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Describes the chaos apparent in simple mechanical systems with the goal of elucidating the connections between classical and quantum mechanics. It develops the relevant ideas of the last two decades via geometric intuition rather than algebraic manipulation. The historical and cultural background against which these scientific developments have occurred is depicted, and realistic examples are discussed in detail. This book enables entry-level graduate students to tackle fresh problems in this rich field.
In the past thirty years, the area of spin glasses has experienced rapid growth, including the development of solvable models for glassy systems. Yet these developments have only been recorded in the original research papers, rather than in a single source. Thermodynamics of the Glassy State presents a comprehensive account of the modern theory of glasses, starting from basic principles (thermodynamics) to the experimental analysis of one of the most important consequences of thermodynamics-Maxwell relations. After a brief introduction to general theoretical concepts and historical developments, the book thoroughly describes glassy phenomenology and the established theory. The core of the bo...
The present book contains fourteen expository contributions on various topics connected to Number Theory, or Arithmetics, and its relationships to Theoreti cal Physics. The first part is mathematically oriented; it deals mostly with ellip tic curves, modular forms, zeta functions, Galois theory, Riemann surfaces, and p-adic analysis. The second part reports on matters with more direct physical interest, such as periodic and quasiperiodic lattices, or classical and quantum dynamical systems. The contribution of each author represents a short self-contained course on a specific subject. With very few prerequisites, the reader is offered a didactic exposition, which follows the author's origina...
The mesoscopic domain encompasses structures that are best described in terms of the time and length scales which lie between the two extremes of the molecular and the phenomenological description of materials. Important examples of such structures are self-assemblies, emulsions, gels, colloids aggregates and macromolecules networks. Discussing the key advances made in recent years in our understanding of both equilibrium and dynamic aspects of mesoscopic structures, most talks at the conference were given by world class researchers in the field, who included, among others, Prof J S Higgins, CBE, FRS (Imperial College, London), Prof D Frenkel (FOM, Amsterdam), Prof M E Cates (Edinburgh), Prof R C Ball (Warwick), Prof S Ramaswamy (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore), Prof R Pandit (Bangalore), Dr J A Yeomans (Oxford), Prof S Puri (JNU, New Delhi), Dr D Langevin (CRPP, Bordeaux), and Prof W G M Agterof (Unilever Research, Vlaardingen).
This book develops a morphodynamical approach of spatial networks with a particular emphasis on infrastructure networks such as streets, roads and transportation networks (subway, train). The author presents the mathematical tools needed to characterize these structures and how they evolve in time. The book discusses the most important empirical results and stylized facts, and will present the most important models of spatial networks. The target audience primarily comprises research scientists interested in this rapidly evolving and highly interdisciplinary field, but the book may also be beneficial for graduate students interested in large networks.
Contemporary philosophy of mathematics offers us an embarrassment of riches. Among the major areas of work one could list developments of the classical foundational programs, analytic approaches to epistemology and ontology of mathematics, and developments at the intersection of history and philosophy of mathematics. But anyone familiar with contemporary philosophy of mathematics will be aware of the need for new approaches that pay closer attention to mathematical practice. This book is the first attempt to give a coherent and unified presentation of this new wave of work in philosophy of mathematics. The new approach is innovative at least in two ways. First, it holds that there are import...
In keeping with the tradition of previous summer schools on fundamental problems in statistical mechanics, this book contains in depth treatemnts of topics of current interest in statistical mechanics and closely related fields. The topics covered include: dynamical impurity problems, quantum phase transitions, vortex liquids and glasses, quasicrystals and related aperiodic structures, pattern formation, turbulence, exactly solvable models, polymers, phase transitions in colloids, interfaces and two-dimensional gravity.
Readers first met Five Lowrey in The Thirteen, a story of life, love, secret society intrigue and death on Ohio University's campus in the Fifties. Sphinxes follows Five from his graduation into the world of spies. Without a plan for the future, he enlists in the Army's Counterintelligence Corps to escape the draft. Five is well prepared for basic training by his fraternity's Hell Week ordeal. After basic training, Five learns the counter-espionage trade at Fort Holabird, Maryland. His special skills as an artist gain him command attention and ultimate assignment to an elite CIC unit. In the process, he falls in love with post librarian Peggy Muldoon. Five's first case takes him to France and to the Dordogne Valley with its medieval castles, prehistoric caves and quaint villages. With the help of Sureté agent Gigi Marchant, Five searches for a secret list of allied agents in Europe, terminates an assassin and helps find a missing CIC agent. As in The Thirteen, Five's role in this Cold War era story is filled with colorful characters, beautiful young women, love affairs, and fascinating detail.
Things can get pretty dark in the City of Light. Claire Baskerville is a sixty-something American who finds herself alone in Paris when her husband is brutally murdered. Reeling from the onslaught of devastating secrets he left behind Claire is stunned to realize she no longer knows who to trust. She only knows she can’t move forward until she finds out the truth behind who killed her husband. In spite of a genetic brain anomaly that makes it impossible for her to remember faces –even ones she’d seen just moments before, and all alone in a foreign city, Claire doggedly collects the clues that will lead her to her husband’s killer. Unfortunately, the closer she gets to the truth, the more determined that killer is to make sure she never leaves Paris alive.