"Differential Equations on Fractals" opens the door to understanding the recently developed area of analysis on fractals, focusing on the construction of a Laplacian on the Sierpinski gasket and related fractals. Written in a lively and informal style, with lots of intriguing exercises on all levels of difficulty, the book is accessible to advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and mathematicians who seek an understanding of analysis on fractals. Robert Strichartz takes the reader to the frontiers of research, starting with carefully motivated examples and constructions.

One of the great accomplishments of geometric analysis in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was the development of the theory of Laplacians on smooth manifolds. But what happens when the underlying space is rough? Fractals provide models of rough spaces that nevertheless have a strong structure, specifically self-similarity. Exploiting this structure, researchers in probability theory in the 1980s were able to prove the existence of Brownian motion, and therefore of a Laplacian, on certain fractals. An explicit analytic construction was provided in 1989 by Jun Kigami. "Differential Equations on Fractals" explains Kigami's construction, shows why it is natural and important, and unfolds many of the interesting consequences that have recently been discovered.

This book can be used as a self-study guide for students interested in fractal analysis, or as a textbook for a special topics course.

In the 50 years since Mandelbrot identified the fractality of coastlines, mathematicians and physicists have developed a rich and beautiful theory describing the interplay between analytic, geometric and probabilistic aspects of the mathematics of fractals. Using classical and abstract analytic tools developed by Cantor, Hausdorff, and Sierpinski, they have sought to address fundamental questions: How can we measure the size of a fractal set? How do waves and heat travel on irregular structures? How are analysis, geometry and stochastic processes related in the absence of Euclidean smooth structure? What new physical phenomena arise in the fractal-like settings that are ubiquitous in nature?This book introduces background and recent progress on these problems, from both established leaders in the field and early career researchers. The book gives a broad introduction to several foundational techniques in fractal mathematics, while also introducing some specific new and significant results of interest to experts, such as that waves have infinite propagation speed on fractals. It contains sufficient introductory material that it can be read by new researchers or researchers from other areas who want to learn about fractal methods and results.

This important book provides a concise exposition of the basic ideas of the theory of distribution and Fourier transforms and its application to partial differential equations. The author clearly presents the ideas, precise statements of theorems, and explanations of ideas behind the proofs. Methods in which techniques are used in applications are illustrated, and many problems are included. The book also introduces several significant recent topics, including pseudodifferential operators, wave front sets, wavelets, and quasicrystals. Background mathematical prerequisites have been kept to a minimum, with only a knowledge of multidimensional calculus and basic complex variables needed to fully understand the concepts in the book.A Guide to Distribution Theory and Fourier Transforms can serve as a textbook for parts of a course on Applied Analysis or Methods of Mathematical Physics, and in fact it is used that way at Cornell.

This important book provides a concise exposition of the basic ideas of the theory of distribution and Fourier transforms and its application to partial differential equations. The author clearly presents the ideas, precise statements of theorems, and explanations of ideas behind the proofs. Methods in which techniques are used in applications are illustrated, and many problems are included. The book also introduces several significant recent topics, including pseudodifferential operators, wave front sets, wavelets, and quasicrystals. Background mathematical prerequisites have been kept to a minimum, with only a knowledge of multidimensional calculus and basic complex variables needed to fully understand the concepts in the book.A Guide to Distribution Theory and Fourier Transforms can serve as a textbook for parts of a course on Applied Analysis or Methods of Mathematical Physics, and in fact it is used that way at Cornell.

The Way of Analysis gives a thorough account of real analysis in one or several variables, from the construction of the real number system to an introduction of the Lebesgue integral. The text provides proofs of all main results, as well as motivations, examples, applications, exercises, and formal chapter summaries. Additionally, there are three chapters on application of analysis, ordinary differential equations, Fourier series, and curves and surfaces to show how the techniques of analysis are used in concrete settings.