent advances were made possible by parallel developments in nonlinear and nonsmooth analysis. The latter subjects, in general terms, encompass differential analysis and optimization theory in the absence of traditional linearity, convexity or smoothness assumptions. In the last three decades it has become increasingly recognized that nonlinear and nonsmooth behavior is naturally present and prevalent in dynamical models, and is therefore significant theoretically. This point of view has guided us in the organizational aspects of this ASI. Our goals were twofold: We intended to achieve "cross fertilization" between mathematicians who were working in a diverse range of problem areas, but who all shared an interest in nonlinear and nonsmooth analysis. More importantly, it was our goal to expose a young international audience (mainly graduate students and recent Ph. D. 's) to these important subjects. In that regard, there were heavy pedagogical demands placed upon the twelve speakers of the ASI, in meeting the needs of such a gathering. The talks, while exposing current areas of research activity, were required to be as introductory and comprehensive as possible. It is our belief that these goals were achieved, and that these proceedings bear this out. Each of the twelve speakers presented a mini-course of four or five hours duration.

This volume contains the edited texts of the lect. nres presented at the International School of Mathematics devoted to Nonsmonth Optimization, held from . June 20 to July I, 1988. The site for the meeting was the "Ettore ~Iajorana" Centre for Sci- entific Culture in Erice, Sicily. In the tradition of these meetings the main purpose was to give the state-of-the-art of an important and growing field of mathematics, and to stimulate interactions between finite-dimensional and infinite-dimensional op- timization. The School was attended by approximately 80 people from 23 countries; in particular it was possible to have some distinguished lecturers from the SO\*iet Union, whose research institutions are here gratt*fnlly acknowledged. Besides the lectures, several seminars were delivered; a special s*~ssion was devoted to numerical computing aspects. The result was a broad exposure. gi *. ring a deep knowledge of the present research tendencies in the field. We wish to express our appreciation to all the participants. Special mention 5hould be made of the Ettorc;. . Iajorana Centre in Erice, which helped provide a stimulating and rewarding experience, and of its staff which was fundamental for the success of the meeting. j\,loreover, WP want to extend uur deep appreci

Recent years have witnessed important developments in those areas of the mathematical sciences where the basic model under study is a dynamical system such as a differential equation or control process. Many of these recent advances were made possible by parallel developments in nonlinear and nonsmooth analysis. The latter subjects, in general terms, encompass differential analysis and optimization theory in the absence of traditional linearity, convexity or smoothness assumptions. In the last three decades it has become increasingly recognized that nonlinear and nonsmooth behavior is naturally present and prevalent in dynamical models, and is therefore significant theoretically. This point of view has guided us in the organizational aspects of this ASI. Our goals were twofold: We intended to achieve "cross fertilization" between mathematicians who were working in a diverse range of problem areas, but who all shared an interest in nonlinear and nonsmooth analysis. More importantly, it was our goal to expose a young international audience (mainly graduate students and recent Ph. D. 's) to these important subjects. In that regard, there were heavy pedagogical demands placed upon the twelve speakers of the ASI, in meeting the needs of such a gathering. The talks, while exposing current areas of research activity, were required to be as introductory and comprehensive as possible. It is our belief that these goals were achieved, and that these proceedings bear this out. Each of the twelve speakers presented a mini-course of four or five hours duration.