From the preface: Fluid dynamics is an excellent example of how recent advances in computational tools and techniques permit the rapid advance of basic and applied science. The development of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has opened new areas of research and has significantly supplemented information available from experimental measurements. Scientific computing is directly responsible for such recent developments as the secondary instability theory of transition to turbulence, dynamical systems analyses of routes to chaos, ideas on the geometry of turbulence, direct simulations of turbulence, three-dimensional full-aircraft flow analyses, and so on. We believe that CFD has already achieved a status in the tool-kit of fluid mechanicians equal to that of the classical scientific techniques of mathematical analysis and laboratory experiment.

In the past several years, it has become apparent that computing will soon achieve a status within science and engineering to the classical scientific methods of laboratory experiment and theoretical analysis. The foremost tools of state-of-the-art computing applications are supercomputers, which are simply the fastest and biggest computers available at any given time. Supercomputers and supercomputing go hand-in-hand in pacing the development of scientific and engineering applications of computing. Experience has shown that supercomputers improve in speed and capability by roughly a factor 1000 every 20 years. Supercomputers today include the Cray XMP and Cray-2, manufactured by Cray Research, Inc., the Cyber 205, manufactured by Control Data Corporation, the Fujitsu VP, manufactured by Fujitsu, Ltd., the Hitachi SA-810/20, manufactured by Hitachi, Ltd., and the NEC SX, manufactured by NEC, Inc. The fastest of these computers are nearly three orders-of-magnitude faster than the fastest computers available in the mid-1960s, like the Control Data CDC 6600. While the world-wide market for supercomputers today is only about 50 units per year, it is expected to grow rapidly over the next several years to about 200 units per year.

This book gives a clear, practical and self-contained presentation of the methods of asymptotics and perturbation theory and explains how to use these methods to obtain approximate analytical solutions to differential and difference equations. These methods allow one to analyze physics and engineering problems that may not be solvable in closed form and for which brute-force numerical methods may not converge to useful solutions. The objective of this book is to teaching the insights and problem-solving skills that are most useful in solving mathematical problems arising in the course of modern research. Intended for graduate students and advanced undergraduates, the book assumes only a limited familiarity with differential equations and complex variables. The presentation begins with a review of differential and difference equations; develops local asymptotic methods for differential and difference equations; explains perturbation and summation theory; and concludes with a an exposition of global asymptotic methods, including boundary-layer theory, WKB theory, and multiple-scale analysis. Emphasizing applications, the discussion stresses care rather than rigor and relies on many well-chosen examples to teach the reader how an applied mathematician tackles problems. There are 190 computer-generated plots and tables comparing approximate and exact solutions; over 600 problems, of varying levels of difficulty; and an appendix summarizing the properties of special functions.

A clear, practical and self-contained presentation of the methods of asymptotics and perturbation theory for obtaining approximate analytical solutions to differential and difference equations. Aimed at teaching the most useful insights in approaching new problems, the text avoids special methods and tricks that only work for particular problems. Intended for graduates and advanced undergraduates, it assumes only a limited familiarity with differential equations and complex variables. The presentation begins with a review of differential and difference equations, then develops local asymptotic methods for such equations, and explains perturbation and summation theory before concluding with an exposition of global asymptotic methods. Emphasizing applications, the discussion stresses care rather than rigor and relies on many well-chosen examples to teach readers how an applied mathematician tackles problems. There are 190 computer-generated plots and tables comparing approximate and exact solutions, over 600 problems of varying levels of difficulty, and an appendix summarizing the properties of special functions.

Originally published in 1993, this book was the first to offer a comprehensive review of large eddy simulations (LES) - the history, state of the art, and promising directions for research. Among topics covered are fundamentals of LES; LES of incompressible, compressible, and reacting flows; LES of atmospheric, oceanic, and environmental flows; and LES and massivelt parallel computing. The book grew out of an international workshop that, for the first time, brought together leading researchers in engineering and geophysics to discuss developments and applications of LES models in their respective fields. It will be of value to anyone with an interest in turbulence modelling.