In November 2001 the Mathematical Research Center at Oberwolfach, Germany, hosted the third Conference on Mathematical Models and Numerical Simulation in Electronic Industry. It brought together researchers in mathematics, electrical engineering and scientists working in industry.

The contributions to this volume try to bridge the gap between basic and applied mathematics, research in electrical engineering and the needs of industry.

Progress in today's high-technology industries is strongly associated with the development of new mathematical tools. A typical illustration of this partnership is the mathematical modelling and numerical simulation of electric circuits and semiconductor devices. At the second Oberwolfach conference devoted to this important and timely field, scientists from around the world, mainly applied mathematicians and electrical engineers from industry and universities, presented their new results. Their contributions, forming the body of this work, cover electric circuit simulation, device simulation and process simulation. Discussions on experiences with standard software packages and improvements of such packages are included. In the semiconductor area special lectures were given on new modelling approaches, numerical techniques and existence and uniqueness results. In this connection, mention is made, for example, of mixed finite element methods, an extension of the Baliga-Patankar technique for a three dimensional simulation, and the connection between semiconductor equations and the Boltzmann equations.

Resources should be used sparingly both from a point of view of economy and eco logy. Thus in controlling industrial, economical and social processes, optimization is the tool of choice. In this area of applied numerical analysis, the INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF AUTOMATIC CONTROL (IFAC) acts as a link between research groups in universities, national research laboratories and industry. For this pur pose, the technical committee Mathematics of Control of IFAC organizes biennial conferences with the objective of bringing together experts to exchange ideas, ex periences and future developments in control applications of optimization. There should be a genuine feedback loop between mathematicians, computer scientists, engineers and software developers. This loop should include the design, application and implementation of algorithms. The contributions of industrial practitioners are especially important. These proceedings contain selected papers from a workshop on CONTROL Ap PLICATIONS OF OPTIMIZATION, which took place at the Fachhochschule Miinchen in September 1992. The workshop was the ninth in a series of very successful bien nial meetings, starting with the Joint Automatic Control Conference in Denver in 1978 and followed by conferences in London, Oberpfaffenhofen, San Francisco, Ca pri, Tbilisi and Paris. The workshop was attended by ninety researchers from four continents. This volume represents the state of the art in the field, with emphasis on progress made since the publication of the proceedings of the Capri meeting, edited by G. di Pillo under the title 'Control Applications of Optimization and Nonlinear Programming'."

The 12th conference on "Variational Calculus, Optimal Control and Applications" took place September 23-27, 1996, in Trassenheide on the Baltic Sea island of Use dom. Seventy mathematicians from ten countries participated. The preceding eleven conferences, too, were held in places of natural beauty throughout West Pomerania; the first time, in 1972, in Zinnowitz, which is in the immediate area of Trassenheide. The conferences were founded, and led ten times, by Professor Bittner (Greifswald) and Professor KlCitzler (Leipzig), who both celebrated their 65th birthdays in 1996. The 12th conference in Trassenheide, was, therefore, also dedicated to L. Bittner and R. Klotzler. Both scientists made a lasting impression on control theory in the former GDR. Originally, the conferences served to promote the exchange of research results. In the first years, most of the lectures were theoretical, but in the last few conferences practical applications have been given more attention. Besides their pioneering theoretical works, both honorees have also always dealt with applications problems. L. Bittner has, for example, examined optimal control of nuclear reactors and associated safety aspects. Since 1992 he has been working on applications in optimal control in flight dynamics. R. Klotzler recently applied his results on optimal autobahn planning to the south tangent in Leipzig. The contributions published in these proceedings reflect the trend to practical problems; starting points are often questions from flight dynamics."

The volume contains new research papers (some of which are of a tutorial nature) on theory and computational methods, oscillatory control, deterministic control of uncertain systems, nonlinear perturbed optimal control, and on control of systems with distributed parameters.

Dieses zweibAndige Standardlehrbuch bietet einen umfassenden und aktuellen Aoeberblick A1/4ber die Numerische Mathematik. Dabei wird besonderer Wert auf solche Vorgehensweisen und Methoden gelegt, die sich durch groAe Wirksamkeit auszeichnen. Ihr praktischer Nutzen, aber auch die Grenzen ihrer Anwendung werden vergleichend diskutiert. Zahlreiche Beispiele runden dieses unentbehrliche Buch ab.
Die Neuauflage des zweiten Bandes wurde vollstAndig A1/4berarbeitet und ergAnzt um eine Beschreibung weiterer Techniken im Rahmen der Mehrzielmethode zur LAsung von Randwertproblemen fA1/4r GewAhnliche Differentialgleichungen.

"Das Lehrbuch ... setzt MaAstAbe fA1/4r eine Numerik-Vorlesung und ist jedem Studenten der angewandten Mathematik zu empfehlen."
Die Neue Hochschule

Stellt man heute einen Studenten einer naturwissenschaftlich - tech- nischen Richtung im ersten Semester vor die Aufgabe, Alltagsproble- me mathematisch zu behandeln, so wird man - von ruhmlichen Ausnah- men abgesehen - haufig auf Unverstandnis stossen. Ja, dass man prak- tische Probleme uberhaupt mathematisch beschreiben kann, verursacht vielfach Erstaunen. Trotz aller modischen Stroemungen, von denen auch naturwissenschaftliche Disziplinen und selbst die Mathematik heimge- sucht werden, stehen die Hochschulen noch immer in der Pflicht, ih- ren Studierenden in Vorlesungen, Ubungen und Praktika ein einiger- massen realitatsnahes Bild der Wirklichkeit zu vermitteln. Auch die Mathematik ist diesem Zwang unterworfen, ein Zwang, der recht frucht- bar und heilsam sein kann. Damit ist schon einer der Zwecke des vorliegenden Buches genannt: Dem Studenten zu zeigen, dass Mathematik uberall um ihn herum im All- tag zu finden ist. Die Beispiele sind bewusst so ausgewahlt: Jeder hat schon einmal einen Regenbogen gesehen, eine Schallplatte abge- hoert, vor dem Farbfernseher gesessen. Dass sich dahinter manchmal so- gar sehr viel Mathematik verbirgt, wer ahnt das schon. Zwar sind die Beispiele nicht immer einfach, doch reichen zur Bewaltigung Mathema- tikkenntnisse aus, wie sie in den Anfangssemestern vermittelt wer- den, teilweise sogar von der Schule her bekannt sind: Differential- und Integralrechnung einer und mehrerer Veranderlicher, Differen- tialgleichungen. Eines muss man freilich voraussetzen: Den flussi- gen Umgang mit dem Kalkul, d. h. dem Formelapparat der Differential- und Integralrechnung. Es wird nicht viel helfen, selbst bei einfa- chen Formeln immer wieder in der Formelsammlung nachzusehen.