As is well known, The Great Divide (a.k.a. The Continental Divide) is formed by the Rocky Mountains stretching from north to south across North America. It creates a virtual "stone wall" so high that wind, rain, snow, etc. cannot cross it. This keeps the weather distinct on both sides. Since railroad trains cannot climb steep grades and tunnels through these mountains are almost formidable, the Canadian Pacific Railroad searched for a mountain pass providing the lowest grade for its tracks. Employees discovered a suitable mountain pass, called the Kicking Horse Pass, el. 5404 ft., near Banff, Alberta. (One can speculate as to the reason for the name.) This pass is also used by the Trans-Canada Highway. At the highest point of the pass the railroad tracks are horizontal with mountains rising on both sides. A mountain stream divides into two branches, one flowing into the Atlantic Ocean and the other into the Pacific. One can literally stand (as the author did) with one foot in the Atlantic Ocean and the other in the Pacific. The author has observed many mountain passes in the Rocky Mountains and Alps. What connections do mountain passes have with nonlinear partial dif ferential equations? To find out, read on ..."

This book presents some of the latest research in critical point theory, describing methods and presenting the newest applications. Coverage includes extrema, even valued functionals, weak and double linking, sign changing solutions, Morse inequalities, and cohomology groups. Applications described include Hamiltonian systems, Schrodinger equations and systems, jumping nonlinearities, elliptic equations and systems, superlinear problems and beam equations. "

The study of critical points has grown rapidly in recent years, finding applications in most every science. This book spans the material required for those who want a survey of modern critical point theory.

Key features:

*Provides an introduction to linking methods and generalizations

*Explains the fundamentals of minimax systems

*Many examples and applications

This text starts at the foundations of the field, and is accessible with some background in functional analysis. As such, the book is ideal for classroom of self study. The new material covered also makes this book a must read for researchers in the theory of critical points.

This monograph collects cutting-edge results and techniques for solving nonlinear partial differential equations using critical points. Including many of the author's own contributions, a range of proofs are conveniently collected here, Because the material is approached with rigor, this book will serve as an invaluable resource for exploring recent developments in this active area of research, as well as the numerous ways in which critical point theory can be applied. Different methods for finding critical points are presented in the first six chapters. The specific situations in which these methods are applicable is explained in detail. Focus then shifts toward the book's main subject: applications to problems in mathematics and physics. These include topics such as Schroedinger equations, Hamiltonian systems, elliptic systems, nonlinear wave equations, nonlinear optics, semilinear PDEs, boundary value problems, and equations with multiple solutions. Readers will find this collection of applications convenient and thorough, with detailed proofs appearing throughout. Critical Point Theory will be ideal for graduate students and researchers interested in solving differential equations, and for those studying variational methods. An understanding of fundamental mathematical analysis is assumed. In particular, the basic properties of Hilbert and Banach spaces are used.

'This booklet provides a very lucid and versatile introduction to the methods of linear partial differential equations. It covers a wealth of very important material in a concise, nevertheless very instructive manner, and as such it may serve as an excellent guide to further, more advanced and detailed reading in this area of both classical and contemporary mathematics.'zbMATHPartial differential equations arise in many branches of science and they vary in many ways. No one method can be used to solve all of them, and only a small percentage have been solved. This book examines the general linear partial differential equation of arbitrary order m. Even this involves more methods than are known. We ask a simple question: when can an equation be solved and how many solutions does it have?The answer is surprising even for equations with constant coefficients. We begin with these equations, first finding conditions which allow one to solve and obtain a finite number of solutions. It is then shown how to obtain those solutions by analyzing the structure of the equation very carefully. A substantial part of the book is devoted to this. Then we tackle the more difficult problem of considering equations with variable coefficients. A large number of such equations are solved by comparing them to equations with constant coefficients.In numerous applications in the sciences, students and researchers are required to solve such equations in order to get the answers that they need. In many cases, the basic scientific theory requires the resulting partial differential equation to have a solution, and one is required to know how many solutions exist. This book deals with such situations.

