Since the characterization of generators of C0 semigroups was established in the 1940s, semigroups of linear operators and its neighboring areas have developed into an abstract theory that has become a necessary discipline in functional analysis and differential equations. This book presents that theory and its basic applications, and the last two chapters give a connected account of the applications to partial differential equations.
Given its abstract nature and the highly syntactical competence required by the use of symbolic algebra, research on its teaching and learning must rely on approaches that include semiotic concepts and analyses that recall the history of algebraic ideas, among others. Educational Algebra: A Theoretical and Empirical Approach deals with a theoretical perspective on the study of school algebra, in which both components (semiotics and history) occur. This perspective runs opposite to general theoretical models, since it submits components for the design of local frameworks for theoretical analysis. The Methodological design allows for the interpretation of specific phenomena and the inclusion, within such interpretative frameworks, of evidence not included in more general treatments. Such is the case of phenomena observed in subjects who are initiating the study of symbolic algebra, involving the production of personal sign systems at the intermediate level or the level previous to the mathematical sign system which is to be learned. Disciplines such as Linguistics, Logic, Psycholinguistics, Semiotics, general Cognitive Psychology, Mathematics Psychology, Mathematics Epistemology, History of Mathematics, and others have carried out research on the same topics approached by Mathematics Education and have redefined their results within the framework of their respective fields. Specifically, theorists in Linguistics, Information Processing and Didactics of Mathematics have done important work on the notion of code. Today, this notion is a key element to interpreting the idea of representation in the new explanatory models of cognitive problems placed by alternative teaching approaches, including those involving a technological environment. Additionally, Psycholinguistics and Artificial Intelligence in procedural models of human abilities have intended to explain how and why users of mathematical language naturally and commonly make mistakes in syntactical procedures. Educational Algebra: A Theoretical and Empirical Approach adds to previous developments with priority given to a pragmatic perspective on ‘meaning in use’ over ‘formal meaning’. The bulk of these approaches and others of similar nature have lead to a focus on competence rather than on a users activity with mathematical language. Such a shift in perspective has fundamental implications on the way mathematical language is studied. Essentially, Grammarthe abstract formal systemand Pragmaticsthe principles of the use of languageare complementary domains in this volume. Both are related to different teaching models, whether new or traditional, used in helping students to become competent users of Algebra. Because of this, Educational Algebra: A Theoretical and Empirical Approach will be of interest to researchers and practitioners within the mathematics education field.
Aimed at graduates and researchers, and requiring only a basic knowledge of multi-variable calculus, this introduction to computer-based partial differential equation (PDE) modeling provides readers with the practical methods necessary to develop and use PDE mathematical models in biomedical engineering. Taking an applied approach, rather than using abstract mathematics, the reader is instructed through six biomedical example applications, each example characterized by step-by-step discussions of established numerical methods and implemented in reliable computer routines. Adopting this technique, the reader will understand how PDE models are formulated, implemented and tested. Supported by a set of rigorously tested general purpose PDE routines online, and with enhanced understanding through animations, this book will be ideal for anyone faced with interpreting large experimental data sets that need to be analyzed with PDE models in biomedical engineering.
This book is a timely survey of much of the algebra developed during the last several centuries including its applications to algebraic geometry and its potential use in geometric modeling. The present volume makes an ideal textbook for an abstract algebra course, while the forthcoming sequel. Lectures on Algebra II, will serve as a textbook for a linear algebra course. The author’s fondness for algebraic geometry shows up in both volumes, and his recent preoccupation with the applications of group theory to the calculation of Galois groups is evident in the second volume which contains more local rings and more algebraic geometry. Both books are based on the author’s lectures at Purdue University over the last few years.
