1. 1 A paradigm About one hundred years ago, Maurice Couette, a French physicist, de signed an apparatus consisting of two coaxial cylinders, the space between the cylinders being filled with a viscous fluid and the outer cylinder being rotated at angular velocity O2. The purpose of this experiment was, follow ing an idea of the Austrian physicist Max Margules, to deduce the viscosity of the fluid from measurements of the torque exerted by the fluid on the inner cylinder (the fluid is assumed to adhere to the walls of the cylinders). At least when O is not too large, the fluid flow is nearly laminar and 2 the method of Couette is valuable because the torque is then proportional to 110, where II is the kinematic viscosity of the fluid. If, however, O is 2 2 increased to a very large value, the flow becomes eventually turbulent. A few years later, Arnulph Mallock designed a similar apparatus but allowed the inner cylinder to rotate with angular velocity 01, while O2 = o. The surprise was that the laminar flow, now known as the Couette flow, was not observable when 0 exceeded a certain "low" critical value Ole, even 1 though, as we shall see in Chapter II, it is a solution of the model equations for any values of 0 and O ."

This substantially revised second edition teaches the bifurcation of asymptotic solutions to evolution problems governed by nonlinear differential equations. Written not just for mathematicians, it appeals to the widest audience of learners, including engineers, biologists, chemists, physicists and economists. For this reason, it uses only well-known methods of classical analysis at foundation level, while the applications and examples are specially chosen to be as varied as possible.

1. 1 A paradigm About one hundred years ago, Maurice Couette, a French physicist, de signed an apparatus consisting of two coaxial cylinders, the space between the cylinders being filled with a viscous fluid and the outer cylinder being rotated at angular velocity O2. The purpose of this experiment was, follow ing an idea of the Austrian physicist Max Margules, to deduce the viscosity of the fluid from measurements of the torque exerted by the fluid on the inner cylinder (the fluid is assumed to adhere to the walls of the cylinders). At least when O is not too large, the fluid flow is nearly laminar and 2 the method of Couette is valuable because the torque is then proportional to 110, where II is the kinematic viscosity of the fluid. If, however, O is 2 2 increased to a very large value, the flow becomes eventually turbulent. A few years later, Arnulph Mallock designed a similar apparatus but allowed the inner cylinder to rotate with angular velocity 01, while O2 = o. The surprise was that the laminar flow, now known as the Couette flow, was not observable when 0 exceeded a certain "low" critical value Ole, even 1 though, as we shall see in Chapter II, it is a solution of the model equations for any values of 0 and O ."

An extension of different lectures given by the authors, Local Bifurcations, Center Manifolds, and Normal Forms in Infinite Dimensional Dynamical Systems provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of these topics.

Starting with the simplest bifurcation problems arising for ordinary differential equations in one- and two-dimensions, this book describes several tools from the theory of infinite dimensional dynamical systems, allowing the reader to treat more complicated bifurcation problems, such as bifurcations arising in partial differential equations. Attention is restricted to the study of local bifurcations with a focus upon the center manifold reduction and the normal form theory; two methods that have been widely used during the last decades.

Through use of step-by-step examples and exercises, a number of possible applications are illustrated, and allow the less familiar reader to use this reduction method by checking some clear assumptions. Written by recognised experts in the field of center manifold and normal form theory this book provides a much-needed graduate level text on bifurcation theory, center manifolds and normal form theory. It will appeal to graduate students and researchers working in dynamical system theory.

Discoveries of chaotic, unpredictable behaviour in physical deterministic systems has brought about new analytic and experimental techniques in dynamics. The modern study of the new phenomena requires the analyst to become familiar with experiments (at least with numerical ones), since chaotic solutions cannot be written down, and it requires the experimenter to master the new concepts of the theory of nonlinear dynamical systems. This book is unique in that it presents both viewpoints: the viewpoint of the analyst and of the experimenter. In the first part F. Moon outlines the new experimental techniques which have emerged from the study of chaotic vibrations. These include Poincare sections, fractial dimensions and Lapunov exponents. In the text by W. Szemplinska-Stupnicka the relation between the new chaotic phenomena and classical perturbation techniques is explored for the first time. In the third part G. Iooss presents methods of analysis for the calculations of bifurcations in nonlinear systems based on modern geometric mathematical concepts.

This substantially revised second edition teaches the bifurcation of asymptotic solutions to evolution problems governed by nonlinear differential equations. Written not just for mathematicians, it appeals to the widest audience of learners, including engineers, biologists, chemists, physicists and economists. For this reason, it uses only well-known methods of classical analysis at foundation level, while the applications and examples are specially chosen to be as varied as possible.

The International Society for the Interaction of Mechanics and Mathematics has a long-standing and respected tradition of hosting symposia that provide a forum for disseminating new developments and methods. Trends in Applications of Mathematics to Mechanics represents the proceedings of the eleventh such symposium, held at the University of Nice in May 1998.
Comprising invited lectures and refereed papers, this volume includes recent results that open perspectives on fields in mechanics and their methodological counterparts in mathematics. It also surveys important advances in the areas where mathematics and mechanics interact. The applications addressed include: