This text is a concise, application-oriented introduction to the theory of distributions. It presents distributions as a natural method of analysis from both a mathematical and physical point of view. Methods are developed to justify many formal calculations that do not make sense in the classical framework. The discussion emphasizes applications to the general study of linear partial differential equations. The topics include an introduction to distributions, differentiation, convergence, and convolution of distributions, as well as Fourier transformations and spaces of distributions having special properties.The applications relate the theory to solutions of partial differential equations occurring in physics, for instance, in mechanics, optics, quantum mechanics, quantum field theory and signal analysis, which students may encounter throughout their studies.

Hans Duistermaat, an influential geometer-analyst, made substantial contributions to the theory of ordinary and partial differential equations, symplectic, differential, and algebraic geometry, minimal surfaces, semisimple Lie groups, mechanics, mathematical physics, and related fields. Written in his honor, the invited and refereed articles in this volume contain important new results as well as surveys in some of these areas, clearly demonstrating the impact of Duistermaat's research and, in addition, exhibiting interrelationships among many of the topics.

This book is a (post)graduate textbook on Lie groups and Lie algebras. Its aim is to give a broad introduction to the field with an emphasis on using differential-geometrical methods, in the spirit of Lie himself. The structure of compact Lie groups is analyzed in terms of the action of the group on itself by conjugation. The book culminates in the classification of the representations of compact Lie groups and in their realization as sections of holomorphic line bundles over flag manifolds. The relations with algebraic and analytic models are also discussed. A review of the required background material is provided in appendices.