This text contains a collection of 28 contributions on the topics of bifurcation theory and dynamical systems, mostly from the point of view of symmetry breaking, which has been revealed to be a powerful tool in the understanding of pattern formation and in the scientific application of these theories. Computational aspects of these theories are also considered. It is designed for graduate and postgraduate students of nonlinear applied mathematics, as well as any scientist or engineer interested in pattern formation and nonlinear instabilities. Dynamical systems and bifurcation theory are mathematical tools which are suitable for the study of time evolution and changes in the physical world. The introduction of the concept of symmetry and symmetry breaking in the theories enlarges their spectrum of application and their predictive capability in the evolution of physical systems.

This book contains the lectures given at the workshop "Dynamo and dynamics, a mathematical challenge" held in Cargese from August 21 to 26, 2000. The workshop differed from most previous conferences on the dynamo effect in two important respects. First, it was at this international conference that the experimental observation of homogeneous fluid dynamos was first reported. Second, the conference gathered scientists from very different fields, thus showing that thepynamo problem has become an interdisciplinary subject involving not only astrophysicists and geophysicists, but also scientists working in dynamical systems theory, hydrodynamics, and numerical simulation, as well as several groups in experimental physics. This book thus reports important results on various dynamo studies in these different contexts: - Decades after the discovery of the first analytic examples of laminar fluid dynamos, the self-generation of a magnetic field by a flow ofliquid sodium has been reported by the Karlsruhe and Riga groups. Although there were no doubts concerning the self generation by the laminar Roberts-type or Ponomarenko-type flows that were used, these experiments have raised interesting questions about the influence of the turbulent fluctuations on the dynamo threshold and on the saturation level of the magnetic field.

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 book collects contributions to the conference" Dynamics, Bifurcation and Symmetry, new trends and new tools," which was held at the Institut d'Etudes Sci entifiques de Cargese (France), September 3-9, 1993. The first aim of this conference was to gather and summarize the work of the European Bifurcation Theory Group after two years of existence (the EBTG links european laboratories in five countries via an EC grant). Thanks to a NATO ARW grant, the conference developed into an international meeting on bifurcation theory and dynamical systems, with the partic ipation of leading specialists not only from Europe but also from overseas countries (Canada, USA, South America). It was a great satisfaction to notice the active, and quite enthusiastic participation of many young scientists. This is reflected in the present book for which many contributors are PhD students or post-doc researchers. Although several "big" themes (bifurcation with symmetry, low dimensional dynam ics, dynamics in EDP's, applications, . . . ) are present in these proceedings, we have divided the book into corresponding parts. In fact these themes overlap in most contributions, which seems to reflect a general tendancy in nonlinear science. I am very pleased to thank for their support the NATO International Exchange Scientific Program as well as the EEC Science Program, which made possible the suc cess of this conference."

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 book contains the lectures given at the workshop "Dynamo and dynamics, a mathematical challenge" held in Cargese from August 21 to 26, 2000. The workshop differed from most previous conferences on the dynamo effect in two important respects. First, it was at this international conference that the experimental observation of homogeneous fluid dynamos was first reported. Second, the conference gathered scientists from very different fields, thus showing that thepynamo problem has become an interdisciplinary subject involving not only astrophysicists and geophysicists, but also scientists working in dynamical systems theory, hydrodynamics, and numerical simulation, as well as several groups in experimental physics. This book thus reports important results on various dynamo studies in these different contexts: - Decades after the discovery of the first analytic examples of laminar fluid dynamos, the self-generation of a magnetic field by a flow ofliquid sodium has been reported by the Karlsruhe and Riga groups. Although there were no doubts concerning the self generation by the laminar Roberts-type or Ponomarenko-type flows that were used, these experiments have raised interesting questions about the influence of the turbulent fluctuations on the dynamo threshold and on the saturation level of the magnetic field.

This invaluable book presents a comprehensive introduction to bifurcation theory in the presence of symmetry, an applied mathematical topic which has developed considerably over the past twenty years and has been very successful in analysing and predicting pattern formation and other critical phenomena in most areas of science where nonlinear models are involved, like fluid flow instabilities, chemical waves, elasticity and population dynamics.The book has two aims. One is to expound the mathematical methods of equivariant bifurcation theory. Beyond the classical bifurcation tools, such as center manifold and normal form reductions, the presence of symmetry requires the introduction of the algebraic and geometric formalism of Lie group theory and transformation group methods. For the first time, all these methods in equivariant bifurcations are presented in a coherent and self-consistent way in a book.The other aim is to present the most recent ideas and results in this theory, in relation to applications. This includes bifurcations of relative equilibria and relative periodic orbits for compact and noncompact group actions, heteroclinic cycles and forced symmetry-breaking perturbations. Although not all recent contributions could be included and a choice had to be made, a rather complete description of these new developments is provided. At the end of every chapter, exercises are offered to the reader.