'Et moi, .. Of si j'avail su comment en revenir. je One selVice mathematics has rendered the n'y semis point alll!.' human race. It has put common sense back Jules Verne when: it belongs, on the topmon shelf next to the dusty canister labelled 'discarded nonsense'. The series is divergent; therefore we may be Eric T. Bell able to do something with iL O. Heaviside Mathematics is a tool for thought A highly necessary tool in a world where both feedback and nonlineari- ties abound, Similarly. all kinds of parts of mathematics serve as tools for other parts and for other sci- ences, Applying a simple rewriting rule to the quote on the right above one finds such statements as: 'One ser- vice topology has rendered mathematical physics .. , '; 'One service logic has rendered computer science ...'; 'One service category theory has rendered mathematics ...'. All arguably true. And all statements obtainable this way form part of the raison d'etre of this series.

This volume provides a systematic introduction to the theory of the multidimensional Mellin transformation in a distributional setting. In contrast to the classical texts on the Mellin and Laplace transformations, this work concentrates on the "local" properties of the Mellin transformations, ie on those properties of the Mellin transforms of distributions "u" which are preserved under multiplication of "u" by cut-off functions (of various types). The main part of the book is devoted to the local study of regularity of solutions to linear Fuchsian partial differential operators on a corner, which demonstrates the appearance of "non-discrete" asymptotic expansions (at the vertex) and of resurgence effects in the spirit of J. Ecalle. The book constitutes a part of a program to use the Mellin transformation as a link between the theory of second micro-localization, resurgence theory and the theory of the generalized Borel transformation. Chapter 1 contains the basic theorems and definitions of the theory of distributions and Fourier transformations which are used in the succeeding chapters. This material includes proofs which are partially transformed into exercises with hints. Chapter 2 presents a systematic treatment of the Mellin transform in several dimensions. Chapter 3 is devoted to Fuchsian-type singular differential equations. While aimed at researchers and graduate students interested in differential equations and integral transforms, this book can also be recommended as a graduate text for students of mathematics and engineering.