As is well known, The Great Divide (a.k.a. The Continental Divide) is formed by the Rocky Mountains stretching from north to south across North America. It creates a virtual "stone wall" so high that wind, rain, snow, etc. cannot cross it. This keeps the weather distinct on both sides. Since railroad trains cannot climb steep grades and tunnels through these mountains are almost formidable, the Canadian Pacific Railroad searched for a mountain pass providing the lowest grade for its tracks. Employees discovered a suitable mountain pass, called the Kicking Horse Pass, el. 5404 ft., near Banff, Alberta. (One can speculate as to the reason for the name.) This pass is also used by the Trans-Canada Highway. At the highest point of the pass the railroad tracks are horizontal with mountains rising on both sides. A mountain stream divides into two branches, one flowing into the Atlantic Ocean and the other into the Pacific. One can literally stand (as the author did) with one foot in the Atlantic Ocean and the other in the Pacific. The author has observed many mountain passes in the Rocky Mountains and Alps. What connections do mountain passes have with nonlinear partial dif ferential equations? To find out, read on ..."

This book presents some of the latest research in critical point theory, describing methods and presenting the newest applications. Coverage includes extrema, even valued functionals, weak and double linking, sign changing solutions, Morse inequalities, and cohomology groups. Applications described include Hamiltonian systems, Schrodinger equations and systems, jumping nonlinearities, elliptic equations and systems, superlinear problems and beam equations. "

This monograph collects cutting-edge results and techniques for solving nonlinear partial differential equations using critical points. Including many of the author's own contributions, a range of proofs are conveniently collected here, Because the material is approached with rigor, this book will serve as an invaluable resource for exploring recent developments in this active area of research, as well as the numerous ways in which critical point theory can be applied. Different methods for finding critical points are presented in the first six chapters. The specific situations in which these methods are applicable is explained in detail. Focus then shifts toward the book's main subject: applications to problems in mathematics and physics. These include topics such as Schroedinger equations, Hamiltonian systems, elliptic systems, nonlinear wave equations, nonlinear optics, semilinear PDEs, boundary value problems, and equations with multiple solutions. Readers will find this collection of applications convenient and thorough, with detailed proofs appearing throughout. Critical Point Theory will be ideal for graduate students and researchers interested in solving differential equations, and for those studying variational methods. An understanding of fundamental mathematical analysis is assumed. In particular, the basic properties of Hilbert and Banach spaces are used.

This book introduces the reader to powerful methods of critical point theory and details successful contemporary approaches to many problems, some of which had proved resistant to attack by older methods. Topics covered include Morse theory, critical groups, the minimax principle, various notions of linking, jumping nonlinearities and the Fucik spectrum in an abstract setting, sandwich pairs and the cohomological index. Applications to semilinear elliptic boundary value problems, p-Laplacian problems and anisotropic systems are given. Written for graduate students and research scientists, the book includes numerous examples and presents more recent developments in the subject to bring the reader up to date with the latest research.

The techniques that can be used to solve non-linear problems are far different than those that are used to solve linear problems. Many courses in analysis and applied mathematics attack linear cases simply because they are easier to solve and do not require a large theoretical background in order to approach them. Professor Schechter's 2005 book is devoted to non-linear methods using the least background material possible and the simplest linear techniques. An understanding of the tools for solving non-linear problems is developed whilst demonstrating their application to problems in one dimension and then leading to higher dimensions. The reader is guided using simple exposition and proof, assuming a minimal set of pre-requisites. For completion, a set of appendices covering essential basics in functional analysis and metric spaces is included, making this ideal as an accompanying text on an upper-undergraduate or graduate course, or even for self-study.

The techniques that can be used to solve non-linear problems are far different than those that are used to solve linear problems. Many courses in analysis and applied mathematics attack linear cases simply because they are easier to solve and do not require a large theoretical background in order to approach them. Professor Schechter's 2005 book is devoted to non-linear methods using the least background material possible and the simplest linear techniques. An understanding of the tools for solving non-linear problems is developed whilst demonstrating their application to problems in one dimension and then leading to higher dimensions. The reader is guided using simple exposition and proof, assuming a minimal set of pre-requisites. For completion, a set of appendices covering essential basics in functional analysis and metric spaces is included, making this ideal as an accompanying text on an upper-undergraduate or graduate course, or even for self-study.