This book presents a new degree theory for maps which commute with a group of symmetries. This degree is no longer a single integer but an element of the group of equivariant homotopy classes of maps between two spheres and depends on the orbit types of the spaces. The authors develop completely the theory and applications of this degree in a self-contained presentation starting with only elementary facts. The first chapter explains the basic tools of representation theory, homotopy theory and differential equations needed in the text. Then the degree is defined and its main abstract properties are derived. The next part is devoted to the study of equivariant homotopy groups of spheres and to the classification of equivariant maps in the case of abelian actions. These groups are explicitely computed and the effects of symmetry breaking, products and composition are thorougly studied. The last part deals with computations of the equivariant index of an isolated orbit and of an isolated loop of stationary points. Here differential equations in a variety of situations are considered: symmetry breaking, forcing, period doubling, twisted orbits, first integrals, gradients etc. Periodic solutions of Hamiltonian systems, in particular spring-pendulum systems, are studied as well as Hopf bifurcation for all these situations.
Many problems in science and engineering involve the solution of differential equations or systems. One of most successful methods of solving nonlinear equations is the determination of critical points of corresponding functionals. The study of critical points has grown rapidly in recent years and has led to new applications in other scientific disciplines. This monograph continues this theme and studies new results discovered since the author’s preceding book entitled Linking Methods in Critical Point Theory. Written in a clear, sequential exposition, topics include semilinear problems, Fucik spectrum, multidimensional nonlinear wave equations, elliptic systems, and sandwich pairs, among others. With numerous examples and applications, this book explains the fundamental importance of minimax systems and describes how linking methods fit into the framework. Minimax Systems and Critical Point Theory is accessible to graduate students with some background in functional analysis, and the new material makes this book a useful reference for researchers and mathematicians. Review of the author’s previous Birkhuser work, Linking Methods in Critical Point Theory: The applications of the abstract theory are to the existence of (nontrivial) weak solutions of semilinear elliptic boundary value problems for partial differential equations, written in the form Au = f(x, u). . . . The author essentially shows how his methods can be applied whenever the nonlinearity has sublinear growth, and the associated functional may increase at a certain rate in every direction of the underlying space. This provides an elementary approach to such problems. . . . A clear overview of the contents of the book is presented in the first chapter, while bibliographical comments and variant results are described in the last one. -MathSciNet
The intellectual scope and cultural impact of British writers cannot be assessed without reference to their European ‘fortunes’. These essays, prepared by an international team of scholars, critics and translators, record the ways in which David Hume has been translated, evaluated and emulated in different national and linguistic areas of Europe. This is the first collection of essays to consider how and where Hume’s works were initially understood throughout Europe. They reflect on how early European responses to Hume relied on available French translations, and concentrated on his Political Discourses and his History, and how later German translations enabled professional philosophers to discuss his more abstract ideas. Also explored is the idea that continental readers were not able to judge the accuracy of the translations they read, nor did many consider the contexts in which Hume was writing: rather, they were intent on using what they read for their own purposes.
This textbook introduces the mathematical concepts and methods that underlie statistics. The course is unified, in the sense that no prior knowledge of probability theory is assumed; this is developed as needed. The book is committed to a high level of mathematical seriousness; and to an intimate connection with application. Modern methods, such as logistic regression, are introduced; as are unjustly neglected clasical topics, such as elementary asymptotics. The book first develops elementary linear models for measured data and multiplicative models for counted data. Simple probability models for random error follow. The most important famiies of random variables are then studied in detail, emphasizing their interrelationships and their large-sample behavior. Inference, including classical, Bayesian, finite population, and likelihood-based, is introduced as the necessary mathematical tools become available. In teaching style, the book aims to be * mathematically complete: every formula is derived, every theorem proved at the appropriate level * concrete: each new concept is introduced and exemplified by interesting statistical problems; and more abstract concepts appear only gradually * constructive: direct derivations and proofs are preferred * active: students are led to do mathematical statistics, not just to appreciate it, with the assistance of 500 interesting exercises. The text is aimed for the upper undergraduate level, or the beginning Masters program level. It assumes the usual two-year college mathematics sequence, including an introduction to multiple integrals, matrix algebra, and infinite series. George R. Terrell received his degrees from Rice University, where he later taught.
